Conventions

When I posted on my experience at RavenCon a comment was left suggesting that I write more on the subject of Cons and in particular provide tips for authors attending them. I didn’t see the comment for some time and have since been caught up with other projects that prevented me from posting anything. Now that I have a breather, I thought I would address this.

First, let me explain that I am not an expert in Cons. There are those who work these events religiously attending the same Cons for decades. The author, Tee Morris, who I had the pleasure of meeting on several occasions, used to do the “convention circuit” going “on the road” like a rock star living out of a suitcase. I never went to a convention of any kind until I published The Crown Conspiracy just this past October. Since then I have attended only four cons: MarsCon, RavenCon, Balticon and CarolinasCon, conventions located from Baltimore to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Let me begin by explaining what a ”Con” is. Cons, or Fan Conventions, are a gathering of people with a specific interest. There are cons for comics, for railroad building, or even a specific person—I hear Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, has her own con now: TwiCon. My daughter attends anime conventions for example, while the cons I listed above—the cons I attended—are Speculative Fiction cons. Speculative Fiction being anything to do with, Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy—the real geeky stuff. These cons attract the folks who thought high school extra-curricular activities should include Dungeons and Dragons. The people who exited Star Wars, walked around the theater and got back in line again. They are the much lampooned Star Trek fans who Josh Whedon, paid tribute to in his Buffy the Vampire Slayer series with his characters—The Trio. They also possess an above average intelligence, an interest and respect for arcane knowledge, and a curiosity and tolerance for new ideas. For a writer of fantasy, they are also my fan base.

Cons are held in a hotel and usually take over the place. Conference rooms and large halls are commandeered and private rooms are opened to the attendees for specific uses or just parties. Cons usually span a three-day weekend and visitors pay anywhere from $30 to $60 dollars depending on the con. Attendees, who often dress in flamboyant costumes, can go to various lectures given by authors or artists, sit in on panels where a group of professionals discuss a topic, listen to authors perform readings from their works, join in elaborate table top games, or visit the Dealer’s Room where a vast array of unusual merchandise is sold. There are also movies screenings, concerts, costume contests, and a host of other events that go on into the night.

As an author, I don’t get to indulge in any of this. I spend all my time in the Dealer’s Room. I pay in advance for a table and arrive early to set up before the con starts. One of the first things I learned was to travel light. At my first con, I just threw the kitchen sink in my trunk and assembled what I needed when I arrived. After that, I saw the virtue of planning and worked at getting everything I was bringing into as few boxes as possible.

Now some people, Tee Morris to name one, prefer to go the minimalist approach. He brings only his books and a pen. But Tee has a very out-going personality and for him accoutrements would only get in the way of his hand gestures. My experience with business tradeshows led me to bring a few basic advertisements to catch the eye of the hundreds of people walking by. I bring a nice dark tablecloth, as you never know if the con will provide any, and a bare, rickety folding table doesn’t present well. It also provides a hiding place under the table for personal stuff, like a sweater, a drink, extra books, and your coat. I also bring bookstands. These are clear plastic holders that merely stand my book up so people can see the cover better. I make posters, which I spray mount on form-core and stand up on the table or hang in front, (depending on how much room I have.) The posters help catch the eye of people even across the room. You should always bring tape and scissors—for some reason you always need those, or someone else does. If you did forget something talk to your neighbors, the other vendors are very friendly and helpful, like soldiers in the same foxhole.

I also bring bookmarks, which I hand out. For shy authors this is a great conversation starter and this is the real trick and the difference between a successful con and a not so successful one. All too often authors sit behind their tables waiting for people to come up and talk to them. They do this at bookstore signings too (which tends to irritate the bookstore managers who just ordered twenty of your books and expect you to move them out the door.) Some will even have laptops out, or be reading a book. This is no way to make sales. When I used to attend tradeshows for my advertising agency, rule number one was “never sit down.” Sitting makes you passive. Standing you are engaging, and approachable. If you look like you don’t want to talk about your books, people will avoid “bothering” you. That said, remain behind the table, standing out front is just too aggressive.

