Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: guessingo on February 19, 2010, 01:20:47 PM
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what do you do there? Is it mostly hear authors speak and get books signed?
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My personal opinion is that you go to a Con with a goal in mind. Maybe you have a novel to pitch. Maybe you want to become an editor or an agent. Perhaps you have a book review blog that you want to have more exposure.
Some people do go just to be fans and to see their favorite authors. I personally don't see the point in this, but that is my own personal opinion. Your first Con or two are good for going to panels and learning about the business of writing. You can get some good advice. After that, however, you are best served going to the Cons to promote yourself. And of course, when you are an author, Cons are terrific places to self-market.
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Some cons focus more on the writing business while others focus more on the fans. Depending on what your interests are, you may want to try a local con before going to a bigger one. The local ones are cheaper and should give you an idea in microcosm of what the bigger ones are like. Also, cons usually have an online site where they list their program, so you can see what kind of panels and workshops they are going to have.
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I would assume more well known authors go to the cons for fans and the less known ones go to cons to meet people. If you already have an established fan base you don't need to sell your books to publishers. They know you.
but you still want to go see your fans to keep your name out there.
I also don't see the point of an autograph. I would like to talk to an author, but I don't care about the signature. I doubt I am alone in that. For example, if I was to go to a book signing. I would go for the part where the author speaks to see if I can hear anything cool about the books, then probably leave.