This past weekend I went back to Pittsburgh! Since moving to Philly last June I’ve only been back once in December with a very packed schedule that only let me see a small number of old friends. While that was essentially a vacation, this was a work trip as I traveled to do a book signing and PIE 2025. Two very different comics events in one weekend. I’ve never done that before. What could go wrong?
Table of Contents
Amtrak
Book Signing
PIE Introductions
Mobile Cartoon Museum
Doodle Rally
PIE Experiences
Selling Out
It’s the Kids
PIE Final Thoughts
Let’s Talk About Numbers
Conclusion
This trip involved a series of firsts. The first first was my first time riding the Amtrak. There is a train line that runs straight from Philly to Pittsburgh – I’ve heard about it but have never taken myself. I decided on taking a train over a bus because it would allow me to bring some larger luggage. This was also my first solo trip for a convention. No car meant no trunk space, so I had to pack as light and compact as possible. Filling a single suitcase for two different events was still a challenge though.
I don’t know if I misread the luggage specs or what but I was fully convinced my pretty standard backpack was too large so I was forced to bring a small messenger bag. This meant I had to rely entirely on my suitcase and only carry the normal daily things I usually have in my satchel. All of my inventory and table equipment for both events had to fit in one suitcase along with all of my clothes and toiletries. And then, of course, there was no bag check or security line or anything like that. Everybody on the train had a normal backpack. C’mon.
Being stuck with a small messenger bag meant I couldn’t really bring a lot of snacks for an almost 8 hour train ride. Luckily, there was a dining car on the train. I was shocked by the options when I checked out the menu online. I figured it’d mostly be prepackaged snacks, candy bars, and bottled drinks. But to my surprise the menu listed salads, hot and cold sandwiches, even burgers. Apparently there was a grill on this train?
Apparently not. I went with the grilled cheese because it was the cheapest option available. It was in a bag in a fridge and they just popped the bag open and stuck it in the microwave for 20 seconds. I figured it’d be overpriced but if I knew they were going to microwave bread I would have paid extra for the mac and cheese. Gross. Miraculously I never really got “hungry” on this trip, I just got the food out of curiosity and because I felt absolutely ragged after like four hours of sitting still in a moving vehicle.
Overall, I found the Amtrak to be a wonderful experience. There are no middle seats and on both trips the train was empty enough that nobody sat next to anybody they weren’t travelling with. I would definitely travel this way again, I’d just bring a bigger backpack and pack more snacks.
I arrived in Pittsburgh on Thursday but my signing wasn’t until Saturday. I spent Friday doing some errands and relaxing. I had a few more things I wanted to do that day, but the rain kept me inside. I got Mexican food for dinner. Saturday I decided to head to the signing a bit early. That proved to be a pretty good idea.
Ahead of this trip we finished a brand new book! It’s called Jack & Beans and it’s a fantasy gaming adventure for fans of The Legend of Zelda and The Lord of the Rings. All of our other books were spacey science fiction so it’s about time we shook things up with some fantasy. With PIE being on a Sunday I knew we had to finish this in time to do two events on one trip.
The signing was held at Rockin’ Cat, an organic cafe underneath the Secret Manga Shop where I’ve been selling my comics since they opened in autumn 2022. While meeting with the manager the previous day I learned that they actually had two other events going on that same day, so staff would be stretched pretty thin. Since I was bringing a brand-new book I wanted to make sure I got in early so it could be properly entered into the system. Plus, last time I did a signing we had people lining up before the table was even ready.
In retrospect, I should have arrived even earlier. There were a lot of hiccups with setting up the barcode scanner and figuring out who was taking payments and how. Also, and this is very small potatoes, I spent like an hour making a playlist that fit the new book but while setting up the speaker a bunch of people came in – early, again – and I completely forgot about the playlist.
After that… Well, you’ll notice I don’t have any photos to post. Sometimes that happens. If an event is slow or uninteresting there often isn’t anything worth photographic. In my case, I didn’t take any photos because I was absolutely swamped literally the entire time!