Still you have to do more than just stand. You have to engage the masses. This is hard for most writers. We are a solitary lot. We write so we don’t have to interact with people. We lock ourselves up in rooms and wander off into made-up worlds to avoid just this kind of thing. If we wanted to shake hands and laugh at bad jokes we’d be politicians. The reality of being a published author means that you have to spend a lot of your time pretending to be an unknown celebrity. Still, introverted shut-ins like us, have no clue how to engage a stranger. The idea of stopping someone we’ve never met and saying, “Say fella! Guess what? This is your lucky day! I’m the world’s best author. I wrote the world’s best book and if you don’t want to give me your hard-earned money in return for the privilege of reading it, then you’re an idiot!” Okay, so no one says that, but no matter how you go about it, it feels like you’re saying that.

The best solution I found is the bookmarks. As someone walks by, you just hold one out and say, “Care for a bookmark?” or “Would you like a free bookmark?” People like free things and ninety percent of the time, they will accept. Sixty percent of the time they will say, “thank you.” Thirty percent of the time, they will pause and read it. And twenty percent of the time they will look up at you and say, “Bookmark eh? So are you the author? What’s your book about?”

This is the moment you’ve waited for, the Con equivalent to being the understudy and learning the star had a plate of bad fish. Heart rate increases and you realize you have no idea what your book is about. The guy in front of you is holding three heavy plastic bags, a lightsaber and a Big Gulp with a twisty straw and he’s not going to wait all day. But how can you explain the full breadth of your story before the Seven Eleven slurping Jedi gets bored? This is why you need to have a pitch. A pitch comes in the long and short form. The short form is just a few sentences that sums up your book. The long form is a paragraph or two. Both are targeted at conveying the most interesting aspect of your story to the general audience. Don’t waste time with character’s names or backgrounds, or the nature of the elaborate world. Just hit them with the nutshell.

In my case:

“It’s a medieval fantasy adventure about two thieves caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. They are hired to steal a sword and when they try, they stumble on the body of the king and realize they’ve been set up to take the fall for his murder. After that they have to find a way to escape and then discover who the real killer is before the killer finds them.”

The Jedi might nod politely at this point, hand back the bookmark and walk away saying, “I’m really more a Sci-Fi guy.” Or he might betray a little smile which he will try and poker-face away by quickly taking a long pull on his Big Gulp’s straw. This is an invitation to say more and I might then go on about how it is a fast, fun romp (plagiarizing reviews of my book,) how it is part of a series—all of which have already been written. At a con, this conjures a set of raised eyebrows as it sets at ease the ghost of Robert Jordan. I usually follow this with the quip, “So even if I get hit by a truck on my way home, my wife will be able to publish the rest of the series.” I don’t mention that if I really was hit by a truck that I doubt Robin would be prioritizing the publishing of my remaining books at the top of her list of things to do—at least I hope not. I focus on how my book is different, how the names are pronounceable, how you don’t feel you need to take a course in the history of the world, and how there’s no youth prophesied to save the world from a dark lord.

Then there is a pause.

The Jedi sets his gianormous plastic cup on the table, tucks his lightsaber in his armpit and actually picks up a book and thumbs through it. Now if my wife is there—and she attends all the cons with me—she prattles on about reviews and how much she loved the books. Her enthusiasm is usually contagious, but I don’t feel comfortable raving about myself, so I just wait trying to look cool, as if all my hopes and dreams did not rest on the actions of this one lone Jedi. Use the force, damn it! Search your feelings—you know the book will be good!

Another tradeshow trick is to place a bowl of candy out on the table to entice people over, like the proverbial stranger in a car. “Come here Hanzel, have a Tootsie Roll.” The moment they reach out you slam the oven door closed with a… “Say! Do you read fantasy? No? Do you know anyone who reads fantasy because a signed book by the author makes a great—don’t know anyone either, eh? Well…could you use a good doorstop?”

You can also auction off a book. I sometimes put out a jar for people to enter their email address and then after the con I randomly pick one, contact them, and mail whichever book they want. This not only brings them over to talk to you, but has the added benefit of providing you with a list of addresses which you can then use if you want to say, announce your next book release. NEVER SELL OR GIVE THESE ADDRESSES AWAY. People provide them under the trust that only you will use them for the contest and the occasional announcement about your books. People don’t like to get spammed.

