In July 2025, I tabled at my first comic convention – Silver Age Comic Con (SACC) in Reno, NV. I’d never been to Reno so this seemed like a great 2-for-1 setup… test out tabling at a real comic con AND check out a location I’d always heard about but never made the trip to yet. It turned out to be… a very educational experience.
Praise for the SACC organizers
First off: major kudos to the SACC organizer and her staff, who were super communicative and organized. They clearly cared about putting on a good show. I never once felt lost in the logistics—something anyone who’s planned a major event knows is both rare and deeply appreciated. I’m super glad to have met them and have them on my side.
The Reality of Tabling at SACC…
That said.. the con itself was rough, and I think there were multiple reasons behind that, some of which were just bad luck and not in anyone’s control. I thought it might be good to talk about my takeaways from this convention.
Unexpected Low Turnout
The low turnout surprised me and most of the vendors I spoke to. SACC is known for being a “mid con”, meaning the crowd sizes are not SDCC or NYCC huge, but still sizeable enough to warrant paying for a table (at a lower size-matching price, of course). I personally can’t say how the turnout was in past years because this was my first, but we definitely had hours where there was no one on the floor browsing. It was jarring compared to PLCAF—a small con with similar traffic flows—since SACC’s quiet moments were spread across a much larger space.
To be transparent, my table was towards the back of the room, and while some could excuse the lack of foot traffic to my placement in the floor layout, some vendors I spoke to who were placed in the front also commented on the slowness. Who knows the reason for it though.
Unexpected Low Spending
I’m used to attending conventions like Fanime where people crawl the Artist Alley with bags of posters and merch hanging off their arms. Unfortunately, at SACC more people were browsing than buying. This could be due to multiple factors. The economy is tightening everyone’s purse strings. Customers could be looking for specific fandoms only. At one point, a guy flipped through everything on my table and said, “I only want Yoda fanart,” then promptly walked off.
At least he was specific? 😅
My sales were abysmal. I didn’t even make table back which I thought I would do at minimum, based on my sales experiences at SF Zine Fest and PLCAF. People did not seem interested in what I had to offer. The sentiment seemed to be shared by a lot of the vendors, some of which warned it might happen before doors opened because of overall trends in the area.
Which is not to say everyone did poorly. Of the vendors I spoke to, ones selling TTRPG objects did well overall (I mean, even my husband bought a $80 dice set from the artisan dice vendor next to us) and the one vendor selling furry items sold a whole fursuit, which goes for several thousand dollars (~$3000 I think?). So for some, I would call this a successful event! Just not for me.
What was I selling anyways?
I spent a lot of time planning for this convention, being my first real comic con. I upgraded a few things, bought a photo backdrop stand and 2 fabric banners to hang off of it. My “strategy” was to showcase my 3 original brands: Adventures with Titan, Beyond the Road, and 12 Zodiacs in 3 columns at my table, selling or promoting different things depending on which the customer was interested in.
In hindsight this kind of setup was probably a poor choice. In a sea of tables packed together in rows in an open room, creating 3 brands on 1 table was just adding to the clutter. When a customer’s eyes land on your table, you want 1 solid focus. 3 is overwhelming. Even sticker vendors who have walls of tiny illustrations on display keep to a singular “brand” (which is usually a “cute” aesthetic). Illustrators who have walls of illustrations hanging from poles are still unified by 1 brand (which is usually their art style).
But you have to try to learn the lessons and in tabling at this 2-day con, I was able to observe some behaviors too.
Observations
Originals vs Fandoms
People were less interested in new IPs and were more interested in feeding their pre-existing fandoms. Original comic series, original art, etc often got passed over for recognizable fan art and merch. Skill doesn’t matter. It’s about what emotion your work conveys.
TTRPG accessories fall in this nice hybrid place because while a lot of it is original designs (no one owns the entire “dice” or “mini figures” genres), they’re supported by recognized fandoms (D&D, Pathfinder, etc) and run deep because of the long-form experiences created by the customers. How nice is it to own something unique that supplements an already personal experience?
People were less interested in new IPs and more drawn to things that fed their existing fandoms. Skill didn’t matter—it was about emotional connection.
Fandom Types
I’m used to attending mostly anime cons (Fanime is what we have in the Bay Area, but Galaxy Con and Fan Expo are taking their bets on the region), but I saw a lot of crossover at SACC. Of the cosplayers (which I love finding and photographing!), I saw mostly a lot of Star Wars, anime-style games (Honkai Star Rail, Genshin Impact), and modern animations (Hazbin Hotel, Arcane, etc). I also saw Marvel cosplayers, classic animes, TV shows, and even a few Critical Role ones (yay my fandom too!). The surprising one to me was the indie games being repped. While I don’t think any one specific game was strongly present (I did see 2-3 Five Nights at Freddy’s cosplayers though), there was a lot of love for the indie games genre.
I hope indie game developers recognize this too. Fandoms are a strong and powerful force to embrace.
Take Aways & Looking Ahead
Despite the slow traffic and slow sales (and surprising heatstroke vibes of the desert (srsly why are all the car parking options outdoors? Ouch! 🥵)), I’m still glad I went. Every tabling event teaches you something. I learned how my setup performs in real-world conditions and what kinds of items people are willing to engage with. I also learned that despite the name, not all ‘comic cons’ have comic-buying crowds.
I don’t think I’ll do SACC again… though I hold no grudge for the con and honestly wish for all the growth and increased attendance in the coming years! For me though, it’s still an out-of-town trip and even though it’s close enough not to fly, I still have to get a hotel and pet sitter (poor Titan). Unless I know I can make the sales to cover all of that, it’s just not realistic for me.
And if you picked up one of the free Adventures with Titan mini-zines I was giving out… thanks for taking a chance on a chaos Pom and his weird little world. Enjoy reading and there’s always more on his comic site: AdventuresWithTitan.com
