We’re at the end of 2025. I figured it’s a good time to look back and see how it all went.
Overall, things have been… busy. Pretty work-heavy, with some of that work bleeding into 2026 (more on that later). I decided to take a page out of my old tech worker processes and do a “post-mortem/retro” covering the highlights of the year.
Without further ado, let’s start with the biggest thing:
2025 Highlights
Finished a Graphic Novel
Beyond the Road is my graphic novel memoir about rediscovering adventure with chronic illness through a 4-day camper van trip. It’s a true story based off a road trip along the Big Sur coast that my husband, our dog, and I took in early 2020.
I actually started this project in early-mid 2024, but paused in order to “pitch it” to literary agents, per the advice of another published graphic novelist. However, after attending a writer’s conference this year and learning how long the road to traditional publishing can be, I decided to complete this book myself and self-publish.
I officially completed all 110 pages of the book in December of this year and now? I’ve decided to run a Kickstarter for the comic’s 1st print run! That is the project I’m carrying forward into the new year that I plan to launch ASAP in January, so I will update more once more details are available.
Adventures with Titan Upgrades
Adventures with Titan is a mini comic series starring my Pomeranian, Titan, and his daily antics. I started this series in late 2024 and launched its official site, AdventuresWithTitan.com, last year as well. Since then, the site has had a bit of a revamp and the comic series has grown to over 50 episodes!
In 2025, I launched an official Adventures with Titan merch shop! Shop.AdventuresWithTitan.com only has a couple of items currently, but the quality of said items is really nice. The embroidered dad hats are especially a huge hit and I’ve sold a few in-person at cons as well. So in addition to the small minizines and vinyl stickers (stickers are only available for purchase in person for now. I haven’t figured out how to include them in the shop’s systems without exorbitant shipping), you can now own t-shirts, hoodies, dad hats, and socks!
I plan to add more items to the shop in 2026… mostly because I want them myself XD.
I also intend to continue drawing new episodes in 2026 (the recent haitus is a temporary one, I promise). I can’t get enough of my chaos furball. 😛
Tabling Layout Level-Up
I didn’t intend to do much selling in 2025 (I wanted to focus on the comic work, which was part of my Goals for 2025), but ended up tabling at 4 events this year: Peninsula Library Comic Arts Fest (I talk more about this in an earlier post: Tabling Events for 2025), Silver Age Comic Con (more details here: My First Comic Con: Behind the Table at SACC Reno), Sunday Pup-Up Market, and Berkley Public Library Comic Con. While I wouldn’t say they were all wildly successful events, participating allowed me to iterate on my tabling setup with relatively low risk. I also attended several artist/artisan-focused events for fun (and “scouting”) and intentionally documented and analyzed the booths that caught my eye. I feel like I learned a lot more about table layouts and attention focus throughout the year and will carry this forward in to 2026 when i finally start tabling with a printed Beyond the Road graphic novel in my setup.
Meeting Industry Pros
As part of scouting many vending events for fun and research, I ended up attending Galaxy Con San Jose and Fan Expo San Francisco where I got to meet several people from the comic industry; writers, artists, and even an editor who was generous enough to sit down for a portfolio review! I also got to know more local artists and create more connections to other comic creators. We’re an introverted bunch whose job is to spend hours in solitude with a drawing desk or tablet, so it’s great to meet and learn how supportive the community is overall.
Discovered TTRPGS (mainly D&D and Daggerheart)
The world of TTRPGs is fascinating. I truly believe that if I had known about D&D and TTRPGs as a teen, it would have been my lifelong obsession. Fantasy storytelling with a group of a friends? It’s what I always did as a child, just without a rulebook.
This year I spent a lot more time exploring the TTRPG and D&D community, doing a 3-day D&D marathon with Adventure League at Kublacon (more on that: D&D Gaming at Kublacon 2025), playing a few one shots online and in-person, and joining a long-form campaign. I even started DM-ing my own games for my friends, mostly in the Daggerheart system. DM-ing is a lot of work, but I am loving the collaborative creativity of developing this world of interlacing plot paths. I might turn my Daggerheart mini campaign into a downloadable module/adventure when I’m done. I’m still… learning the terminology in this world.