Since you will likely be alone at your table, and since you don’t want to leave your table unattended, and since the Dealer Room is usually open from 10am to 5 or 6pm, you might want to pack a lunch or at least bottled water and some kind of snack to keep your blood sugar up. Chocolate chip cookies work great. There is a courtesy room that provides coffee and some food, but that still requires leaving your table and if you’re going to leave, you’ll likely benefit from leaving the hotel entirely just to get away for a little while.

At the end of the night, an odd thing happens that no one outside of the Dealer Room vendors know about. Once the Dealer Room door close tight, all the vendors perform a strange ritual where they put their tables to sleep. They each bring an extra sheet or blanket to cover their wares and drape them with the care of a mother tucking their child into bed. Even though the Dealer Room is locked up, they feel that out-of-sight-out-of-mind is a technique that works trusting that should a would-be-thief go to the trouble and risk of breaking through the massive steel enforced doors, they would be dumbfounded by the sheets. Since I only have books, and wouldn’t be terribly upset if they were stolen, hoping only that the thief would see to it that the copies got into reader’s hands, I don’t bother with the nightly shrouds of mystery.

This brings up an important subject. Dealer Rooms have been stolen from so don’t leave valuables in the Dealer Room, and above all don’t leave your cash box there! This of course suggests you should have a cash box, or bag—some container of small bills that you will want to have on hand in order to make change. To help this, price your books at an even number. If your book retails for $11.95, sell it at a discount of $10.00, not only is it an incentive, but it’s a whole lot easier to make change. Just make sure you put a little sign out with the price tag. And if it is a discount, announce that. People like getting deals.

What should you wear? Unless you are planning on dressing up like a character in your book, (and I’ve never seen an author do that,) just dress casually, but neat. Usually, jeans or khakis and a T-shirt or polo shirt is fine. No one wears a suit. And wear the most comfortable shoes you own. No one will see your feet behind the table anyway. Don’t smoke or drink before the con, people are often turned off by the scent of smoke or alcohol and by all means, shower—if not for your fans then for the other vendors trapped with you for eight hours.

You aren’t there for the fun. You’re there to sell books, and maybe make money so don’t feel you need to stay at the hotel where the con is. You can often find cheaper rooms down the street and the less money you have to pay out, the fewer books you have to sell before you’re in the black. After all, you have to pay for the table, a room, meals, the book stands, the posters, the bookmarks and your transportation there and back, all before you even break even. Depending on how much money you make off the sale of a book, cons can often be a losing venture, so you’ll want to keep your expenditures as low as possible. Usually the first thing I do is calculate how many books I need to sell to make back the cost of going and that becomes my minimum goal.

In such a target rich environment, with three days to work with, I expected to sell over a hundred books at my first con. After all, I have often sold twenty books at a random Barnes and Noble in only four hours. So I was very disappointed when after the first day I had only sold ten books. On average, I sell about thirty books a con—about ten a day. This has been consistent across all the cons I’ve attended. At first, I thought I was a failure, but later discovered that I was doing surprisingly well. Most authors that I’ve met often sell only five books after three days behind the table. This might sound futile, but it has a seeding factor. A few books sold in the fertile fan base, can reap unexpected dividends. You can also establish connections to other authors, publishers, agents, and publicists.

Still, it would be nice to bump into someone at a con dressed in a hooded cloak with a white dagger in his belt holding a Big Gulp cup and two plastic bags of trinkets and have them grin and ask, “Guess who I am?”

I’m certain I will shrug genuinely stumped.

“Royce Melborn,” he’ll say.

After recovering from the shock I will mention, “Royce never wears his dagger on the outside of his cloak.”

In response, I assume the Royce-clad role-player will roll his eyes, shake his head and remark. “Geez, what a geek.”

Thinking of You!!

