Category: Comic Cons

What I Learned Doing 42 Comic Cons in 2025 (part three): Running the Stand and a Tour of my Table

I’m Mark Stay, author of the Witches of Woodville series and The End of Magic trilogy and welcome to this third episode where I’m sharing what I’ve learned from doing 42 comic cons in 2025…

Missed the previous episodes? Click on the buttons below…

episode 1: why do it & the different kinds of comic cons
Episode 2: Costs & cashflow

Let’s talk about table displays, setting up, running the stall and getting to and from the venues… We’re going to start with some excellent questions, then in a separate video, I’ll take you on a tour of my table…

TRANSCRIPT

ALLEN STROUD

Have you tried/are you open to collaborating with other authors to make the running the stand a little easier for lunch breaks, etc? 

JULIAN BARR

What do you pack in your “survival kit” for the day?

Do you bring a buddy to help run the stall? If so, do you pay them? If not, well… what do you do if you need to pop off to the loo?

JENNIFER TAYLOR-GRAY

Any tips for travelling with lots of books? (I’ve only done one and that was local to me… it was amazing but without a car not sure how other ones are possible). 

Thank you all for these questions. Let’s take them one at a time…

Do I take someone with me to help run the stall and cover for breaks? Generally, no. Other authors might bring their partner along – and most cons offer two passes/wristbands as part of your fee – but my wife works hard enough as it is without me dragging her to a comic con just because I need a whizz. That said, we traders do look after each other and will keep an eye on a neighbouring table if someone has to rush off to do something unmentionable…

And, yes, thank you for inquiring into my toilet habits… I’ve learned to not drink tea or any other diuretic drinks while selling. I sip water. Sip, don’t gulp! For lunch, I usually get little sausage rolls or similar small snacks. Something you can nibble quickly. I’d love a big sandwich, but if you’re mid-bite and a customer comes along and you’re wiping mayonnaise off your chin etc it’s not a good look. I also have low-calorie snack bars and an apple. And I graze. From, say, 11 onwards, I have a little nibble every half hour. I’m sure some nutritionist out there will tell me this is a terrible thing, but I have the attitude that I’m there to sell: I live in fear of wandering off and missing a sale.

The only time I make an exception is when I’m at something like the MCM and I’m doing a panel. That means that I’m away from my table for over an hour, and one of my kids will cover the table for me and ask people to return later.

And to answer Jennifer’s question about travelling to/from cons without a car…

I only ever use my car, so I asked a few author friends who use public transport to get to comic cons and other events…

Ian Hunter, author of the Fyn Carter series and The Shoe Creeper – https://ianhuntercreates.com/ – sent me this…

IAN HUNTER: Travelling to a comic con or event via public transport can feel like a daunting task. Here are some of my top tips to help you feel prepared!

Packing

Suitcases are good options for keeping books secure. You can cut a box to fit the inside and pad it out. A suitcase with a hard shell gives more protection from bumps, but it also helps keep your stock waterproof. Using a case with four wheels (and using them all rather than tilting), means your case is better balanced with less chance of a wheel breaking mid-journey.

Size vs Weight

If you’re travelling away for more than a day, or the event is a big one, you might want to take more stock and need a bigger suitcase. No problem, you may be tempted to think. I can wheel the suitcase! Absolutely always ensure you can also lift the packed case first. If you can’t lift the case off the ground, you will struggle with things like getting the case on and off a train or bus. Worse – lifts could be out of order (transport alterations mean you might encounter this despite planning the journey). Even if you find help, a case of books etc. is no light task.

Other considerations

Flat-pack displays help with space.

Carry items you might want fast and easy access to in a backpack/small bag so you don’t need to open the suitcase mid-journey. Carry delicate items the same way so you can protect them more easily.

If staying overnight, taking a separate sports bag (which you can balance on top of the suitcase) means you can leave the heavy suitcase at the event and only take the essentials to your accommodation.

With large and heavy luggage, ensure you tell a taxi company when ordering (so they don’t arrive with a car without enough boot space). Be prepared to accept that the luggage section on a train etc. may already be full, so you might need to stay with your luggage between carriages and sacrifice your seat.

