Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Allen Carter. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Allen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I started my promoting my art and writing with my first two professionally printed self-published comics back in July 2010 at the Anime Expo Convention in my current residence of Los Angeles, about a month after my 30th birthday. While I was sharing an Artist Alley table with a co-worker from my day job and a friend of his (both selling their own works), I wasn’t sure how that weekend was going to turn out in terms of sales. Would anyone purchase something I poured my blood, sweat and tears into for most of my life? The sales results turned out decent enough (with a few parents of some young attendees picking up some issues from me) to energize a desire for more convention, art festival, and comic shop appearances in the years to come. In regards to whether I wish I started my comics career earlier or later, I feel that the year 2010 was a sweet spot for me to begin that journey: The slow rise of social media was happening during that time, as well as online bookstores and on-demand printing companies. All of these services helped me greatly in promoting and selling my work both at conventions and online. In addition, the limited conventions in LA at the time was perfect for me when it came to taking slow steps into the convention exhibitor pond. So, starting later may have overwhelmed me with the explosion of conventions and not knowing where to start, while starting earlier pre-social media would have severely limited how I promoted my work, as well as only having expensive printing companies to deal with before the more affordable print-on-demand options came along.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello! My name is Allen Carter, and I am an artist and writer. I am originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, where I was born and raised, but I currently live in Los Angeles. I primarily use my talents in art and writing to develop several self published comic books (Damn Tourists, Cosmic Force, The Figure-of-Speech Mongoose) that I promote and sell at local and sometimes out-of-state comic conventions, art festivals, comic shops, etc. I have also done my fair share of freelance art projects, from band logos to children’s book illustrations, to even other comic books. Those who have first laid eyes on my work at shows usually mention how unique my art style and story concepts are, especially when it comes to my travel parody series Damn Tourists. They also can feel how much passion I have for my work with the amount of energy I have when I speak about my books.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The best part about being an artist for me, is actually speaking about my work to customers. While I have always been shy by nature, and the creative process of art is usually solo, I come out of my shell behind the table at comic conventions, art festivals, etc. The conversations can range from a relatable experience a customer had after hearing my pitch of Damn Tourists, to the experience of living in Hawaii from a fellow resident and customer, to even aspiring young comic artists looking for advice on how to get started in an art career.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Having started my comics career in the early days of social media, I was able to grow my audience slowly on Facebook first. As other platforms Instagram, Twitter, and most recently Bluesky launched, my audience began to move to their preferred platform. Much like any type of promotion: consistency is key when communicating with your audience. However, you must make sure that your expectations for how often you promote are both realistic and meaningful. It also depends on what you are promoting. Outside of crowdfunding campaigns that need to be more aggressive, posting artwork or news on an in-person appearance at least once a week is sufficient. For events specifically, you can post a little more the closer you get to the date to remind people.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @cartercomics1
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/cartercomics
• Youtube: @Allencartercomix
• Other: Bluesky: @cartercomics.bsky.social