The first time I did a signing I got a few people coming in at the beginning, one after another, and then no one else came for the last two hours. For this one, there was always someone there and they were even coming in at the literal last minute.
As with many signings like this, pretty much everyone who came was an old friend from my time in Pittsburgh. This was a perfectly fine treat because I hadn’t seen some of them since moving and some I hadn’t seen in years. One was even an old friend from film school I hadn’t spoken too in over a decade. And, of course, the best part of the day was getting to see my former students and seeing how they’ve grown. One of them is almost as tall as me. Another, according to her mom, has apparently shrunk? Kids are so weird, I love them.
Inventory-wise I didn’t need to bring exactly twice as many books as I expected to sell because I was able to use the stock I had on consignment at the manga shop. I did, however, print out plenty of coloring pages as well as handmade stickers, sketchbooks, and even trading cards. Just extra stuff to jazz up the table and get kids excited about reading comics and seeing their favorite former teacher.
It was a great time, way more fun than the last one, and an absolute blast. My only regret is not coming up with tie-in drink specials. I was in a coffee shop named Cat selling a book about a cat named Beans. I really dropped the ball there. I’m sorry.
After the signing, my parents took me out for Mexican food and I got a picture of it. They talked about what shows they were watching and asked me what shows I was watching. I said, “Kamen Rider Geats” and they instantly changed the subject.
On Sunday I woke up super early and then couldn’t really fall back asleep. Since I was up I decided to get a jump on things and head down to PIE early and set up as soon as possible so I could use the time before opening to chat with friends. Plus I also got a few minutes in the museum which… Hang on, let me explain what the heck PIE is.
So back in the past Pittsburgh used to have this zine fair called PIX that I went to a few times before I was even thinking about making comics. I think the last one was in 2017 or 2018. It was pretty cool. One time they had Grace Ellis and we talked about this car crash I was recently in because I had no idea who she was at the time.
Late last year it was announced that PIX was being relaunched as PIE. I’m not entirely sure how much of PIX there is in PIE. There’s entirely new organizers but they took over all of the old socials. There’s some Ship of Theseus stuff going on but I think the original PIX organizers are back in an advisory position of some kind. PIX stood for “Pittsburgh Indy Expo” and PIE stands for “Pittsburgh Indie Expo” which is the same thing but different.
PIE was held at the Heinz History Center, a history and ketchup museum I’d been too a few times back when I lived in Pittsburgh. Admission to PIE was free and included museum entry as well, making it a really good deal for attendees. You can walk a floor at a con like this in less than an hour so it’s not always worth the trip for everyone. Having access to a museum meant a whole day could be made out of it. The museum opened an hour before PIE so setting up early meant I technically had a bit of time in the museum. However, after getting my table set up I had somewhere else to go.
Shortly before PIE I got an email from the Mobile Cartoon Museum, a travelling comic art museum that invited me to submit a piece to their first ever show at PIE. I thought that was really cool of them to invite all of the PIE vendors to submit until I found out they didn’t invite all of us? I’m not entirely certain what their criteria was but they invited me! That’s cool so obviously I had to jump on that.
I printed out the page myself and they provided a frame and matting. They also gave us the option to sell our pieces and keep them in circulation so they can be taken to other shows in the future. This is all super awesome? It’s really cool to see a project like this. It was on a separate floor from the rest of PIE so I was worried it would go unnoticed, but from what I heard a lot of people stopped went up to check it out. I guess if you’re already going to a museum to see comics it’s a no-brainer.
I also got to participate in my first doodle rally. A doodle rally is exactly like a stamp rally but easier and more fun. I did this with a group of creators from the Comix Accountability Club on Discord. They’re a very cool bunch of people from all over the world (mostly the east coast though) and we all get along pretty well. I joined shortly after moving to Philly and having no friends so it’s been nice having comix people to hang out with even if its only online. And of course it’s great to see a bunch of them in person.
The doodle rally was a lot of fun too! Since I’m mostly just a writer I ask people to pick which of my main characters they wanted me to draw – with the caveat that I wouldn’t tell them which character I am best at drawing and which characters weren’t Space Bunny. I don’t think anyone doing the doodle rally actually bought any of my books, but it was still a lot of fun!
