Denise Dorman Asks – Is Cosplay Killing Comic Con?

When the true title of the blog is

The Hidden TRUTH About Comic Book Convention Earnings: For Creators, Have Comic Book Conventions JUMPED THE SHARK?

I am not sure why it was worded this way when reblogged except to start a false argument with cosplayers.

The real issue is the price of having a table and going to many cons in recent years has gotten crazy expensive!

I am curious what people who regularly show art at these show think. Denise says that it costs them $7000 to have a booth at SDCC. That is a CRAZY amount of money and I am not even sure it includes the cost of printing materials to sell and the booth banners, display materials etc.

I have talked to a lot of artists with a wide range of booth/comic/art types and it seems like the real issue is that before any of the other costs associated with a con, you have to pay a ton of cash for a table or a booth.

A convention like Mid-Ohio con for example used to charge $50 for an artist table. That has ballooned to at least $300 (maybe higher now; someone correct me) without any of the other costs.

After the artist has paid for the booth, the attendees that buy art have already spent a large amount on tickets, parking, hotel and food that has also skyrocketed in recent years. That means a huge reduction in sales.

One con I used to go to regularly was GenCon. I always had good sales there even though the art room was not on the main floor at the time. I thought the newer setup with the artists on the floor in booths would mean much better sales but when I asked my brother and his wife who attended the whole con several weeks ago if they scoped the art tables, they said they never even went to the art section of the dealers room!

I chastised them appropriately but I want to hear about what artists in town who still go to a lot of conventions think about the current situation.

I think a lot of people are going to the smaller alternative comic conventions (SPACE in Columbus is reasonable (for fans and artists) and easily my favorite convention).

It seems like many artists are turning to the alternative press shows. At TCAF in May, it CRAZY crowded. But, there is no entrance fee and I bought a lot of great comics.

Thoughts?