You always remember your first, and this year, for the very first time, I was a guest at the Texas Latino Comic-con in Dallas, Texas. Selling my debut comic, The Return of Camazotz, and repping Grimmcore Studios.
Before the con I tried to make sure I had everything I needed: creator banner, posters, stickers and copies of The Return of Camazotz. Our good friend and letterer of The Return of Camazotz, Mason Solimine, came through with a quick turnaround and got me some copies in time for the convention. Also my sister who has been a huge supporter of our comic made stickers to sell, and my mother made T-shirts to wear, (We promise official Camazotz T-shirts are coming soon!). Two nights before the con, I checked and double checked to make sure I had everything ready to go.
The day of the event, we drove out to Dallas from Fort Worth, about a 40 minute drive to the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas. When we arrived we could see other creators also unpacking and getting their tables ready. And what a line-up of creators it was! John Aviña (Lucha Forever, Cinema Muerte), Mickey Martinez and Sam Jimenez (Quetzalcoatl, Lechuza), Hector Rodriguez III (El Peso Hero, Chispa Comics), David Bowles (Feathered Serpent Dark Heart of Sky, Chispa Comics), Joey Gonzalez (Plus Waco Comics) Kevin Garcia (Teoatl, Worlds War Comics) and more were there.
I found my table and started setting up, it was at this moment I realized I forgot to bring my creator banner and my Whamstand! I almost panicked but as another creator told me, “you always forget something”. Miraculously, John Aviña had an extra Whamstand and graciously gave it to me to use during the convention, such a great guy! At 11 the doors opened and we began selling right away. The excitement was palpable!
Throughout the day we sold many comics, stickers, and posters. The comic was a hit! People loved the gothic art style, and were intrigued by the pitch of the story. Also we had free candy, a free bookmark and a free sticker to entice people even more! It was so fun to see my sisters and brother in law also sell the idea to people passing by the table, they truly were great salespeople.
Some of the highlights were talking to the other creators at the event, special shout out to Ho-Seh Esquivel (Shao-Lucha), Gonzalo Alvarez (Gonzzink), Dianita who took a great photo of me at my table, and Amazon Daniella who cosplayed as Wonder Woman. Malcolm Harris (Witch Girl Adventures) who complimented my comic and set up, and my table neighbor David Olivarez. Everybody at the convention made me feel welcomed to be there and many of them bought our book.
Another highlight was seeing one of our loyal Grimmcore Studios fans Vaughan Fox (Hour Glass Comix) who showed up with his Kickstarter comics for me to sign, I had to take a picture with him! Two fans told me they came to the event just for me and our comic. Something like that doesn’t normally happen at your first convention but the people know that there is something truly special about our book.
The whole event was over in a flash, along with the lucha libre wrestling matches attendees had a lot of awesomeness to consume, and around 6 we started to pack up and make our way back home. I made sure to get as many creators to sign a copy of my poster for memories' sake. Lastly, I’d like to thank and commend the all the staff and security running and working the show in particular, Hector Rodriguez III, Eliamaria Madrid (Spiced Eliastrations), and Primo Freddie from My Primos Podcast who moderated some panels and gave me a ride to the after party and back home.
All in all it was a tremendous success, we want to thank all the people who showed up and bought a copy of the comic or even just grabbed our freebies, we had a great time and we’ll definitely be back again next year. Now, I just gotta find more shows to go to! Maybe some Horror Cons? Who knows?
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