Ginni Koch: Go to Absolutewrite forums “Water Cooler”. I learned everything from these forums.
Summer Hanford: Pen names allow for greater flexibility in genre and voice. Reader expectations can limit an author from growing or trying different genres.
GK: Traditional publishing provides more professional, experienced resources paid by others, plus an established distribution network. Book stores still matter!
SH: Do seven months prep before self-publishing; cover, promotions, a mailing list, ARCs.
GK: Hire an editor to edit your damn book!
GK: If you have a traditional agent for your publishers, whenever you self-publish, give 5% to your agent. It will keep your agent invested in your progress.
“Publishers are looking for feel different, look different, and sound different. Translations are very popular now for that reason. If you want to get away from Amazon’s pay scales, try libro.fm for audiobooks and bookshop.org.”
With Ted Chiang, Phillip Dunlop, and a really good article by Annie Dillard.
The first panel I attended was Friday’s “The Worst Advice I Ever Received”. Translating the negative definitions were a little tricky, but here is what the panelists said THAT YOU SHOULD DO AND IS QUITE OKAY TO DO:
Adam Troy-Castro: “‘Said-Bookisms’ are OK. Use them.” (‘Said-Bookisms’ are when a character dialogue has ‘explained’ or ‘stated’ or any description of intention versus physicality. I use them sometimes to reinforce physicality, but maybe I’ll use them more).
Phillip Dunlop: “Never listen to your own advice.” (I phrase that often as “You got your own ass lost in the woods. To get out, get a Ranger.”)
Ted Chiang: “Writing for a living limits you.” (Meaning having to rely on writing to pay your bills urges you to write what is financially practical and stop experimenting.)
All: “Tax pros are worth the money.”
AT-C: “Do not listen to people who tell you to stop trying.”
UM: “What is ‘success’, anyway? Anyone can make salable art.”
PD: “Know your objective. Know your audience.”
AT-C: “Publishers, answer your emails.”
UM: “You can use slurs, as long as they are necessary to the plot.”
All: “There are no limits. Write your style.”
AT-C: “Editors and editorial staff are your friends. Be nice to them. Bring donuts.”
There is a difference between wandering around as an attendee and wandering around as a vendor.
I had thought, “I’ve been to a lot of cons by myself! Three WorldCons! Countless PhilCons, BaltiCons, ConClaves, and ConQuests! I can sell my books at a con by myself!”
Au Contraire, Amigos!
My way of going to a con solo is to wander around aimlessly, attend a few panel discussions and readings, have a dinner, and leave early.
As a vendor, I could do none of these things. I stared at my vendor table. Every other table was heaped high with books and geegaws to sell. I had a skull-patterned tablecloth cut at Michaels not 24 hours before.
(similar to this, but no flowers. And in gold and black. And more crowded. This had skulls, okay?
And a poster of the new “Saints of Flesh” cover.
And a matted print of the vivid yantra by my friend Rachael.
And I remembered that at every con, in every vendor room, there seemed to be one guy with a sparse, if not sullen table, seemingly unprepared. A newbie who exuded an aura like that of a hiding deer.
There I was.
I spoke with my neighboring vendors. Was introduced to friends of theirs. Spoke with a few passersby. Accepted compliments on all the art, even the skull tablecloth.
Within two hours my tank was empty. My head ached. My stomach now percolated from the rather good Breakfast Cuban I had at a nearby Iron Rooster. I packed up and fled. Napped for two hours.
However…
In the past, I would have berated myself viciously for not sticking it out and forcing my charisma on any and all. Now, looking at the long picture, I realized that going solo is not playing to my strengths. I have never been a Top Banana, but always a Second Banana. I am not a Face or a Hannibal Smith, but a Mad Dog Murdoch. And that’s okay.
It was worth the money and time to discover this. I emailed my publisher explaining this and she quite understood, even though I left out the A-Team.
I did attend a reading that hopefully I will recall more clearly later this week, where a writer brought up a resounding point. To connect with readers, authors must be authentic. But the internet is a pit of rabid badgers. No matter what you declare, someone will pick a fight. An author might as well be honest.
So! Any experience can be like an experiment. I did not get the result I wanted, but I did learn from the result I got.