I made this for my friend Cathy. She has a wacky sense of humor and I think she will appreciate the juxtaposition of the sign and the outhouse. I made this outhouse several months ago, but couldn't find a use for it until today. The Splitcoast Limited Supply Challenge was to use a die cut. Since I don't have a die cutting machine, I used my flower punches. I made my flowers using 2 different sizes of flower punches. I added rhinestones to the centers and made paper crimped leaves. I cut a fringe for the grass. I chalked clouds in the sky and drew in a couple of birds. I stamped the Thinking of You sentiment on a piece of white cardstock. I added brown ink and drew in lines with my prisma colored pencils to make it look like wood. This is all on a school folder.(Gotta love the back to school sales when these are really cheap!!) I opened the folder up and folded down the top half. I then punched holes in the sides to attach the twine closure. I am going to fill it up with stamped images.

Silhouettes of People

Here is a collection of files I made from various ailhoeuttes found on the internet. I love cutting silhouettes, no paper piecing! Just one color of paper, cut it, done!
I decided it was easier for both of us if I zipped them this time.

To download the zip file containing these 17 files, click here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?fqv2jmnxjrd

I'ld pick you

I made this guitar shaped card for the Splitcoast Ways to use it challenge. I killed some file folders this morning and had to resuscitate one to make this card. I swiped brown ink over the file folder. I sponged yellow and orange. The result really looks like my real guitar. I added black cardstock, gold brads and wire. The wire was extremly hard for me to use on this card. I would have had an easier time changing the strings on my real guitar!! Note to self... next time use gold cording. I think I am going to glue a guitar pick on the inside and I am going to write... When it comes to choosing friends... I PICK you.

Seeing RED in the office

I made this card for the Splitcoast Ways to Use it Challenge. We were to use office supplies. My original idea was a total failure. I ended up killing 2 office files, may the rest in peace. I altered this office clip. I covered the clip with blue cardstock. I quilled 3 roses and added some crimped leaves. I have a good friend Anne, who loves Red. I made this card for her. It is about as CAS as you can get.

Forest Tree and Animals Paper Piecing

Paper piecing was done by Tracie, last time we go together in Jacksonville. We took the Cricut into the hotel lobby, and spent time cutting out name tags for the workers too. They were fascinated with the machine. It turns out one lady owned a cricut, purchased from the informercial, and still hadn't taken out of the box! I'll have to ask her if we inspired her to open it up yet!

I'm still working on this file and some additional animals. It should be ready soon.

Denise

Animal Free Svg Files

http://www.mediafire.com/?z2m4tzn2mwn




http://www.mediafire.com/?jqy25zbyy4e


http://www.mediafire.com/?nwcltmomyiz


Animals with Safari title...or without
http://www.mediafire.com/?mjnzgzv5htz

Trees, trees, and more trees! New Snowflake tree...

heart forest
http://www.mediafire.com/?ymg1ntmzejn


tree of life
http://www.mediafire.com/?lnynb2zmima


spiral tree

http://www.mediafire.com/?yz2etaynvn2



heart tree
http://www.mediafire.com/?rmt52zjwtyx

..

NEW LINK...COlor separated, ungrouped, and simplified
SNOWFLAKE TREE

NEW LINK...COlor separated, ungrouped, and simplified


http://www.mediafire.com/?yenmozwwe2k

Anytime is Family Time

http://www.mediafire.com/?wiijr1ymmxj



Tfile I give you has the word FAMILY in the middle. I give you instructions on the font I used, and how to change it to your family name. Or just weld the word family onto the circle instead, if you like it. This would be a nice design to cut in vinyl and put on a tile.


http://www.mediafire.com/?ttzztzu2imc

Bluebird of Happiness

I made this card for the Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge. I was inspired by this photo on my friend Lorraine's blog. I wish I could get a photo like hers. I have seen a couple of bluebirds in the past week or two, but never when I could catch them on film. The words Bluebird of Happiness went through my head as I was making this card. Wikipedia had this to say about bluebirds and happiness: "It is a widely accepted symbol of cheerfulness, happiness, prosperity, herth and home, good health, new births, the renewal of springtime, etc. Virtually any positive sentiments may be attached to the bluebird." I am sure that this must be true, because they are such a beautiful creation of God. They make me happy to see. Maybe that is because blue is my favorite color.

I got this image in an image swap. I colored it with prisma colored pencils. I masked it and used chalks to make the greenery behind him. I quilled a flourish in the corner.

Ollie ollie oxin free..

