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Monday, November 4, 2013

Networking And Finding an Audience

Nekocon

I just got back from an anime convention called Nekocon 2013 (if you want to hear about my time there, then click here). Nekocon was a place to not only have fun and talk to like-minded geeks, but also to do a lot of networking. I met with a bunch of comedians who call themselves Geek Night Comedy. These comedians ran a panel called “How to Make Your Nerd Job a Reality”.

At the end of the panel, the comedians asked for business cards. I unfortunately do not have business cards but I was able to give these people the name of this website. This is not the only time someone has asked me for a business card. After finishing Trapped's artwork, I will make a logo and some business cards for Dark Siren Games.

Visiting the artist alley at Nekocon, I managed to talk to artists in their down time (when they are not circled by fans and customers) about tips for selling my artwork at conventions and getting my name out there. Apparently artists are getting a lot more out of Tumblr than they were with Deviantart, I should start selling my artwork at local anime conventions when I'm ready, and conventions are a great way to get new fans. One artist even wrote down a good website to go to when I want to start making prints.

Figuring out my demographic

One of the best and yet sad things I learned at the con was who my demographic will be in the future. I figured I could have all the nice imaginative fantasy worlds, three dimensional characters, and intriguing stories all I want. But since my stories have a huge chunk on romance and/or relationships (be it girlxboy, boyxboy, and girlxgirl) my main demographic will always be female. At least that is the vibe I got when I was listening to guys talk about the anime they were watching or when I was talking to guys about the recent anime I have seen (which the majority happened to be targeted at the female audience).

I've only met a few male anime fans (my boyfriend being one of them) who enjoy a few shoujo anime and even some boy's love while I have met a ton of females who are into every kind of anime imaginable. Maybe females are a lot more daring when it comes to watching a variety of anime while males tend to stick to what they KNOW they would like? Now I am just pondering.

With a clear target demographic in mind now, finishing Trapped and writing stories has become a lot easier now.