A.P.E. Was the Shit

This year I decided to broaden the scope of the promotion of my comic, and so I decided to do two new conventions. The Alternative Press Expo (A.P.E) and Long Beach Comic Con. I just finished A.P.E. And it was a blast. A.P.E. Is a quirky little con, put on by Comic-Con International. In San Francisco. And it is a really fun show. It takes place at the concourse event center, an old wood framed Looong convention center that looks like it was once a shipping depot or an abattoir. Which makes it quite suited for the very self aware “indie” event that it is. The event is a very laid back convention, in fact it doesn't start until 11:00 and most people don't really show up until 1:00 (at least where I was). Also this is the first con that I've ever been to where there have been a number of people drinking, there was even a bar on site. This all led to A.P.E seeming more like a party than a con. Bur the biggest thing I liked about A.P.E. Is that about 90% of the exhibitors are artists. Not that I mind toy sellers and companies but this is the con that I feel is the most about comic books and their contents.
The drawbacks are that it is a mostly artist con in San Fransisco, you probably know where this is headed. This means that there was the blight of smug artsy types to contend with, but for the most part it was comic book readers (note reader not fan) and artists sharing their love and shootin' the shit.
You ask me how I did, well sales wise it was not my best con, but it was better than my recent ones, but nearly everyone that came to my table talked with me and actually looked at my stuff (believe it or not this was a victory). Many people took my card so hopefully that will pan out into some online readers. But I did meet some cool people and traded for some good books (that's a cool thing about art exhibitors we don't tend to by each others stuff we trade), The people around me where cool, and I will probably write about their stuff in future posts. So all in all A.P.E. Was a good experience and I will be doing it again next year.