How You Can Help Support Nattosoup Studio

While you guys never owe me anything, there are a few ways you can help me out if you enjoy the things I share.

1. Buy 7" Kara, online and at cons. It takes a lot of work to make a watercolor comic, and I don't sell enough books to buy them in bulk. I pay $9 per book (discluding shipping), and buy in batches of 50, so every $20 sale of a book with a sketch helps out a lot! Not only does it repay my initial investment, but it tells me you care about the comics I make, which really motivates me to put in those long days. While I do intend to eventual release Kara as a webcomic, current book sales allow me to meet you guys at conventions, buy supplies for the comic (paper, brushes, paint), and dedicate time to working on it. If you like what you see, consider supporting! I also sell copies in the Natto-shop, or you can email me about purchasing a book.
2. Follow up online after the convention, or if you only know me online, come say hi at a con! I often feel like I'm working in a vacuum—my convention and online lives are very separate. I really want to bridge that gap.  
3. Share your favorite posts with your friends! My audience is small and often quiet, please speak up guys! I know you can't afford to support me, but with a larger audience, a little from everyone can go a long way.
4. If I gave you advice or a portfolio review at a con, consider contributing to my tip jar or donating on the blog. I spent a lot of money while at SCAD, and am professionally qualified to teach art, so even a little bit shows your appreciation for my help! Such contributions also go towards the production of panels and posts that everyone can enjoy.
5. Tell your friends/family/teachers about me. I attended 18 cons this year, but only gained maybe 100 Tumblr followers.  Spreading the word and boosting my signal helps my sales and gives me cultural value.  Should I pitch to a publisher, I can point to those stats and prove I have an audience already willing to support my work. I'm also very interested in teaching workshops on comic craft, watercolor, and alcohol based markers at local schools and libraries, and having parents/students request my presence may be more productive than pitching workshops myself.
6. Request art track panels through the con's suggestion form, and mention me. You requesting that I be invited to present goes so much further than me pitching a panel, as it shows an existing, interested audience that values what I have to offer. When I produce panels, I request compensation (Usually a comped table or badge to offset the cost of lost sales), and when others request my presence, cons take that compensation request more seriously. This would particularly be helpful at cons I attend regularly such as Anime Weekend Atlanta, Mechacon, and Middle Tennessee Anime Convention.
7. Request that your local library acquire a copy of 7" Kara. This is a great way to help me spread the word and introduce even more readers to her miniature world. You can request libraries carry a book in person or online. My book is available to all libraries through Baker & Taylor, my site, or Amazon.
8. Consider giving original art for Christmas and birthdays. Commissions are a great personalized present, and I handle everything from pet portraits to family portraits, to illustrations of original characters (RP, DnD, tabletop, or from your personal projects). Joseph always commissions artists to draw Kara for me, and it's so exciting to see how others interpret her. Artists love receiving art, so don't let that stop you from indulging yourself or treating a friend. I have a variety of options available to suit a variety of needs and budgets, from con style sketches to beautifully detailed watercolors that are heirloom quality.