August, 2026

How to Prepare for Your First Artist Alley: A Beginner's Guide

Planning your first Artist Alley table? This practical guide covers everything you need to know, from preparing your artwork and setting up your artist booth to pricing, stock, payments, promotion, dealing with nerves and making the most of your first convention.

Before You Start

If you're thinking about getting your first Artist Alley table, this guide is for you.

Tabling at a convention for the first time can feel incredibly exciting — but also a little terrifying. There is a lot to think about, particularly when the convention isn't in your own city and you're travelling with your artwork, equipment and stock.

Planning ahead makes a huge difference. The more prepared you are, the easier it is to arrive feeling calm, organised and ready to enjoy the experience rather than worrying about what you've forgotten.

This guide is written specifically for artists who are new to Artist Alley and aren't quite sure where to start. It covers practical things that are easy to overlook when preparing for your first event, as well as some common beginner mistakes that can make an already overwhelming weekend more stressful than it needs to be.

But Artist Alley isn't only about tables, stock and sales.

Your first convention can be an emotional experience too. You might spend months preparing your artwork and imagining the weekend, only to find that the reality feels completely different. Perhaps your table is quieter than you expected. Perhaps another artist seems to be doing incredibly well while you're having a slow day. Perhaps you're exhausted, overwhelmed or questioning everything by Sunday afternoon.

That doesn't mean you've failed.

I've included advice about the mental side of conventions as well, because looking after yourself is just as important as remembering your card reader.

Much of what you'll read here comes from my own experiences, as well as conversations I've had with many other artists throughout my convention journey. Everyone does things differently, and there is no single "correct" way to run an Artist Alley table.

Think of this as a collection of practical Artist Alley tips for beginners, along with lessons I've picked up along the way.

Most importantly, Artist Alley is supposed to be fun.

There will be busy days, quiet days, unexpected problems, amazing sales, disappointing sales, wonderful conversations and probably at least one thing that doesn't go according to plan.

That's all part of it.

So prepare as much as you can, give yourself some grace, learn from the experience — and whatever happens that weekend, I hope you enjoy it fully.

1. Plan Your Artist Alley Table Before You Get There

Don't wait until you're standing in front of your table at the convention to figure out where everything goes.

Before the event, find out exactly how much space your Artist Alley table provides and sketch out your display.

Think about:

Where will your main artwork be displayed?
Can people easily see your prices?
Where will customers stand while browsing?
Where will you keep packaging and spare stock?
Where will your payment device go?
Can someone browse without blocking the entire table?

Your artist booth setup needs to work from both close up and several metres away.

Someone walking past should be able to understand what you sell almost immediately.

If possible, photograph your completed setup at home before the event. This gives you a visual reference when you're tired and assembling everything at the venue.

Tip: Don't make your first convention the first time you've ever assembled your display. A practice setup at home can save you a surprising amount of stress.

2. Don't Underestimate How Much Stock You Need

Running out of your most popular print halfway through Saturday is frustrating — especially when you still have an entire Sunday ahead of you.

Before the convention, look at what has sold well online and at previous events.

Create an Artist Alley stock checklist and separate it into three categories.

Artwork

Art prints
Original artwork
Stickers
Cards
Other merchandise

Packaging

Protective sleeves
Backing boards
Bags
Mailers
Tissue paper
Business cards

Equipment

Tablecloth
Displays
Signs
Price lists
Card reader
Chargers
Extension cables
Power banks

And always bring spares of the boring things.

The things you think you won't need are often the things you'll desperately need at 10am on Saturday.

3. Make Your Artist Alley Prices Easy to Understand

A customer shouldn't have to ask you the price of every item.

Make your pricing visible and easy to read.

You can use individual price tags, small signs, a printed price menu, or a combination of all three.

When deciding your Artist Alley prices, consider:

material costs;
printing costs;
packaging;
table fees;
travel;
payment fees;
your time;
and, most importantly, the value of your work.

Don't automatically try to be the cheapest artist in the room.

You don't need to compete on price if your work, presentation and experience offer something different.

4. Your Artist Booth Display Is Part of Your Brand

Artist Alley tables can be incredibly busy visually.

Bright artwork, banners, prints, plushies, signs and merchandise are competing for attention everywhere you look.

Your table therefore needs a visual identity.

Ask yourself:

What should someone remember about my table after they've walked past it?

Your colours, signage, artwork arrangement and display should feel intentional rather than simply being whatever you managed to fit onto the table.

Your display isn't just decoration.

It's silent communication.

It tells people what kind of artist you are and what kind of experience they can expect from you.

5. Make Buying as Easy as Possible

Conventions aren't the place to discover that your card reader hasn't charged.

Before leaving home, check:

your card reader;
phone or tablet;
charging cables;
power bank;
internet connection;
cash float, if accepting cash;
and any payment apps you use.