My reading had been at 6PM on Friday. As I expected there were only five people, what with no name recognition between myself and the other author, and the barely-past-rush hour time. But my reading went well. I recorded it and will be posting it soon. I also met a few very cool people, who I will be linking to in this coming week.
All this said, I got my schedule from StokerCon. My scheduled reading: Saturday at 1PM. A great time! I would be sharing the hour with three other authors, but some authors with more name recognition were in the same bind in other time slots. Then I saw this reading would be opposite the reading of the Guests of Honor. That, and I would be doing this alone.
At first, I thought, “Ah I’ll be networking and schmoozing all weekend! And it’s all paid for already!” I looked in my account and saw, no, I hadn’t yet been charged for my ticket. Or my hotel room. Urgh. I had less money than I thought….
Recent developments revealed that no, I probably would not be networking and schmoozing, but rather netslipping and receding. I cancelled my StokerCon ticket.
Maybe in a few years I will build myself up to the bon vivant I had thought myself to be. In the meantime, I will keep myself to the familiar cons crowded with my friends.
Once again, not me. But marketing surveys say I rate very well among Sheet Ghosts. Photo by Ayşenur Sağlam on Pexels.com
This is to catch myself up on what I’m doing in the next couple of months:
Prepare a presentation/reading for the launch(s):
it’s tough to get a slot for an author reading, so apply early. Most conventions allow you to just request a slot; the Horror On Main convention requires the author to buy a vendor table as well for IIRC $200? It’s promotional expense so if I make more than $4K from the books this year I can write off the expense yadda yadda. So step one, get those slots requested.
Prepare the reads/presentations. Usually the author will be given 30 minutes to do a reading and/or what’s called an “anti-reading”. An anti-reading can be anything like a presentation about the novel’s world or a free-form discussion or really it has no boundaries. At present, I plan on fifteen minutes of reading and a fifteen-minute presentation about the fun stuff I discovered while researching the “Flesh” books. I may include a Powerpoint. For the Fazgood launch at World Fantasy, at present I’ll just do a reading.
Get stuff into hands and onto tables: Conventions usually give attendees a swag bag, or a bag filled with promotional materials. My publisher Noble Fusion Press is getting post cards or other materials to World Fantasy to give the launch a boost. For Horror On Main, and more so for StokerCon, I have to get on the stick and find out if they do swag bags. Tables will need signage, which I image will have to small to accommodate travel.
Yes I am nervous about all this.
Contact the relevant media: the Horror Writers Association has a newsletter, and I have to get my Horror On Main and StokerCon plans to its editors.
Supporting promo material: I’m working with a talented artist friend to come up with yantra stickers. Yantra are mystical symbols key to the “Flesh” mythos. I believe stickers are the way to go, because even if no one is interested in the book, they may like the sticker design and get interest developed that way. I’ve seen the preliminary colors and they are disturbing. Plan is to have them done by end of April.
List of people to contact: I’m shooting for podcasters, mainly. I’m funny and have a varied, colorful history. Obvioulsly, the “Flesh” books and Fazgood have two different audiences, with different persons of interest to contact.
Presented to illustrate “indulgent spouse”.Not me. Not my spouse.
Lacking a supporter, I stumbled into another truism: you can be your own indulgent spouse if you prepare. I had no idea I was preparing all these years, but it turns out I can now access my mutual funds and 401K and only pay income tax on withdraws. So I have money.
I just got a new job at Redacted Retail. This new place is fantastic. The employees are happy. I’m making more here than I did after nine years at my last job. My shift is evening, which leaves my productive afternoons free. Most of all, I have control over my hours: I can work as few as 24 hours per week and still get health benefits. Which is nice, but I may not need them because I qualify for Medicare.
Getting old was not my idea, but it does seem to have some benefits.
I’m lining up a reading or group talk for Horror on Main, “Saints of Flesh” is slated to launch at StokerCon, and the Fazgood novel will launch at World Fantasy. Maybe I can get a reading at StokerCon? I’m new at this and have to see how to line that up.
