I’ve set up a little store with Society6! You can buy prints of some of my comics, like this one here:
You can get them on paper or, for the fancy, in a frame, or even on mugs and cards and tote bags and other cool stuff. And the best bit is that this weekend Society6 is offering 10% off and free shipping worldwide!
Go have a look! (The link is also in my menu now).
…That was is me in salesperson mode.
I didn’t like it either. It felt icky.
I’ve always known that sales is hard and I would be terrible at it, but I didn’t realise the extent of those things until I tried to write this post.
So when I say something like “go have a look” and link to the store maybe you could take it to mean “please buy the thing it’s really awesome and will make your life better (not in a consumerist way, in an art way, even the travel mugs) and I kind of need the money for my website and art equipment and medical costs and rent and food and stuff not that I’m desperate or anything you don’t have to buy it WHATEVER LIKE I EVEN CARE” without me actually having to say it.
Yes? Awesome.
And I can use the time we’ve saved with that to explain some things.
There’s not much in the store right now, but it’s a start and I plan to expand it. I’ve been learning digital art as I go, you see, and up until now my goal has been to create images for screen display, so not everything I’ve done has been a good size for a physical print.
But I’ve redrawn a few things. Like this:
When I create something for a comic or story that I think would be great in the store, I will generally put it in the store on the same day it is posted here. But won’t make notification posts here about new store content, discounts or free shipping offers. (I don’t want to clutter it with non-comic, non-story stuff.) I will sometimes do those notifications on my Facebook and Twitter pages (to a non-spammy degree, promise). And I’ll probably use Instagram too, if I get better at remembering it. So follow those if you’re interested in hearing about that stuff.
Also, I might add other things to the store. By “other things” I mean “art that isn’t comics”. Comics are the only art I’ve done for years, but I’ve recently started dabbling with watercolours and pen and ink again. Perhaps someday I’ll end up with something a bit different that I would like to share on the store too. Keep an eye out.
And finally, if there are any illustrations I have done in the past that you would like to see in my store, please let me know. I’m happy to take the time to redraw something people will want. And if you see any of my illustrations in the future that you would like but can’t find in the store, give me a shout. It might be because it’s a weird size for printing or I just don’t want to sell it, but probably I psyched myself out and figured it wasn’t something people would buy. So correct me, and I’ll get it sorted.
But I hope that there’s something there that you like right now.
Seriously, go have a look.
I went and I looked. Congratulations. I think your work looks just great. And please, never feel wrong about telling us about this kind of thing. I wanted to know and I’m glad to see your things available like this. I know you don’t want to put the info in the blog about new additions, etc., but (self-servingly since I don’t follow Instagram, etc.) if you could sometimes remind us, I know I’d be grateful, because…I will forget or lose this info within a short period of time, just due to the swirls going on inside my head. Well, that’s it, except for, congratulations!
Thank you! Hmmm … ok. I guess instead of constant new-content notifications I could do a kind of overview of new store things every so often. Or maybe just a banner in the sidebar that showcases recently added store content? I’ll think about it.
Thank you. I know how hard it is to push your items forward, having sat in a booth at art fairs about a million times and only after about half a million getting used to it. And I still never push people when they come in, just say I’m happy to answer questions. Finally I realized that people do want to look at what I make, and it’s not bragging or strange to be proud of what you do. And, people who are disposed to like your work like to keep up with what you are doing (in my experience). So to me, I think your work deserves as big an audience as you can get, it’s just great.
Thank you so much. I think I needed to hear that.
How exciting! Maybe you could add some of the pics from “Failure in A minor” :) Would be interested in seeing some of your non-cartoon art too!
I did consider some of those images (the writing-nightmare and the “do it anyway” one), but I wasn’t sure if they would work out of context? Especially with the fake mustache thing. But I would have to redraw them anyway, so I could do non-mustachioed versions.
BAM!
Sold!
My order is now in production :D
Selling is hard… selling yourself is harder sometimes. I can sell my skills and my experience, but convincing people to directly give me money in exchange for things is still tough. I try to trick people into thinking it was their idea all along to give me all their money. It doesn’t usually work, though. :)
I’m not sure I’m very good at tricking either. I guess I’m just hoping people can get excited about things like a mug with a stabby magpie on it.
… I just re-read that before hitting send, and I would like to clarify that when I say “a stabby magpie on a mug” I am referring to a cartoon of a stabby magpie. Not an actual stabby magpie. Which I guess would be taped to the mug? Or super-glued? Either way, not that. That would be animal cruelty. And also dangerous. The magpie might stab you.
Once it is on the mug… does it become a mugpie? ;)
… Where were you when I was deciding on a title and description for it?
Right where I always hover… somewhere near the corner of Too-little and Too-late :)
Okay, so, here’s the thing: your time and effort and talents are worthwhile, and those of us who come to this delightful corner of the Interweb already know that. That’s why we’re here, because your time and effort and talents add value to our lives. So, we’re already Team Lucy. We’re already sold. For serious. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t love what you do. So, never, ever, ever feel icky about being like, “Hey, y’all, this thing you love? Well, you can get it over here.” Honestly, you’re doing us a favor. Would you feel weird messaging me, “Hey, I know you’re SUPER into cat bowties, and I just found the most GLAM cat bowtie store on Etsy, and here’s the link…” Nope. Because I’d be all like, “OMG! GLAM CAT BOWTIES! NEED!” And I’d be pumped that you thought of me. That right there is what you’re doing by opening your store and telling me about it. Also, I LOVE that illustration of the dinosaur knocking the asteroid out of the park. That’s awesome. I wish I could get it on a coffee mug and add it to my coffee mug collection. WAIT! WHAT? I CAN? Awesome. Thanks for letting me know.
Ok. It feels weird that people might be excited about this rather than me pushing it on them, but I’ll try to adjust.
Incidentally, I wasn’t certain if “cat bowties” meant “bowties with cats on them” or “bowties for cats to wear…
… but here’s an excellent grumpy cat bowtie for humans.
And a magical unicorn bowtie for cats.