Going into the new year, I decided to put all of my focus and energy into my publishing company, Comix Clubhouse. This meant, for PIE, I left all of my novellas and other comics behind and just brought our four main all-ages comics. I was given half of an 8-foot table which was more than enough room to highlight all of our comics with their own signs and some extra merch in the middle. While I think this was a good idea overall, the drawback to being listed in all PIE materials as “Comix Clubhouse” meant a few people had trouble finding my table or straight up had no idea I was going to be there because they were looking for my name. And while it’s technically good for branding I don’t think it actually mattered, nor do I think it super duper fit the vibe of an indie fair.
Going to events like this is always a gamble for me because… Well, because of a lot of reasons. My books are for kids and mostly adults go to these things. The kids who do don’t have their own money. I am the writer of our books and most people tend to seem more interested in meeting illustrators. It’s always hard to gauge what will sell and what to pack more or less of. And, of course, none of this matters if I’m sitting behind a table in a dead sea of other vendors at an event with zero attendees.
No matter what you’re selling, it doesn’t matter if no one is there to buy them. PIE opened its doors at 11:00 AM and I sat at my table ready and waiting. Would anyone talk to me? Would anyone be interested in my books? Would anyone buy them? Would anyone even come?
Once doors opened, a steady stream of attendees walked onto the expo floor. Within the first half hour the room was packed. It never stopped being packed. There were people walking around the entire time. And every single one of them was interested in the same thing: indie comics. Nobody was looking for Spider-Man or Pokémon or Baby Yoda. They were here for us.
Everyone asked questions about the process, the origin of our characters, who and where the artist is, how long we’ve been doing this, and what we’re doing next. I was talking to people basically the entire time. Honestly, the main reason I decided to turn this into a blog post instead of a video is because I didn’t get any footage. I wasn’t being camera shy or forgot or anything like that. I was just too busy. I was busy literally the entire time.
I have been to events where I’ve made zero sales. I’ve been to events where literally zero attendees show up. At the average event, I break even on the table price. If I’m lucky I pay for travel, hotel, food, and other expenses. And then we get into the cost of book production and stuff I use for other events like easels and the tablecloth.
My point is it is very hard to gauge weather an event is “worth it” or and one really counts as a “success.” For me, going full in on Comix Clubhouse where all of my books are the same flat price, I am mostly concerned about individual book sales. At PIE, I sold a lot of books. In fact, you won’t believe what happened when the expo wasn’t even close to being half over.
I sold out. I completely ran out of copies of Jack & Beans – the new book I was premiering that weekend. The day felt like it was just getting started and I was almost out of the main book that was selling the most. I started panicking. I had five copies left. Maybe I could push the other books more. I had four copies left. I guess it’d be nice to have a less crowded table? I had three copies left. Should I just pack up early? I had three copies left. I had an idea.
You see, I had two events this weekend but with Jack & Beans in particular I brought enough for three specific reasons: to sell them at PIE, to sell them at the signing, and to leave them on consignment at the Secret Manga Shop. Which meant one thing: I had ten copies sitting on a shelf at a store across town. You know what else I have in Pittsburgh? The best of friends.
So the plan came together. I confirmed with the manga shop via text that they were open and it’d be totally cool to send a friend to come and pick them up. I found someone wonderful enough to make the trip for me. I promised him he could hang out on the extra chair behind my half of the table. I also promised him Mexican food.
The absolutely insane thing is that, as he was on his way, I started selling the other books a lot faster. I told him, “Pick up those book plus Space Bunny.” And then ten minutes later I was like, “Just grab all of them.” He made it just in time. I was able to restock literally minutes after I sold the last copy of Jack & Beans. And I’m glad he did because they kept flying off the table and almost sold out for good which would have been the end. Nobody loves me enough to pick up my stock in Philly and take a private jet to bring it to Pittsburgh.
Like I said before, everyone measures success differently. Personally, I tend to focus on individual book sales. And by that metric, PIE is the most successful con I have ever done.