OLLIE OLLIE OXIN FREE. Remember playing hide and seek and calling all the players in? This is what my sister and I used to say. I am saying this now so my little froggy will know it is safe to leave his hiding place...

After being promised that no-one is going to eat him, my little froggy came out of hiding. You can see why he hid in the first place, he is so little. He is only 1/4" big.
I just had to make another card for Cindy's teaparty challenge. This flower went togther much faster and easier than the first one. I punched three flowers. I used a 1/4" punch to punch the centers of the flowers. I then cut from one edge of the flowers to the centers and wrapped each flower around my quilled fringe coiled center. I made my lillypad using a 2"circle of green. I punched the little froggy with my frog punch. The water is done with bubble wrap. I frayed the ribbon to add interest. The wavy shape just happens to be the shape of my acryllic block. I just traced around it and cut it out. I used my itty bitty background for the lilly pad andthe base of the card. After making my first card I realized how close it was to the colors for the Splitcoast color challenge. I changed this card to comply with the challenge (as long as my water is a neutral color- well most of the time it is clear that is neutral right?)

Close up of the little froggy and quilled water lilly.

These are the punches I used for the flower and the little froggy.

I'm Hiding!!!

Close up view of the flower

Today is Teapot Tuesday on Cindy's blog. She had the cutest little froggy teapot. Today we were to bring our little froggies and a come to her lilly pond. One lilly pad per person. I had a little froggy all made and he decided to hide. He heard that last week teaparty ladies were talking about eating escargot in France. He figured if they were crazy enough to eat snails that he wasn't safe. So he has decided to stay hidden until the teaparty is over. I quilled this water lilly. The inside is a fringed coil made of pink, yellow and white cardstock. I then cut little white petals that I glued around the edges of the coil. I made my lilly pad out of a circle of green cardstock. I cut a ragged edge around the outside and I cut a v shape towards the center. I stamped the top of the lilly pad with my itty bitty backgrounds. I put the lilly and pad on a piece of paper that my friend Peggy gave me. It looks like it has water droplets on it. It seemed perfect for today's card. I added a ribbon and a black base. Do you think it looks at all like the photo I took on Sunday?

CAS thinking of you Sabrina

I made this card for the Splitcoast Clean and Simple Challenge. It was a sketch. I had this designer paper scrap on my desk from a card that I made last week. I added a ribbon, stamped a sentiment and added two little flower embellishments from my friend Sabrina.(hence the title of this card) A very simple and a very quick card, but I really like how it turned out.

Quilled Sampler and porcelain paper butterfly

The Splitcoast Stamper Technique Lovers Challenge today was quilling. This is right up my alley. They even used one of my older quilled cards as an example. What an honor. I was so excited. I called this card a Quilling Sampler because it has several different quilling techniques. It has coiled, fringed, punched and quilled flowers. I used a piece of designer cardstock that had flowers on it and I used that as my guide for my flowers. I used the porcelain paper technique on my butterfly. I hope to post some quilling tutorials and the porcelain paper tutorial sometime this week.

Сказка на ночь

Вчера я обещала сказку. Рассказываю. Даже с картинками.
Жила была прекрасная принцесса. После серии приключений вышла она замуж, родила детей, вырастила их. А пока растила - забыла, что она принцессой то родилась. И собралась тут ее дочь замуж, и вспомнила принцесса, что она КОРОЛЕВА!
И заказала себе платье. Естественно у доброй феи :)
А я, как начинающий маг, взялась за вышивку.
И жили они долго и счастливо.

А тут мои творения поближе.
Использовала бисерные миксы ТОХО. Понравилось безумно работать с ними. Строю коварные планы на их счет :)
Брошь из предыдущего поста для этого костюма. Есть еще легкая накидка.
Кроме бисера использовала кристаллы сваровски и испанский стеклярус.
А так все начиналось.

Some new photos to share

This is a photo that I took of lillies on the Mississippi river. We were taking my oldest son to scout camp. These lillies looked so pretty that I had to pull off in a scenic pull of to take a photo of them.

This is a photo that my oldest daughter took yesterday. We have a heard of deer (Is a group of deer a heard? I don't know.) that live in the woods near our house. This one was just standing by the edge of the woods yesterday and she grabed my camera and shot this really quickly before he got away.