Allow extra time for connecting trains etc. Partially due to potential delays. Partially because there could be queues for lifts.

Remember that it might feel like a mission, but with a bit of careful planning it can work. Either way you’ll learn for next time. You’ve got this!

I got this from the wonderful Joe Dawson, author of The Goodness Potion and its Side Effects https://joedawsonbooks.com/

JOE: Remember you have a chance to advertise and market until the second you close your front door. I have an upright trolley with clear boxes with the books in, on the inside I have paper taped with the book title and a QR code, and I have made sales on the tube/ DLR, since people will be looking at the big bulky thing anyway. (But it also means you have to keep a smile on your face regardless of what’s happening around you- oh the problems of being a celeb on the tube).

For Joe, the con starts the minute he leaves home and until he returns. While I’m stuck in traffic, he’s still selling books!

My thanks to Joe and Ian for sharing those top tips!

ALLEN STROUD has another great question…

Do you use a POS solution for payments? If so, what’s worked for you? How do you manage setup and take down on your own?

That sounds like a cue for a tour of my table, so let’s do that now…

LINKS

For the Amazon links I can earn affiliate payments…

Timber Ridge Trolley

My tablecloth: Table Covers Now  

My display signs were designed on Canva and printed by Pro Design Studio. 

Acrylic Sign Holders

Book stands

Vistaprint banners

Business Cards 

Stamp

SumUp. Here’s a discount link with up to £100 discount on your first purchase.

Thanks to Dom Currie for the jingle, and Emily Stay-Newton for the camera work on the table tour.

CLICK HERE FOR EP4: A SALES QUICKFIRE Q&A

If you’ve found this helpful, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi…

What I Learned Doing 42 Comic Cons in 2025 (part two): Costs & Cashflow

I’m Mark Stay, author of the Witches of Woodville series and The End of Magic trilogy and welcome to the second episode where I’m sharing what I’ve learned from doing 42 comic cons in 2025…

Part One: why do it & the different kinds of comic cons

Let’s talk about costs, sales targets and cashflow. Ooh, exciting! This episode all stems from one very long question from…

ZOË RICHARDS, author of Tell it to the Bees and Garden of her Heart (not an author of fantasy or science fiction, but she sells at craft markets)

Zoë asks: What do you class as a good day/event?

TRANSCRIPT

I’m Mark Stay, author of the Witches of Woodville series and The End of Magic trilogy and welcome to the second episode where I’m sharing what I’ve learned from doing 42 comic cons in 2025…

Let’s talk about costs, sales targets and cashflow. Ooh, exciting! This episode all stems from one very long question from…

ZOË RICHARDS, author of Tell it to the Bees and Garden of her Heart (not an author of fantasy or science fiction, but she sells at craft markets)

Zoë asks: What do you class as a good day/event?

I’m not after sales figures, rather the formula you use. This is what I’m using, and I’d love to know if it aligns with yours.

Zoë lists her costs as…

• cost of stall

• additional costs (travel, parking, refreshments)

• depreciation costs (banner, bookmarks, table cloth, display materials)

• Costs for debit card sales (each sale incurs a small fee)

• cost of books ordered (like me, she gets author copies from her publisher at 50% RRP)

Then Zoë tallies that against her:

• targeted sales

• actual sales

• income from sales 

And the final result is:

• Total income from sales

• Minus total costs

Zoë continues: Is this the right approach? I find myself wondering if I’m doing well or wasting my time. I don’t have opportunities for comic con events as I write the wrong kind of books so mine are craft markets, which don’t always attract readers. 

Thanks Zoë and that’s pretty much the approach that I take: I tot up my costs, then estimate how many books I need to sell to cover those costs and target myself accordingly. You can tell I was a sales rep, can’t you?

I keep a spreadsheet with how much the table costs me and the estimated petrol expenses (I use the RAC calculator).

So I can tell you now that in 2025, I sold 1974 books, with a turnover of just over £20k, spent nearly £2.5 on petrol, and nearly £3k booking the events.