Let me repeat that: I sold more comics at the 2025 Pittsburgh Indie Expo than I have at any other convention ever. That’s more comics than any convention – EVER. And that includes a massive, three-day con where attendees could meet multiple Power Rangers and then walk ten feet to see me selling a tokusatsu-inspired comic. I was genuinely so shocked and surprised and obviously excited. And, of course, I wanted to know why.
It couldn’t have just been attendance or the kind of event. I’ve been to well-attended events before. I’ve been to indie comic events before. I’ve never done this well. Sure, I have a brand new book in a popular genre, but Jack & Beans was pretty much tied with Space Bunny the entire time so that can’t be it. The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize there’s only one thing that explains why I did so well.
It’s the kids. It’s gotta be the kids. I make comics for kids and kids love comics. And, obviously, adults like comics and pretty much everyone else makes comics for adults. I did talk to a few other vendors when I got the chance. We didn’t talk numbers, but I know some of them did okay and some did better than others. Why did I do so well?
There were certainly a lot of factors going on in that ketchup museum. Having a brand new book didn’t really matter, at least not in the sense that it being “new” made a difference. My two biggest sellers were neck and neck all day. But having a new book did mean I had four books instead of three. It increased genre diversity too. Jack & Beans being our first fantasy title definitely helped too.
But, really, it’s the kids. There often isn’t a lot of options for kids at events like these. There are definitely a lot of age-appropriate books at zine fairs, but it’s rare to find books – let alone an entire table – entirely, specifically made for children. It’s not uncommon for me to see a kid walking around looking incredibly bored and then they light up the moment they see my table.
I had so many wonderful moments at PIE and almost all of them were with kids. I saw kids get mad their parents told them they had to look around first and then excitedly march back to me after they’d seen everything else.
I had a kid excitedly talk to me for so long and then leave without buying anything. Later, her sibling to come back and buy some books to surprise her with. She came back like five minutes later – having already read two whole comics – to tell me how much she liked them.
I had one kid say she bought my books at a previous con and then flag down her dad because he had the money. As he walked over he said, “Ah, you found the Space Bunny guy,” with a huge smile on his face.
Multiple times throughout the day I saw kids stop in the hallway or even in the middle of the expo and sit on the floor to read my books. There was even a point where, for the first time since I’ve been doing this, I had a line.
Also, at big, general pop culture cons I tend to see parents very disinterested in letting their kids even think about comics (at comic con) and will actually pull them away. Since this is a comics-only event all of the parents I talked too were super supportive of their kids interests and some even tried pushing their kids to pick out a book
And the best part? This isn’t some calculated business strategy. We’re not purposefully making “lower art” to chase trends. We actually, genuinely love making books for kids! And, if I do say so myself, I think we’re pretty good at it. Markk’s art is so approachable and colorful and they absolutely knock it out of the park with every panel they draw and they only get better with every book. We both work with kids, so I feel like we know what they like. I know how to talk to kids and even if they don’t buy anything we all have a good time after the briefest of conversations.
At one point during the day, when I was already doing well but before I had to coordinate an emergency restock, my table mate had to step away for an extended period of time. The benefit of sharing a table is usually that you don’t need a helper to cover your table for times like that, especially when sharing a table with a friend – shoutout to Yuki from the Comix Accountability Club. However, PIE organizers went above and beyond. One walked me all the way up to the Mobile Cartoon Museum. Apparently they were willing to run to the lobby to pick up lunch for you. They walked around passing out water bottles. And they were more than happy to have someone sit at our tables for any reason So When Yuki left for almost half an hour, someone was sitting next to me the entire time. And it wasn’t just a random volunteer – it was one of PIE’s main organizers!
We talked the whole time about the event. What was going poorly (nothing) and what was going well (everything) and it was great to get such an insight from someone so closely involved in the event. They confirmed what I was already noticing in the lead up to the event. The vibe at PIE is aiming for less of a zine fair and more of a comic convention with an entirely indie focus – and that is my absolute dream. Talking to them made me realize how much work they put into the marketing and planning and it absolutely shows.
