take A peek into our curation process and get some tips on what we look for to help you make the most of your application!
Thought Bubble exhibitor applications are curated and every year we are asked for feedback on applications that don’t quite make it through the process; it’s really difficult for us to give individual insight because we receive so many! So we’ve put together this blog to give you a peek into our curation process, help you make the most of your application and hopefully shake off a little of the mystery.
Before we start, it's really important to remember that if you don’t get the result you hoped for it is not a reflection on the quality of your work. We get a lot of applications and have limited table space, which means we have to turn down more applications than we’d like to. We don’t enjoy turning people down, but sometimes we simply don’t have the space! If you don’t get in, we say keep trying!
SO… WHAT HAPPENS TO MY APPLICATION ONCE I HIT SUBMIT?
Once we receive everyone's applications they’re collated into one giant spreadsheet and when applications close, the team starts reading. Curation becomes the whole team's primary focus for 2-3 weeks. We check the links you’ve sent us, read what you’ve written and then each one of us will individually mark them with a key: Yes, No or Maybe. Once we get through them all we have a big team meeting to chat through our selections, where we’ll make the final decision.
By this point at least four people from Team Thought Bubble will have looked at your application. Sometimes it can be really tough coming to a decision we all agree on as we all have different likes, styles that we gravitate towards and genres we love, plus we hate turning people down. But this process means that we have a really great, diverse selection of exhibitors that make it through. Here are a few points on how to make the most of your Thought Bubble application:
COMICS ARE NUMBER ONE
We’re a comic convention, that means comics will always be number one to us. You don’t have to have worked for DC or Marvel, far from it; we love webcomics, we love indie comics, zines you’ve printed at home and anything sequential. If you’ve created any of these pieces, show us! This definitely doesn’t mean we don’t accept other types of great creators, but comics take precedence at Thought Bubble.
Kristyna Baczynski amazing table at Thought Bubble 2019! - @kbaczynski
BE CLEAR
Thought Bubble receives around 700 applications each year and like we said, we look at every single one! So your main aim with your application should be to make it really clear who you are, what you do and what you’ll bring to the con.
MAKE USE OF THOSE LINKS
From 2020 onwards we have made applications so you can add more web links in your application; up to three! You can link your own websites or webstores, dropboxes, social profiles, digital portfolios, and pdfs of your comics. Even photos of your work are great. You don’t have to use them all! Just show us a range of what it is you’d have on your Thought Bubble table.
And yep, we love social media so linking your Instagram, Facebook or Twitter is awesome. But, it’s not all about numbers to us; it’s more important that we can see your work on there. And if you don’t use social media for your work, that is totally fine with us too!
Seeing digital illustration is great, but how does that translate to physical pieces? We do get a few applications where all we can see is digital images, and it’s really tough for us to judge how you’d fill the space. Got prints? Got books? Got stickers and merch? Let's see ‘em!
TIP: Double and triple check your URLs, if the links are broken, we won't be able to search out an alternative. It makes us so sad when they don’t work! And if you’re using dropbox, make sure we can access it!!
CHIP Collective showing off their set up at Thought Bubble 2019 - @chipcollective
SHOW US YER TABLES!
A really useful resource for us is to see past tables you’ve had at conventions. We LOVE to see amazing table set ups, it really helps sell how you’d fit at the convention. It doesn’t have to be fancy and bright, but if it's full of comics and beautiful illustration, you’ve got our attention. Of course we know that Thought Bubble might be your first ever convention, so don’t worry too much if you don’t have one, we won't count it against you.
TIP: Take your time with your application, read each question carefully and double check you’ve put everything you want to before you hit apply. There is no need to rush, as long as its in by the deadline you can take all the time you need.
SUPPORTING INFO
There is a section of the application form where you can let us know a little supporting information for your application. This is a really great way to tell us more about you and why you would love to be at Thought Bubble. It’s a great place to let us know if you have anything that hasn’t gone to print yet. It’s an important part of your application for sure as it puts the links you’re provided into context. Keep it short, keep it concise.
If you’re still on the fence about applying, we would say… go for it!
Love, always,
Team Thought Bubble