My social feeds are filling up with artists doing merch prep and ads for sticker and pin manufacturers. It must be event tabling season! lol
I’m only tabling at 2 events this year, since I knew ahead of time that I wanted to keep 2025 focused on comic creation (Beyond the Road is in progress btw! Hoping to have it drawn by end of June). One of them actually happened just a few weeks ago! So I guess that means there’s only 1 left…!
PLCAF 2025
PLCAF (Peninsula Library Comic Arts Fest) is a local library event that has a good turnout every year. I give credit to the organizers, who setup a solid mix of guest speakers, kids’ activities, and vendors to make for an engaging event. The speaker series actually lasts for the entire month, so I try to attend what I can. Last year I made it to more of the presentations than I did this year, but I did get to sit in on Jen Wang’s talk where she showed her process and a bit of her newest book, Ash’s Cabin.
This year, I applied and tabled in the Exhibitor Hall for the main event, sitting alongside some friendly artists (hi SYUArtist, Haetae, and Wrathofbom) and getting to meet several well known names in the comics and graphic novels world. It was cool to walk around the room and see just how many well-known comic creators live in the Bay Area, saying hi to creators I’ve read, such as Thien Pham (“Family Style”), Briana Loewinsohn (“Ephemera”), and Eddie Ahn (“Advocate”).
It was only a couple of months ago when a writing coach I met (socially, not a hired consultant) told me that graphic novel memoirs were not a real thing, despite me naming titles like American Born Chinese and Maus (1-off examples, not a genre, in her opinion). It was, overall, reassuring to be participating in such a lively community comics event full of graphic novels and indie comics. Graphic novels (and memoirs) are very much alive and well.
SACC
I guess that leaves 1 more event coming up…
I’ll be tabling at SACC (Silver Age Comic Con) in July. In Reno!
I’ve never been to Reno, despite living within driving distance. I have no idea what’s there (besides casinos). But a mini road trip/vacation to Reno and the area around it sounds like a reason to sign up! I’m excited to meet some comic creators from the mainstream genres!
And the Rest?
As for other events… I don’t know. I’m intent on just focusing on my comic creation this year… but I don’t know. Maybe by end of year I’ll have new stuff to share? These events can get costly out here (Fan Expo and Galaxy Con, our 2 main “comic cons” in the Bay Area, are $400-$600 just to reserve a table in the artist alley). Unless I’m planning to actually sell merchandise and “move product”, it might not be cost effective to go just because “I like being there”.
Anyways, we’ll see…!
