My one big complaint is that it feels like Reed Pop and/or the AA director is trying to make and present their Artist Alley as mediocre or unprofessional because they have somewhat-ridiculous restrictions on space design. As if being independent or not being owned by a company means you're an amateur. During their 2025 show, restrictions included that tabletop displays are not allowed to exceed 4ft from table surface and backdrops are not allowed to exceed 10ft (which is actually pretty standard), but they are unusually strict on "your backdrop display must be flat and your tabletop display and backdrop display cannot connect. There must be clearance between your backdrop display and table display, such that we can see-through your display. No extra tables are allowed behind or beside your table, regardless of if you have a corner space or not. Your space cannot look like a booth (as determined by AA team)." This really dug into my anxiety, as separating my backdrop from my side-drop (assuming having a side-drop is even approved) not only destroyed the entire look of my signature display, it meant not being able to display all of my work due to space limitations. What became most stressful, however, was that I was told I needed to take down the part of my display between my table and backdrop, but I spoke with many other artists who did the same as myself and were not spoken to. It felt very biased and unfair. When I asked why I had to take down part of my display (do note, my art is completely all-age-inclusive and family-friendly, so content was not a factor in this), the director said, "Welcome to ReedPop!" with absolutely no explanation.
Outside of the show, it is also very expensive to attend. I traveled from the western-US, the flight was easily around $600 and I spent around $850 for a hotel within walking distance. I think the table price was reasonable, however, and the crowds quickly paid off all of the expenses.
This is certainly a show that I would like to continue doing, granted my success. I do however hope that the staff could be a little more transparent and reasonable on procedures and restrictions. To be honest, it kind of feels like these restrictions may be in place to pressure artists into renting booths instead of tables, which comes with a significantly hefty price increase.
Attendance was very good, and they aren't just a "print" crowd like you get with some shows. They had their fair share of people with money looking for originals, which is always a treat. Surprisingly great staff/security provided by the convention. Everyone was really helpful and knowledgeable, which usually isn't the case. Overall, if you do well at smaller shows then I'd suggest signing up, because you will probably not be accepted for a couple years.
I didn't get to leave my booth much, but the only negative thing I saw was how they did the authors dirty. They put them all in a corner and hid them behind a curtain, which is becoming a more common thing at these shows for authors and creators, and I don't know why.
On the bright side, a fun part is it's right next to the city and there are plenty of things to do after the show. I stayed in Chinatown for almost nothing and walked to the convention center. It was very affordable.
In reference to this year specifically I had a small issue. I usually have exclusives for the ReedPop shows and I had some this year but most people did not know it as artists were unable to list exclusives in the exhibitor exclusive page of the site and instead had to do it within show specials or not at all, and I feel this affected the traffic flow to my table. It was not drastic but I will be reaching out to ReedPop about it.
In any case the artist alley for ReedPop shows (C2E2, Emerald City, New York Comic Con, and Star Wars Celebration) are juried artist alleys and they prefer to only have "flat" artists. This means only people selling books/prints/posters/sketches are put into the artist alley and the rest should be on the show floor like crafters and small press. I am unsure if this is beneficial to the show or not but it keeps things a little better separated for the attendees and may be easier for them.
To wrap it up it is a great show to work, great fans and people to meet, and there are a lot of events in conjunction with the main show. Give it a try and apply next year.