What I don’t track are those depreciative costs: the banners, the tablecloths, the bookmarks (and I’ll talk more about them when I do a tour of my table in the next episode)…

And I don’t track my biggest expense: stock (£6.4k in 2025),… because it’s the expense that never stops and presents its own issue: cashflow.

Now if you’re just starting out, and only have one or two books to sell, go and fetch the smallest of your violins because this is where I complain about the expense of having to regularly stock up on 9-10 published books. It ain’t cheap… 

Like Zoë, I get my Witches of Woodville books from my publisher, Simon & Schuster, at a 50% discount. And I get my self-published books from Bookvault and they cost between £5-6 per copy.

What am I complaining about? That sounds like a good markup… Well, I’ve realised that in order to have the stock arrive in time, I have to place the stock order two weeks ahead of the event. 

So if I’m coming off the back of two smaller, quiet events and then have to order for one of the bigger comic cons, and if I’m doing this every weekend, then I’m often out of pocket. Big time.

Yes, there’s a good chance that I’ll make my money back in a couple of weeks at the bigger event, but it means that I often end up overdrawn and it gets a bit squeaky bum time… and that’s why I’m not doing this for the money. Because, by the time you’ve totted up your expenses (I’m also paying for editors and artists and other expenses through my company, including two salaries) and paid your taxes and your VAT bill every quarter, there sort of isn’t any left.

What I get instead are readers. 1974 books that I personally signed and handed directly to readers. That’s a much stronger connection than selling something on Kindle for 99p to someone in Buttmunch, Indiana… That’s what I keep telling myself anyway. And no offence to the good people of Buttmunch. Go, Buttmunchers!

But hey, in 2026 the plan is to sell even more books! I’ve got a 5 book series, and now a completed trilogy, and more books on the way. So in the next episode, we’re going to talk about sales, and how to sell, and the tools for selling. I’ll even take you on a tour of my table. Ooh! Exciting, eh?

MISSED PART ONE? CATCH UP HERE…
part three: running the stand & a table tour

If you’ve found this helpful, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi…

What I Learned Doing 42 Comic Cons in 2025 (part one)

I’m Mark Stay, author of the Witches of Woodville series and The End of Magic trilogy and I’ve been selling my books at comic cons for ten years.

But in 2025, I really went for it: selling at 42 comic cons in the UK. And I’m not alone: I’ve made lots of new author friends this year at the cons, and I know that many more are thinking about it, so I thought I’d put together a series of short videos passing on what I’ve learned…

In this series of 4 videos, I’m going to cover…

The different kinds of comic cons in the UK and which ones might be right for you.

What kit you need to invest in, and I’ll take you on a tour of my table and how I lay it out.

Ordering stock, cashflow (or lack of it) and other expenses.

And I’ll be answering specific questions that some of you good people have sent me…

Let’s start with why I do them, and the different kinds of comic cons I went to this year…

TRANSCRIPT

I’m Mark Stay, author of the Witches of Woodville series and The End of Magic trilogy and I’ve been selling my books at comic cons for ten years. But in 2025, I really went for it: selling at 42 comic cons in the UK. And I’m not alone: I’ve made lots of new author friends this year at the cons, and I know that many more are thinking about it, so I thought I’d put together a series of short videos passing on what I’ve learned…

In this series of 4 videos, I’m going to cover…

  • The different kinds of comic cons in the UK and which ones might be right for you.
  • What kit you need to invest in, and I’ll take you on a tour of my table and how I lay it out.
  • Ordering stock, cashflow (or lack of it) and other expenses.
  • And I’ll be answering specific questions that some of you good people have sent me…

And let’s begin with the big one: 

JAN CARR

Why? What’s your motivation?

Why do a comic con? It’s a lot of hassle. You have to buy stock, set up a stall, get all the bits and bobs (more on that later), get up at the crack of dawn (or before dawn in the winter) and drive for hours to some draughty gym hall in a leisure centre.

It’s not glamorous, and I’m not doing it for the money, I can tell you that. I always make a profit on the day, but the margins are slim and the cash flow is a nightmare (more on that later, too). So the first question to ask yourself is: what are your goals for selling at comic cons? Why do them at all? Why not stick with online advertising and social media?

