Last weekend, I returned to Texas Furry Fiesta, once again entering the Artist Alley lottery on a day by day basis, since I was once again not accepted ahead of time. This was my first time ever coming back to a venue I have sold at before, which makes for some interesting comparisons.
Unlike last year, I came to the Artist Alley much better prepared. I now have all the equipment that I then lacked, and rather than bring every book I had, I brought only what stock I could carry on my cart. As a result, setup was far quicker and easier. So, first lesson learned and applied.
Last year I was accepted in the Artist Alley lottery on Saturday and Sunday. This year, I got in on Friday and Sunday (and set up very briefly Saturday evening, as per TFF Artist Alley rules). Contrary to my belief established at TFF 2024, Friday this year did not exceed Saturday last year for sales. That said, it was the best day this time, though Sunday improved its numbers from 2024.
Now, a couple things were different this time, and it is possible sales may have been negatively impacted as a result. Firstly, the Artist Alley was no longer in the same spot. Instead of being directly in front of the Dealer’s Den like before, it was located on the opposite end of the room, thus creating the same dilemma I met with at DenFur: people could visit the Den without ever coming over to the Alley. Secondly, I used a slightly higher price model for a couple categories, which may have scared a few folks off.
As a final note, it was very gratifying to meet a couple folks who had bought my work at previous conventions and enjoyed it enough to tell me so (and buy more, in one case!). As I said in a post just a couple weeks ago, feedback is extremely valuable to creatives, and whether positive or not, we really love to receive it!
Overall, I would say that this was a decent, though not especially spectacular, event for me. Was it an improvement over last year? Without a doubt! Setup was a lot more efficient, sales were the same or higher depending on your standard of measure, and my overall loss for the trip was significantly less. Was it worth the hassle of travelling hundreds of miles and braving Dallas traffic to attend? Probably not. I would like to say I could do things even better next year (which is probably true), but unless circumstances change for the better between now and then (and I don’t have to drive!), I do not think I will be making the trip again.
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