Small Press Expo (SPX)

Wow! 2023 sure is a bit of a redemption-arc type of year at conventions for us. Actually fun little anecdote about SPX is that Tas and I tried to do this show… aaaaaallll the waaaay back in 2016 when we first met in person! It didn’t pan out because our group was turned around at the border due to a massive mis-communication at the time. It was a major bummer and we considered this show a little bit cursed since then.

BUT THIS YEAR– we made it in! AND we actually REACHED the convention! 8-year curse officially broken I’d say!

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What did our table look like?

So a funny little thing–we got into this show a little bit last-minute and were offered only a half-table to start with, however, a couple hours into day 1 the staff allowed us to spread out since our table-neighbour wasn’t going to be able to make it.

So here is what our two set-ups looked like!

Not too shabby on the half-table look I have to say! Its always a bit of a fun challenge trying to make that sort of table work with the type of stock we have and (hopefully) if we’re in EXPOZINE this year that’s pretty much what our funky little table is gonna look like!

However–I’m extremely glad we were able to spread out for this con, I think luckily that was the only way we managed to make back the trip… more on that later.

Top Selling Book: Paint the Town Red Volume 1
Top Selling Item: Theropods Card Deck

We… didn’t sell quite as well as we were hoping to at this convention. It was a bit of a weird one.

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What did we bring this time?

We sold out of a couple things but not quite what we were expecting to. We went home with heavy bags and heavy hearts (jkjk I’m being a bit dramatic)

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Was it worth it?

I really don’t want to harsh on this convention because I know it is near and dear to a lot of folks and I can see how it can be, honestly? An amazing local convention.

However, I’d equate this con a lot to Expozine… in that if you’re local and can make the trek its definitely a fun time if a bit slow. But its certainly not worth the cost of flying in & hotelling & whatnot. I’m not sure if its because we were new blood in the scene & didn’t know too many folks around. We’re a bit of a shy duo so it was hard for us to socialise in this type of setting. Neither of us is huge about networking since neither of us is really actively looking for an industry job. This con is…its just a bit weird for us. We both felt extremely out-of-the-loop with the scene here and weren’t really sure how we fit in I guess!

We also tend to treat a lot of conventions as a real business weekend but there just weren’t enough attendees at this show for us to make more than break even on the whole trip (and we’re extremely lucky and thankful we even managed that). This convention is one that gets really talked-up on socials, I think I’ll be the one to say that it’s not really worth it, especially if you’re strapped for cash.

I don’t know if it was just a few circumstances this year that made this show quiet? There were a lot of spooky storms the whole weekend & the weather wast HOOOTTT for September. Talking to other tablers, I couldn’t really get a feel on whether this was the norm for this show or not though. So my verdict is pretty wibbly wobbly about it at best.