Online ads with the likes of Amazon and Facebook never worked for me (despite ploughing a lot of money into them over the years), and I’ve never been great on social media, but… I was once a bookseller and a publisher sales rep. I know how to hand-sell a book, and my books – especially the Witches of Woodville series – are classic hand-sell books. The first one was published in the second lockdown, so never got that bookshop boost that it needed, and when the fifth and final one was published last year, it became clear to me that my publisher had moved on to promoting other things (which happens), and that meant it would be down to me to keep the momentum going. So I went back to what I know best: bookselling.

For me, going to comic cons isn’t necessarily about the sales on the day, it’s more about creating new readers who will come back for more. A long term investment of your time and money into something that might pay off further down the line. Will it work? One of the great pleasures of doing so many events this year is seeing those readers come back and tell me how much they’ve enjoyed the books and have told their friends and have come back for more. So, it seems to be working.

Let’s start with the fundamentals: how much do these things cost…?

COSTS & CONVENTION VARIATIONS…

KATHERINE FRANKLIN

I’ve heard tables at comic cons are expensive – was it ever tricky to make back the pitch fee?

ANDREW GUILE

What does it cost?(!)

JULIAN BARR

Are big cons necessarily better than small ones?

JENNIFER TAYLOR-GRAY

Which cons were the best for you and why? Was it due to anything you did differently those days, or the con set up itself? 

All great questions. Let’s start by looking at the different kinds of conventions in the UK.

This year, I’ve been to cons organised by Bolt, Striking, Creed, Showmasters, Reedpop and Monopoly Events, plus a whole bunch of independent and local events. Each offer different opportunities and have varying costs…

(If you click on the images, you’ll be taken through to their pages for exhibitors)

BOLT/STRIKING

Both quite similar and I believe they were once the same company but bifurcated at some point. They’re really well run, the organisers are lovely (they bring round bottles of water and snacks to your stall!) and the events are aimed at families. Young families. These are more like toy fairs or collector events than comic cons (there’s a lot of Pokemon for sale) and very often I’m the only author with a table.

Table costs vary depending on the size/location of the venue and range from £65-£125 for a table (most are at the lower end of that). You pay a small deposit beforehand to secure a table, and settle up on the day. The atmosphere at these events is warm and welcoming, they have great accessibility policies, meaning they allow early entry for folks with disabilities and hidden disabilities. I really like them, though the young family demographic means that I do okay at these events. My books are aimed more at adults. I know that some of my author friends who have kids’ books do better than me, so bear that in mind. I’ve always made a profit, though.

Every now and then they have guests for photo opps and signings, but not often. I’ve done more of these events than any other this year, and have already booked more for 2026.

CREED/SHOWMASTERS

Again, these share some organisational/crossover DNA. These are generally bigger events and, crucially – for me – have lots of great guests. I’ve discovered that if there’s a cast member from Doctor Who or Red Dwarf present, then I will have a pretty good day. Fans of those shows are literate, have money and are willing to read new authors: gawd bless ‘em!

Showmasters also run the London Film and Comic Con, which in the autumn co-hosts with YALC… and that’s a huge event for SF&F authors. The readers bring their own little wheeled trolleys which they cram with books, and we love them for it.

Creed/Showmaster tables cost between £40-£100 depending on the venue and, for me, are great value. YALC tables cost more, but from talking to author friends who paid the extra it sounds like they’re worth it.

REEDPOP/MCM

I’ve been doing the MCM Comic Con in London for ten years. They were my first cons and they’re still the biggies. I think the last one had 130k people at the Excel Centre over the three day weekend. Creator/author tables cost £255 (cheaper for the MCM in Birmingham, I think) and they have a Writers’ Block, where all the indie authors are gathered in their own section. When I first started, there was nothing like this: just me and Kit Cox stuck in a corner nattering to ourselves (Kit kindly let me share his table, which you’d never get away with now). The MCM comic cons are now a very big deal for authors and because of that, they have a selection process. Not everyone gets a table and you have to pitch yourself to them. I can’t speak to why some authors get in and others don’t. I always offer to moderate panels, which has helped. And I think it helps if you’re planning to launch your book at the con: they love an exclusive.

