Festival of Fear '09: My Experience

Going to take a break from the art posts to talk about my side of it all. So what can I tell you? I think I'll start with tidbits that might help other people who are new to selling/showing like I am.

• Plotting out my table display before I got to the venue helped cut down on assembly time (and stress).
• Never underestimate product placement. On Friday I might have sold 1 book. On Saturday morning, I decided to put a second sign with 3 books on the opposite end of the table. Like magic, they started to sell.
• People like little extras. The black Chinese food takeout boxes were a hit. And people thought the skull design on the front were custom made. For the peek-a-boo plants, I stamped paper bags, hole-punched the folded top and tied it shut with ribbon. Simple, but effective.
• I realized too late that some people thought I used stencils to decorate the Halloween boxes I'd painted, when really they were all painted free-style by hand (which impressed them). I should have had that information on the price sign.
• Having the stories for the Underbiters on the table was a nice reference piece if people asked questions about them. Some people were really excited about the idea of adopting (and actually, their excitement gave me a little thrill too, and I felt better about saying goodbye to the little fellas).

Now let's get to the bigger news.

So how did I do? Well, I made back all my costs, plus enough to pay for next year's table, with a bit left over (most of which went to fixing my car the other day).

I sold out of peek-a-boo plants by Saturday afternoon. By the end of Sunday, I was left with only 4 Underbiters (and sold one you folks never even got to meet. She'll be introduced later). Sold all but 1 Halloween box. Sold all but 4 owls, and have 9 pumpkins leftover.

You can see two of my little pumpkins in their new home, snuggled beneath a Halloween tree (taken by the handsome zombie I showed in a previous post).

I'm not worried about the extra pumpkins I still have because a woman who has a flower shop and a vintage furniture store in Toronto might be interested in selling my pumpkins :)

And if they don't sell there, they'll sell at the next show I'm in this October 25th called The Bazaar of the Bizarre (more on that later as well).

I met another woman who owns a cafe. She's put in an order for some Brains Vs Coffee books she'll be promoting to her customers.

I also met a musician who might want to work with me on a project. More on that if something comes of it.

And that's the last lesson I walked away with: having a table at an event like this isn't just about what you hope to sell then, but the sales and opportunities it might lead to in the future.