So… the things that didn’t work out
Let’s state the obvious one: I didn’t really make any money. When you combine the expenses with the profits, I’m probably in the red. But… I knew this going in that 2025 was going to be a focused year of comic creation, not sales.
That said, I think there’s always the subconscious hope that this passion of mine will create a sustainable profit.
Tried to do too much at once
Early in 2025, I had high optimism that I could work on2 comics at once (3 if you include Adventures with Titan); Beyond the Road and Angel Chronicles. I spent the 1st 3 months building out the assets and references for Angel Chronicles, learning Blender for backgrounds, concept sketching character designs, researching real-world locations, building out the script and the world-building lore…. I basically didn’t work on Beyond the Road at all. It wasn’t until after attending a writer’s conference did I realize I needed to sit down and focus on 1 project to get it out the door. I chose Beyond the Road because it was much further along and a simpler self-contained story that I could realistically finish with the year.
Disappointing convention tabling
Because I signed up for Silver Age Comic Con (SACC) in advance (November 2024), I was really determined to make it a good one. It was going to be my biggest convention this year and I wanted my table to look like an “artist alley pro’s”. I bought backdrop poles, ordered larger prints, made new signs, and even purchased custom fabric banners (all based on research and guides found online)! In the end, SACC did not go well. 2025, I was told, was a low attendance year and I didn’t even make the tabling fee back. The one silver lining was being able to visit someplace new (Reno) and eat tasty K-BBQ after the event with artist alley friends I don’t often get to see.
Sunday Pup-Up Market was also another disappointment. In addition to having low attendance, the audience wasn’t the type to buy comics and comic merch, even if it was dog related (it didn’t help that there were people selling “handmade” products with obvious AI art printed on it). Tabling at this kind of event was an experiment so I wasn’t wholly disappointed, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again. Silver lining was the bottomless mimosas I ordered from the hotel bar… and the ample amount of dog petting and treat feeding I got to do while at the event. I had a good time, even if the crowd wasn’t the right match for my work.
Retail burnout
Tabling is a huge time sink. There’s a lot of prep work that happens whose time consumption doesn’t get talked about much. I DIY a lot of my own products (die cut vinyl stickers, zines, prints, etc), so some of the time could have been theoretically cut down by passing these tasks on to a 3rd party vendor… but at my scale, working with vendors isn’t much of a time save since the communication process and research to find the best options can eat a lot of time (and money) too.
SACC, as my biggest convention, took almost a whole month to prepare for (researching recommended display practices, ordering materials, creating signs, ordering new merch, etc). Even with only 4 conventions this year (3 of which were only 1-day events), the prep and subsequent low sales started burning me out. I was getting frustrated by the retail process not only because of the lack of financial returns, but because of how much time it took away. Being an event vendor means spending a ton of time in the retail side of life; comparing print quality, managing inventory, transport and shipping…. I don’t want my energy taken over by retail. I want to create.
That’s not to say I don’t like tabling (I plan to table even more in 2026). But when I get a table, I want to engage in the joy and connect with people, not focus on “making the sale” and getting past the “break even” point. I’m energized when I can freely geek out with con goers without pressure, which… really means taking on a different mental model towards artist alley tabling (which I’m not sure is even a smart idea since events like Fanime or Fan Expo or Galaxy Con can cost several hundred dollars to vend at, and that’s just to cover their fees). But I think when I focus less on the sales part and more on being present, I’m much happier and more energized.
Lessons Learned
- Focus on one project at a time. And complete it – It’s more valuable to have a completed book than 2 in-progress stories. Completed works are something you can take and show others, sell copies of, and point to as something accomplished.
- Stay happy at a table by focusing on being socially present – rather than focusing on sales and acting like a pop-up retailer, it helps to prioritize being part of the convention’s fun and engage with the community. I get a lot of joy from conventions. I should still share in that joy from behind an artist alley table.
Looking towards 2026
The biggest thing moving forward is the Kickstarter for Beyond the Road’s 1st print run. I’m already working on getting that set up and will share more info about that in the near future.
In the meantime, if you’re curious about Beyond the Road, I have a FREE 1st chapter preview available through my newsletter. When you sign up, you’ll get a link to download the free PDF. It’s a great way to get a feel for the story and the art style before the printed copy is released!
I’ll be making another blog post shortly to talk about upcoming 2026 goals.
