I'm in absolute AWE of the pics of the Saturday crowd from this weekend's Motor City Con. I'm hearing Dallas Con was equally insane. Man, I really wish I coulda gone to them and had a table. Seems each year I gotta decline going because cash is just too tight. I'm making more money on commissions and paid gigs than ever before but for some reason, just keep sinking further into debt.
The reason? When I was in college, we racked up a bunch of credit cards. Needed to at the time. We were both doing college full time and working full time jobs. Plus I was trying to get my business off the ground. I'd do comic shows and only make like $50-100. I remember one store signing where I sold one book. ONE BOOK! But that was back in 2003. Its ten years later and now at each signing, I make mad cash. I sell books, art, prints and so much more. And the sketch cards certainly have got me some attention. So much so, that I am offered free tables in certain places now. It feels really good. I'm proud of that. But I am mostly proud of my 7 Graphic Novels I have published, all on my own. My comics work is king to me. And I am glad that people dig the stuff.
However the debt never got solved. It would get paid off and then racked back up. Mostly because my wife and I decided to start a family. There were complications with Scott's birth. At one point I moved our whole family to Southern Michigan to try a new life. While it did give us some postives, it gave us lots of negatives as well. So we tucked tail and moved to Lansing, a more fertile town with more job opportunity for both of us. We've moved from apartment to apartment and had another baby. And we've just never caught up.
Funny thing is, I'll get down about my debt and start talking to friends about it. And then they reveal they are even in WORSE financial strains than we are! So I am not alone in this. And I guess I am doing the right thing. I put my family and bills before my art career. But soon we're gonna take some steps that I hope frees us up and finally slays this demon we've been living with for ten years. Nuff said. I'm excited!
My point to this is to tell the young ones out there: NEVER GET A CREDIT CARD! EVER!!!!! Don't do it. Me, I'm not responsible enough. I've learned that. The hard way. Don't give yourself the same opportunity to muck it up the way I did. I worked 2-3 jobs at times and bought lots of CDs, DVDs, BluRays and Toys and had to eventually pawn or ebay it all off to pay off the debt. Such a waste of time and effort. Don't make the same mistakes I did.
I am confident that next year, I will return to some of the shows I have neglected. You will see me again. The good thing is, I've still kept busy. I've taken this time to just focus on production, and not the hassle of the carnival show. And believe me, it is a hassle sometimes. There's a lot of factors that go into having a "good show." But I'm slowly coming out of the bad memories I had of the experience and am finding that I miss it. I want to come back and do a nice tour again. And I will. I think we're just itching to get out and do some travelling.
So give me the rest of this year to get some shit going and done. And you're gonna see an explosion from me next year. IN PERSON! I'm looking forward to it.
Luvs, T
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