I recommend having more than one way to accept payment where possible.

Technology occasionally decides to have a personality of its own.

Don't let a dead battery be the reason you lose a sale.

6. Bring Something People Can Take Away

Business cards, postcards or small promotional cards can be surprisingly useful.

Someone may love your artwork but not be ready to buy anything that day.

Give them an easy way to find you later.

Your card might include:

your artist name;
website;
Instagram;
Pinterest;
YouTube;
QR code;
and anything else you want people to remember.

A convention isn't only about what you sell that weekend.

It can introduce your artwork to people who become customers months or even years later.

7. Show People How Your Artwork Is Made

One of the biggest advantages of being a traditional artist is that people are fascinated by the creative process.

If you paint traditionally, let people see that.

Bring:

a sketchbook;
development sketches;
photographs of your work in progress;
or a small portfolio showing the stages of a painting.

People don't just see the finished artwork.

They get to understand the time, skill and decisions behind it.

That can completely change how someone perceives the value of an original artwork or fine-art print.

8. Don't Hide Your Prices

This deserves its own point because I've seen artists make their customers do far too much work.

If someone has to ask:

"How much is this?"

for every single item, some people will simply walk away.

Clear pricing makes buying feel comfortable.

It also allows people to browse your table even when you're talking to another customer.

9. Be Present and Pay Attention

You don't need to stand behind your table all day. Please look after yourself. If you need to sit, rest, manage a disability, manage pain, take medication, or simply take a break, do what you need to do. Everyone has different physical needs, and accessibility should always come first.

What matters is being present when you're able to be.

It can be surprisingly easy to become distracted at a busy convention. You might be checking your phone, chatting with the artist next to you, organising stock or simply taking a moment to yourself.

All of those things are perfectly understandable.

But remember that someone may be standing in front of your table because they love your work.

You didn't spend months creating artwork, preparing stock, paying for a table and travelling to the convention just to accidentally miss the people who are interested in it.

Pay attention to your surroundings.

If someone slows down at your table, looks closely at a print, picks something up, or seems interested in your work, look up and acknowledge them.

A simple smile or:

"Hi! Have a look around!"

can be enough.

You don't need to give everyone a sales pitch. Don't hover over people or make them feel pressured to buy. Give them space to browse while remaining available if they want to talk.

And remember that your phone can be one of the biggest distractions.

Of course, check messages, take photographs, post stories and do whatever you genuinely need to do. Just try not to spend the entire convention looking down at a screen.

The same applies to conversations with neighbouring artists. It's lovely to make friends and chat with the people around you — that's one of the best parts of Artist Alley! — but don't let a conversation become so absorbing that you stop noticing your own customers.

Your attention is part of your display.

You don't have to be standing. You don't have to be constantly talking. And you certainly don't have to be "on" every second.

Just look up, notice people, and be available when you can.

10. Promote Your Artist Alley Table Before the Convention

Don't wait until you're sitting behind your table to announce that you're attending.

Start promoting the event beforehand.

new artwork;
convention exclusives;
packing preparations;
sneak peeks;
your table setup;
the convention name and dates;
and, once you know it, your Artist Alley table number.

Use the event's official hashtags where appropriate and tag the convention.

You want someone to arrive at the convention already thinking:

"I need to find that artist."

11. Give People a Reason to Visit Your Table

If you're able to offer something special for the event, it can help.

This could be:

a new artwork;
a convention-exclusive item;
a limited quantity of a particular print;
a special display;
or something that simply won't be available online until later.

But don't manufacture fake scarcity.

If something is genuinely limited, tell people why it's limited and how many exist.

Authenticity is much more valuable than artificial urgency.

12. Network With Other Artists

Artist Alley isn't just a collection of individual businesses.

It's a community.

Talk to the artists around you.

Share experiences.

Recommend suppliers.

Help each other when someone needs to quickly run to the toilet or grab food.

You never know when another artist might become a friend, collaborator, customer or someone who recommends you for a future opportunity.

And remember:

Another artist succeeding doesn't take a sale away from you.

There are plenty of people who will happily support multiple artists.

13. Don't Let Comparison Take Over

Artist Alley can bring out some complicated feelings.

You might have an amazing weekend and see the artist next to you struggling. Or you might have a quiet day while someone across the aisle seems to have a constant queue.

It's very natural to look around and think:

"What are they doing that I'm not?"

Sometimes that curiosity can be useful. It might show you something you'd like to improve in your own business.

But try not to let comparison turn into resentment.

If another artist is doing well, that isn't the reason you're having a difficult day. And if you're having a fantastic day, it's not necessarily because you're doing something better than everyone around you.

You simply don't know the whole picture.

You don't know how many years someone has been doing this, what they've invested, what their previous conventions were like, what their costs are, what they've sold online beforehand, or what they're dealing with personally.