If it isn’t obvious by now, I had a fantastic time at PIE and would absolutely do it again. The Amtrak was convenient and having it on a Sunday meant I was able to get in a few days early and do a signing while I as in town making the whole trip even more worth it. The vibe was exactly what I want from a comic event. The organizers and volunteers were all wonderful. Every other vendor there seemed like a cool person selling cool stuff… I bet. I didn’t get a good look. I was too busy.
I was too busy at the most successful con I have ever done.
When PIE ended I somehow packed up in less than fifteen minutes and booked it out of there to meet some of my friends for dinner. We got Mexican food. Well. We got “Mexican” food.
Alright, let’s talk numbers. Since I stayed with family I didn’t need to get a hotel or pay for meals every day. The biggest expense was physically getting myself and my books from Pittsburgh to Philly. In addition to the Amtrak, I also needed to take a Lyft to and from the train station and once to the museum for PIE. Luckily I got a ride from a friend after dinner which was the only major food expense since I paid for the friend who delivered the mid-PIE restock. Also, I forgot to buy snacks for PIE but that ended up not mattering because the best organizers ever had a vendor-only room that was filled with free snacks.
Income-wise, I sold 19 books at the signing (which includes the Secret Manga Shop’s usual consignment commission) and a record-breaking 43 at PIE. When you add everything up we’re looking at a little over a $50 profit. If you ignore the signing, the event was only about a $20 loss. Both of those are honestly pretty great considering the average goal at a con is just to break even. These numbers also don’t include a few off the cuff sales that technically didn’t happen at either of the official events.
Obviously, everyone’s con is different. Not everyone coming to PIE has friends and an existing fanbase in Pittsburgh, or someone willing to pick up and deliver stock in the middle of the show. And certainly it’s not realistic for everyone to be able to do a one-man convention the day before.
Obviously, money isn’t everything. In addition to seeing old friends and family I also got to build connections with other vendors, get a piece in a mobile museum, get my name out there, and turn some new readers into new fans. And, I learned quite a bit.
For one thing: merch? Part of me hates the idea of having to diversify income streams with more merch options. I want to sell comics, not keychains. But I figured it was a smart idea so I did bring some buttons and stickers. Ultimately, I sold an insignificant amount so it just wasn’t worth having to pack them and bring a bunch of one dollar bills to make change. Long term, we would absolutely love to get into selling Sanrio-style stationary kits. For right now though, selling just books, all of which are $5, makes my life so much easier so that’s what I’m going to do for at least the rest of the year.
I had a great time in Pittsburgh. I got to see family and friends, including some I hadn’t seen in literally a decade. I got to make some money, doing what I love. But most of all, I got to see my dream version of a comic con realized. I would absolutely go back to PIE again next year. Why on earth wouldn’t I?
Hey! Thanks for reading through this weird thing I wrote. Originally I was going to do a vlog but as I said I was too busy to film and when I sat down to just film myself talking about the experience I was like… No. I just don’t have the energy to start a YouTube channel from the ground up. This does mean I’m never gonna get that sweet, sweet VPN money. So here are some cool ways you can support me if you enjoyed this 5k word article with a table of contents.
Buy my books!
You can find Comix Clubhouse titles on the website here or buy every book I’ve got on my person Ko-Fi store here. The new one is about cats! Buy them for your kids and/or self.
Follow me!
I can be found on Bluesky and… that’ basically it. You know how it is. You can also follow @ComixClubhouse and @Bozorobo wherever you follow things.
Watch my videos!
They’re on YouTube. Idk if they get like 10k views I guess I’ll make another.
Join the club!
Want to join the super cool Comix Accountability Club? If you make comics you do, it’s really fun. Shoot their Instagram account a DM for the invite link.
Keep an eye on PIE!
If you are a comic fan or creator in the Pittsburgh area than you definitely want to follow them online. Their Instagram seems to be their most active.
Get some Mexican food!
After we moved to Philly, my favorite Pittsburgh pizza place closed forever. Don’t let that happen to my favorite Mexican place too! Order from Patron Mexican Grill today.