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Even if you’re not a member of the site, you can read the entire post, which originally ran March 18, 2010. If you’ve ever been curious about the kind of information, tutorials and advice that you’ll get as part of your subscription to Webcomics.com, this is a good sample.

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Yesterday, in the Private Forum, a member asked, What are some tips and tricks for getting attention at a comic con? One member said: “Make sure you look like you’re having a great day even if you aren’t!”

It made me remember this wonderful moment in which a convention veteran took a moment to share some priceless advice with a newer exhibitor who was having a rough weekend.

A few years ago, the great Phil Foglio walked up to a colleague of mine.

“How ya doin’?” he asked.

“Feh,” said the cartoonist,”my feet hurt like hell, I’m not selling as well as I’d hoped, and I feel like I’m coming down with a cold.”

“No,” said Foglio, in what could only be called a fatherly tone. “These people,” he gestured across the convention floor, “they want to know that you’re having the time of your life and that when you fart, butterflies come out. It’s why they’re here. And it’s what you owe them.”

After that, every darned time I ever felt a little tired, a little sick or a little defeated at a convention, Phil’s voice piped up in my head.

And I farted butterflies.