You're seeing their convention from your perspective — not their entire reality.

If you find yourself feeling jealous, that's okay. We're human.

Instead of directing that feeling towards the other artist, try asking yourself what it might be telling you.

Perhaps you've noticed something you'd like to improve.

Perhaps their display inspired you to rethink yours.

Perhaps their confidence made you realise you'd like to become more confident.

Take the useful information and leave the resentment behind.

Learn From Other Artists Without Losing Yourself

There's nothing wrong with admiring another artist's work or asking a genuine, respectful question.

But you don't need to spend the weekend trying to reverse-engineer someone else's entire business.

You don't need to know exactly how much they made.

You don't need to investigate their suppliers, calculate their sales or reproduce every aspect of their display.

And you certainly don't need to approach someone repeatedly with invasive questions about how they run their business.

You don't need their formula. You need yours.

If you become obsessed with copying whatever seems to be working for somebody else, you can gradually lose your own artistic identity.

Eventually, you may find yourself making work you don't even enjoy because you're constantly chasing somebody else's version of success.

Be inspired. Learn. Ask questions respectfully.

Then take what you've learned and make it your own.

Be Kind to Your Artist Alley Neighbours

Try to remember that everyone at Artist Alley is there because they've worked hard to get there.

Don't resent someone because they have a queue.

Don't assume their success came easily.

Don't interfere with another artist's customers.

Don't gossip about their sales.

And don't make assumptions about someone's life based on what you see behind a convention table.

If someone is having a fantastic weekend, let them have their moment.

Their success doesn't take away from yours.

And if you're having a difficult weekend, be kind to yourself too.

There is no guaranteed shortcut to success, and there is certainly no need to tear someone else down to make yourself feel better.

Focus on your own table. Work hard. Keep learning. Enjoy what you're creating. Believe in yourself.

You don't have to be better than the artist next to you.

You just have to keep becoming a better version of yourself.

14. Don't Obsess Over Your Artist Alley Table Location

It's easy to look at the floor plan and start worrying about whether you've been given the "good" table.

Maybe you're near the entrance. Maybe you're at the back. Maybe you're next to a big-name artist. Maybe you're in a corner that doesn't seem to get much traffic.

Try not to let it consume you.

Your table location matters far less than you might think.

Of course, some locations will naturally have more foot traffic than others, and it's reasonable to consider this when applying for conventions. But once you've been assigned your space, there is usually very little point spending the entire weekend worrying about what might have been.

People don't only visit the tables that happen to be in the busiest aisle.

They follow artists they've heard about. They notice interesting displays. They wander around. They come back later. They recommend artists to their friends.

And sometimes the table you initially thought was terrible turns out to work surprisingly well.

So rather than spending your energy thinking:

"If only I had been over there..."

ask yourself:

"What can I do with the space I've actually been given?"

Make your display visible. Make your work easy to browse. Talk to people when you can. Promote your location beforehand. Put your table number on your social media posts.

And then let it go.

You cannot control every variable at a convention.

You can control how you prepare, how you present your work and how you treat the people around you.

Don't let an imaginary "perfect table" distract you from making the most of the table you actually have.

15. Look After Yourself During the Convention

This sounds obvious until you're eight hours into a convention and realise you've barely eaten.

Bring water.

Bring food.

Wear comfortable shoes.

Sit down when you can.

Take bathroom breaks.

Charge your devices.

And if you have someone with you, arrange breaks so that you aren't stuck behind your table for the entire day.

You are part of the experience too.

You don't have to spend every second selling.

A successful convention should be an experience you can actually enjoy.

16. Keep Track of What Actually Sells

After each convention, don't just pack everything away and forget about it.

Take a few minutes to record:

what sold;
how many;
which designs performed best;
which products barely moved;
what people repeatedly asked for;
what price points seemed comfortable;
and what you ran out of.

This information becomes incredibly useful for your next event.

Your first convention is partly an art event and partly market research.

Pay attention.

Your customers are telling you what they want.

Most Importantly: Enjoy Your Artist Alley Experience

Your first Artist Alley can feel overwhelming.

There will probably be things you forget.

Something might break.

You might bring too much of one thing and not enough of another.

You might have an unexpectedly amazing day — or a strangely quiet one.

None of that means you've failed.

Every convention teaches you something.

You'll gradually learn how to pack, how much stock you need, how to arrange your table, what people respond to and what makes your Artist Alley experience work.

And eventually, the frantic preparation becomes part of the fun.

Because underneath the stock lists, payment systems and table displays, there's something rather wonderful happening:

You're putting your artwork in front of people and meeting the people who love it.

That's what Artist Alley is really about.

So prepare as well as you can, be kind to yourself and the artists around you, stay curious, keep learning — and most importantly, enjoy the experience.

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