MONOPOLY

I only did one Monopoly event last year – For the Love of Fantasy – and the Saturday was my biggest single day of the year. Bigger than the MCM… and if I’d had enough stock, I don’t doubt that the weekend would have been my biggest of the year. It’s at the Excel Centre (just one hall) but they had celebrity guests from Supernatural and Lord of the Rings. They run events in places like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham: I’ve not been to these, but I’ve heard good things.

DARIUS TWYMAN

What was your favourite con this year and why was it the Canterbury Gaming Convention? 😉

Thanks, Darius. It was definitely in my top 40!

Actually, the Canterbury Gaming Convention was great fun. Not a comic con, but there were a few authors there and we had a good day and I’d definitely like to come back in 2026.

I’ve done plenty of independent conventions and events, and these can be hit and miss, but the costs are often much lower than the big cons, so are worth a punt. I’ve especially loved anything with the steampunk community: like Doctor Who and Red Dwarf fans, the steampunkers are literate and lovely. The Fort Amherst event every Easter has become a highlight for me, despite being stuck in a cave for two days.

So that covers the different kinds of conventions and the basic table cost. In the next episode, I’ll be digging deeper into expenses, targets and cashflow… no, really, it’ll be fun, I promise. Well, informative at the very least…

click here for part 2: Costs & Cashflow

If you found this helpful, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi…

Things People Say to Authors at Comic Cons, 2025 Finale…

How about a final round of Things That People Say to Authors at Comic Cons for 2025…?

Another Round of “Things People Say to Authors at Comic Cons…”

I just got back from setting up at this weekend’s London Film and Comic Con and reckon it’s time for another round of…

For more details of where I’m going to be in the near future, click here.

My Last Few Comic Cons for 2025…

I’ve updated my events page with the remaining comic cons that I’ll be selling and signing m’books at in 2025. They include Croydon, Southampton, Watford, Newmarket, Hatfield, Reading, Tonbridge and the two biggies in London: the MCM and LFCC.

A couple of things to bear in mind: some of these locations are a bit like Ryanair destinations, eg: the Croydon one is actually in Carlshalton, and the Southampton one is in Eastleigh. And I’m posting this on the day that half the internet has collapsed thanks to Amazon’s monopoly of the world’s servers, so some of the Evenbrite links might need a few tries to make them work. Or, y’know, read a book instead and come back tomorrow, maybe?

Anyhoo, if you fancy a fun day out and the delightful prospect of meeting me in person (I promise to shower and shave and brush my hair) then click on the button below to find out more…

CLICK ON THIS BIG BUTTON FOR MY EVENTS PAGE!

Things People Say to Authors at Comic Cons 4

Let’s play another round of Things People Say to Authors at Comic Cons…

BUY MY BOOKS!

This weekend’s Comic Cons: Bournemouth & Peterborough

I’ll be selling and signing m’books this weekend. You can find me on Saturday 6th in Bournemouth, and on Sunday 7th I’ll be in Peterborough. Click on the images below for more details…

And for future dates, pop over to my diary and events page here.

I’ll be the the Guildford Comic Con this Saturday, 19th July

I’ve got stock (finally! See previous post for palaver details) and I’ll be at the Guildford Comic Con this Saturday 19th July. For tickets, click on the image below…

And here’s me waffling about it too if you prefer sound and vision with subtitles…

For more dates, visit my diary and events page…

Diary and EVENTS

I Won’t be Going to the Midlands Comic Con this Weekend

Sadly, I won’t be able to go to the Midlands comic con at the NEC centre this weekend, 12-13 July 2025. I ordered stock for the event at the end of June, but HarperCollins recently moved to a new distribution centre and it’s had ‘teething problems’, which in my case means I’m still waiting on stock! And without stock to sell, there’s not much point in me going, sadly…

However, I will be at the Guildford comic con on 19th July, and the Maidstone Museum Steampunk day on 26th July. There are more details on my diary page here.