DnA Artists
Artists & Friends
Comics Club Reading at iNK and Zinecinnati Recap
Author: Dana
Date: 09/02/24
Tags:
#events
#zinecinnati
Phew! It’s been a big month for DnA, we’ve been working hard and having fun with our pals at CAKE and Zinecinnati. Alex will be writing about CAKE, but this post is going to be about Zinecinnati and the Comics Club Pre-Party the night before at iNK.
A photo of Dana doing her reading, and the cover art for her comic.
I was rushing the weeks before the fests to finish my newest comic project, Devoted, a victorian fantasy romance. When I saw the post asking for volunteers to do live readings at the Comics Club, I was initially hesitant to do it. Alex encouraged me, like any good friend, and I decided to go for it. I’m really glad I did! First of all, the event itself was great. I laughed at some readings and got properly freaked out by others (I’m looking at you Beth!). Mine was simple, and I was honestly surprised that people went out of their way after my reading to tell me that they enjoyed it. I have a pretty intense case of imposter syndrome and have a hard time looking at my work objectively so it always feels special when someone says they enjoy my work.
Keep reading to hear about the fest the next day!
Two photos of the table display, one on it’s own and one with Dana standing proudly behind it!
The fest itself was also great. Tom and Ren do a wonderful job organizing and hosting the event. As soon as I came in, a volunteer pointed me toward my table and Tom checked on me multiple times throughout the day to make sure everything was going well. These kinds of things make a huge difference in the vendor experience, which I think also feeds into the experience of the attendees.
During the fest I was excited to see familar faces. Some people had seen our display at CAKE the week prior, some people remembered us from other fests or the previous year. Alex and I are still relatively new to the zine scene so it’s cool that we’re starting to feel like a part of it. I’m happy to announce that I sold over 10 copies of Devoted, which I credit to Alex’s awesome outreach work on our instagram and newsletter, and also to the reading (which Alex also encourage me to do, basically she’s amazing and I wouldn’t be here without her help). Some family and friends stopped by to support the team as well.
There were also plenty of new people at the fest. I had some great conversations with people who had recently moved to the area and were looking to get more involved in the local zine or art scene more broadly. I grew up in the area, and I’m proud of where I’m from, so I was happy to talk up some of the great local stuff we have going on in Cincinnati. I also had some wonderful conversations with people about open source technology, public domain, and making digital art.
By the end of the day I was tired but very satisfied. We celebrated with pizza and beer, as you do after a long day of work.
I want to take a moment to throw out some thank you’s here. Thanks to Tom and Ren for organizing the event, thank you to Abby for running the Comics Club, thank you to Brent for helping run the table and generally being a great support for me and DnA, and thank you to everyone who attended the event! Looking forward to next year!