What else am I doing? I need to clean up my Goodreads and Amazon pages. I’m working with my publisher on my upcoming monthly newsletter which will include nifty giveaways. Want Fazgood, Olivia, or other character stats to use in AD&D 5e? Am doing! How about out-of-print published stories brushed up and improved? Will soon be doing!
Meanwhile, I am annoyed with the Safari browser because I could not access my website dashboard for a week. Google Chrome is a pain on this OS. I’m editing the videos for Galactic Philadelphia and barely have enough hard drive for everything. So a new laptop may be in the offing.
This is quite unnerving, but I am taking all of these changes a day at a time. I’m glad you’re interested enough to come along. Together we will learn some new things.
Mentioned before that my publisher Noble Fusion Press will be releasing three of my novels this year. Two will launch at big deal conventions:
“Saints of Flesh” will launch at StokerCon in Pittsburgh, June 15 – 18.
“Fazgood and the Obstreperous Moosecrab Caper” launches at The World Fantasy Convention in Kansas City, October 26 – 29.
Cover reveals for both are forthcoming.
“The Flesh Sutra” releases soon in a third edition with some tweaking. You will be kept up to date on that as well.
My publisher will start a newsletter for me, probably by this summer. The newsletter will have lots of supplemental material: drawings; playable AD&D races, classes, and characters; stories published in the past and more!
This is an exciting year already! I’m glad you are here so I can share it with you.
Carol has been a friend for decades. She writes reviews for Fandom and is an Grade A Number 1 Nerd. I’m buying this book because I know there will be fun, useful advice.
All agreed that for tension to work, the threatened character must be relatable and the stakes recognizable. Maybe summarize the details of what would happen if All Was Lost.
Andrews: It is best to end a chapter with a cliffhanger to keep the reader engaged. Disquietude can act as cliffhanger by using awe, mystery, or curiosity. Entering an awesome new environment can pull the reader into the next chapter. The reveal of an important question can pique curiosity.
Van: Lee Child says unanswered questions keep the reader on edge. In foreshadowing a menace, heighten tension through proximity. For example: the threat is first mentioned, then later detailed, then seen at a distance, then when the protagonist has to hide from it. Morbid humor works, for that read the memoirs of soldiers.
Gail Z. Martin says that Jim Butcher novels will almost resolve a conflict completely, then introduce a last complication.
Gannon says that tragedy is two honorable characters working toward opposing ends (he made clear this was not an original thought, but I can’t remember who he was quoting). Trust your instincts above any plot formula.
Being twice nominated, he had a lot of meetings about editorial and collaborative opportunities. This is what conventions are all about for professionals.
Meanwhile, I as an aspiring professional and Growing Concern went to panels to learn about the biz. Here are my notes:
From a panel about Facebook ads, from experienced Facebook advertisers:
Cover images! Spaceships or dragons, period. When possible, use food related images for your cover. Food provokes better click rate. I know, right?
On the flip side of that, use vampires where possible. Okay, working on that right now.
Start small with FB ads and increase where successful. How small? $5 SMALL. This is a relief because my savings took a beating this weekend.
When publishing your e-book, put in a link for readers to subscribe to your mailing list and receive free material related to that book. Put in that link at the beginning at at the end of the book. Cool! Can do!
When readers click the link, they will land on a page asking something like “Would you like to receive materials from me?” There will be a check box. That check box MUST BE AN OPT-IN. They have to click to receive. This is part of those new European internet regulations.
Have you used Beatsheetcalculator.com? I was developing calculations on where plot beats should fall based on page percentages. Of course, someone else has done it first. It even incorporates the Dent Pulp Formula and the Hero’s Journey.
Last, when writing a series, make all books stand alone. No cliffhangers. I knew this, but it was good go have this reinforced by a panel including series maven Laura Anne Gilman.
Was the convention worth it for me? I had some good moments. A series I’ve begun was well received at a Kickstarter Seminar. Did you know Kickstarter provides guidance on optimizing your campaign? This response did warm my enthusiasm.
The cost, though! I spent enough to set up a book. I was in the middle of a slump, though, and now I’ve got new wind. Maybe I could have gotten that new wind at the upcoming local Balticon at about 10% of the cost.
Anyway, if I remember anything else, I’ll let you know.
