Clattertron

[dc]I[/dc] send out a new email newsletter every week through MailChimp (sign up here), and decided to back up my old newsletters here. This is Clattertron Newsletter #1 – New Newsletter and New Boots from July 12, 2015. 

Here it is, the Clattertron Newsletter back from the dead. Hang in there as I get accustomed to MailChimp. The look/tone/offerings of this could (and probably will) change a bit over the coming weeks.

And now, a comic con anecdote about how I came home with a pair of boots worth more than what I took in all weekend at my table. Really.

This June, and I trekked out to Grand Rapids for the first ever GRASP Comic Expo (read my recap). The drive was short (only an hour), and the table affordable ($52), and I was staying the night at my friends’ house, which meant no hotel.

So, a cheap weekend, as far as expenses were concerned. I hoped to sell a lot and come home a big winner.

Well, that didn’t happen. GRASP failed to get anywhere near the turnout of its big-sibling show, Grand Rapids Comic Con (which brought in 20 thousand people, I heard). I took in $76 over two days. Not my worst weekend by any means, but a let down.

Saturday night is always a party night on comic con weekend. My friends who let me stay the night are also comickers and threw a party for their comic making pals. We licked our artist alley wounds over grilled meat and cold beer.
Then, one of the oddest exchanges I’ve ever been apart of at a party. Another friend at the party looked down at my feet with great interest and asked, “What size shoe are you?”

“Nine and a half to ten,” I said.

“Want a pair of leather boots?”

I swirled around my can of PBR. “Sure,” I said, not knowing where this was going.

“Be right back,” he said. A few minutes later, my friend returned with a pair of very nice brown leather boots. “Try these on.”

I did. They fit. “I’ll take ’em,” I said, because I’m a cheapskate at heart. “But, what’s the catch? Did someone get murdered in these?”

My friend laughed. “The customer returned them to the store and they were past the point we could resell them.”

“What do you want for ’em?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I try to find good homes for the boots when that happens. Don’t worry about it.”

“Wait, I’ll draw you a picture,” I ran to grab my sketchbook and pens.

Also to say thanks, I gave him my second artist alley badge, so he could visit GRASP the next day for free (most shows give artists two badges).

Sunday night, after I returned to Lansing I looked up the boots online. They retailed for around $300, nearly four times what I sold at table all weekend, and probably the most expensive footwear I have ever owned (again, cheapskate).

I had hoped to hit triple digits when it came to sales at GRASP, but at least I came home with pair of fancy boots to make up the difference.