Faux Bamboo tutorial

Here is the bamboo tutorial that I promised last week.

Joy-Tulips

I made this card for the Splitcoast Stampers Inspiration Challenge. I choose to take my inspiration from the tulips in this room. I stamped the tulips and scored 3 lines on either end of the panel. I colored the tulips with prisma colored pencils. I added 3 little rhinestones to each side. I matted the tulip panel with yellow and green the colors of the room. I also tied two ribbons. I stamped the sentiment with black stazon ink. I was going for a Clean and Simple look.

Sure Cuts A Lot Version 2.0 is here!

Click here to get the latest version of Sure Cuts a Lot for $75.00(or $30.00 to upgrade your exisiting version): I am now an affiliate so get a little kick back if you go through my link!

http://www.craftedge.com/purchase/purchase.php?rfid=9467723&ref=2522d51852f40878f43cc4d91b718ea1

New version of Sure Cuts A Lot software is here, which should eliminate the need for most of you to use INKSCAPE at all. The new version allows you to bit trace image files directly in Sure Cuts a Lot. It has much better features to allow you to group, ungroup and select all. The text window has new options to allow you make the letters overlap more easily than having to individually move each one, like you had to before. I rarely did anything in SCAL before, beside import premade svg files. Now I think I will use it to create new things to cut directly.

Брошь для мамы невесты

У меня сегодня почин - первое бисерное украшение.
Сделано для праздничного наряда заказчицы. Она выдает дочку замуж, но об это расскажу поподробнее в следующий раз. Так что это присказка, сказка впереди :)

Брошка малюсенькая. Всего 25 мм в диаметре. Использовала миксы ТОХО и 15/0 бисер. А так же латунную проволоку.

Long-Tall card with NO stamps allowed

I made this card for the Stampin B Design Team challenge. Vicky challenge everyone to make a long-tall card without using stamps. It also fit yesterday's Ways To Use it Challenge to use charms. I made my charm out of a chipboard flower covered with dp, pink beads, and pearl beads and wire. I hung my flower charm on a pink ribbon. I made my base using paper lace technique. I punched little flowers and added pearls. I also punched a big flower. My sentiment was a sticker that I have had for so long I forgot where I got it. I am going to send this card to my friend Anne. I was thinking about her the whole time I was making this card.

Farm Inchies

I made this card for the Splitcoast Stampers Limited Supply Challenge. Today's challenge was to use something that has a motor. I thought of this little tractor. I scored frames for my inchies. I stamped the images using black stazon ink. I made my own paper lace. I used my computer to print out a template. I traced and cut out the lace and used my paper piercer to make the holes in the lace. I tied a red gingham ribbon at the top of the paper lace panel. I did faux stitching around the edges.

Old School Charm

I made this for the Splitcoast Stampers Ways To Use it Challenge. It was to use a charm on the card. I have only a few charms in my collection of embellishments. It just so happened that I had sorted through my embellishments so I knew right away where my charms were. I had this little bow. I tried it on several images, but I liked it best on this one. This image is one that I recieved from my friend Ginny. She sent me a package this week with all sorts of new images to play with. I printed the sheet music with my computer on cream colored cardstock. The base of the card was made with a piece of designer paper that my secret sister at church gave me. It has a lacy printed design at the bottom. I cut along the edge of the lace and made a pocket to stick the sheet music into. I taped it back together on the back. I added the little pearls, a cream colored ribbon bow. I used my paper piercer on either side of where I wanted the bow charm to go. Then attached it with a small piece of wire. The image was colored with prisma colored pencils.

My son's boyscout photography merit badge

My son started working last night on his photography merit badge for boy scouts. The two of us had been discussing the requirements. As we were driving home, we saw this tree out in a field with the evening mist rising from the ground and the sun setting behind it, silhouetting it. I always carry my camera with me. I turned the car around and my son jumped out. He ran through the field and took this photo. We talked about with photography we never know when the opportunity for a photo will occur, so it is good to be prepared. We were both very proud of this photo.

Crimped Leaf Tutorial

Here is my tutorial for making

crimped paper leaves. I hope you enjoy it.