some thoughts after attending my first-ever convention
I’d been thinking for a while that I’d like to find new ways to get books into the hands of readers. A buddy of mine has been hassling me about trying out GenCon – you know who you are, Buffalo – and I thought ‘eh, maybe.’ An intriguing idea, but it didn’t make sense to start out-of-state. Or high-pressure.
So I did the even-less-sensible thing and applied for the biggest spec-fic event in the city.
In my defense, it hadn’t been my plan to jump in the deep end with a comic convention as overwhelming as C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo). Other, more sensible baby steps I meant to take fell through. When I got an email from the local Big Guy saying, ‘hey, man, you in?’ it didn’t make sense to refuse, even if I was terrified and had no idea what to do. I got a lot of funny looks and shaken heads from my fellow author/ vendors when I confessed this was my first ever in-person event, but also a ton of great tips. I want to say there were twenty-eight tables in the Writer’s Block, and across the board, people were lovely.
I talked to several patrons who have been coming to the convention for years and make a point of checking out the local indies. I know this city supports its own – I show up for local businesses at every opportunity – but this was my first chance to be on the receiving end. It felt good. It felt great.
C2E2: the experience
The convention itself was bigger and busier than I envisioned by several orders of magnitude. I already knew the cosplay would be amazing, but my definition of amazing was sadly underrated; I took so many pics! I never imagined so many people would be method about their costumes, either. A breathtaking Nosferatu on Saturday stayed silent and raised his claws in alarm before his face when people spoke to him. But that was just an act, and everyone I asked was delighted to pose for a picture. A great Captain America gave me the signature Cap Nod as I passed him at the concessions, and I went ‘ha!’ really loud because obviously: how cool was that?!
Which brings me to the mood: never have I seen so many nerds in one place being cheerful toward each other. It was wonderful. Just intense good vibes for three days. I was too nervous until about midway through day two to appreciate it, but I got there. The moment that gilded the experience for me came toward the end. I had just passed through security for the morning on day three and entered the floor when I slammed to a halt. Spun around, asking myself if I’d lost my mind. But no: that full brass band out in the atrium was indeed playing Toss a Coin to Your Witcher. Made my heart sing. Probably not as soulfully as Jaskier, but whatever.
Selling books directly to readers was, well, call it interesting. I freeze like a deer in headlights when asked ‘what’s your book about,’ and I knew going in it was time to get over it. Some people were easy; they showed up in front of me decided. They were going to buy a book and just needed advice on which. One woman said to me, ‘I’m not familiar with your work. I want to be.’ (How great is that?!) It was still intimidating and outside of my experience, and I am officially 1000% better at coping with that appalling question no writer wants to hear.
for fellow authors considering it
Let me level with you, because there are negatives. First of all, it costs. A lot, compared to advertising an ebook free on social media. You’ll need to pay the booth fee, buy book displays and artwork, find a means to take credit card payments, and show up with a (fat) stack of your own books. It’s exhausting and labor-intensive. C2E2 was two 9-hour days and one 7-hour day. You have to carry all those books in yourself.
You have to work, too; the authors who spent all their time on their phones had much less traffic than the authors who put effort into drawing readers in. I was on my feet almost the entire time, and for those of you saying, ‘Yeah, Burnell, because you have no chill,’ touché. Still yet: people rarely made eye contact with me when I said ‘hi!’ while seated, just went past with their eyes down. If you’re shy and don’t like talking to strangers, this may not be for you. If you’re stateside, you will need to figure out how to pay sales tax, too; there’s no intermediary vendor to do that for you.
Personally, I found it worth it and then some. It was thrilling to get to talk to so many readers about my work! A lot of people bought the first book in a series, and I’m waiting with breath held, hoping they enjoy it enough to come back for the rest of the series. Definitely hope to go back next year.
Maybe I’ll even do it in costume.
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