Post number 43 in a row! Keeping the dream alive.
Personal News
It’s good to be back and get to sleep in my own bed. We didn’t get home until around 1:30AM, and neither one of us really had enough vacation time to take a recovery day, so we both zombied our way through another work day. It was challenging. By the afternoon, I paused my work day to take a nap. Melissa is hourly and has to a punch a clock, so even though she needed a rest, too, she had to soldier on. I’m making up the lost work hours tonight.
Upcoming Events and Such
The next event is Sac Comic-Con. I believe Water Dragon will have one (1) table, and there will be 3 or 4 of us there, ready to sell books. Stephen Brewer will ship The Water Dragon inventory to me in the coming days. I will go to the convention center and be present, but I’m not sure how excited I am for the event itself. I’ll talk more about that later.
The Topic: Closing Thoughts on Boskone 2024
Did I have a good time? Yes, though as I told one of my coworkers today, this was not a vacation.
I spent almost the entire time in the dealer’s room, and I met some cool people. There was the person that told me they read an editor’s copy of Spin City, which I’m sure is impossible, and I’m not sure what their motivation would be for lying. It was an interesting conversation, though.
We had a great dinner with David Gerrold, and everyone had a really good time. That’s probably the highlight of the event, just as it was the highlight of Worldcon 2022 in Chicago. The conversations were great. Everyone felt like they received a real treat.
While trying to sign up for the Kaffeeklatsch which featured John Berlyne, I ran into John and had a chance to catch up with him for a little bit. I reminded him of who I am, which is partially necessary because all of the other times we met, I had short hair and weighted about 40 pounds less. I was able to tell him how highly I think of him without making it awkward, because the truth is, he is the agent I’d most like to work with. He introduced me to Stevie, an agent that works with him at Xeno, and I think the implication was that I should look up Stevie and send her a query letter. Maybe I’ll work on that this week, while the memories are still fresh. First I’ll have to see what kinds of stories Stevie likes.
As I talked with John Berlyne, the Kaffeeklatsch filled up. It might have filled up before then. I don’t know. It was one of the few con-hosted events I tried to join, and it fell through. So in the end, just like Arisia, I didn’t really participate in the con itself. I didn’t even make it up to the con suite.
I enjoyed interviewing people for the podcast. I enjoyed meeting people in the dealer’s room. There was a lot for me to enjoy, but it was all a different kind of work. In fact, the hours were longer than my regular work day. Only with this job, I had to do a lot of standing, so by the end of the weekend, I had sore legs and feet.
Boskone 2024 was a good time, but not a relaxing time. While talking with people, I have to be “on” and mindful not to say something stupid or off-putting. People generally enjoyed talking with me. I follow the advice Mary Robinette gave on the subject, in that I remember that the one I’m conversing with is the more interesting, so I try to get them to talk about themselves and the topics they enjoy. They wind up walking away feeling really good about the conversation. Sometimes before they go, they reward my conversation skills by buying One for the Road or The Repossessed Ghost.
Having two titles to choose from, they most often went for One for the Road because at $5, it’s the cheaper way to check out an unknown author. I believe that’s why I basically sold out of The Repossessed Ghost at Arisia, but only sold about 4 copies at Boskone. I also think it’s one of the reasons we sold about a dozen copies of One for the Road. It was a slow weekend for purchases, for everyone in the dealer’s room, but we sold more copies of One for the Road than any other single title on our tables. Steven Brewer sold more books with his name on the cover, but a lot of that is a single story serialized across 7 books, and the bundle has a good discount.
Steven also had a reading, participated on panels, and had two posters and a quarter of the total table space. I’m not saying this to say it’s a fault or a bad thing. I’m pointing out that if I had similar representation at the event, I might have done even better. As an unknown with virtually no presence at the convention, I’d say I did pretty well.
Does doing well matter?
Financially… no. Even if I’d completely sold out of the books I authored, it would not be enough to pay for the food, travel, or lodging. Going to Arisia and Boskone cost me thousands of dollars, almost a week of vacation time, and required me to work extremely long hours in my day job for several weeks in a row. When I say I’m tired after this weekend, I’m falling short in describing the soul-numbing weariness that resonates through my being. I feel heavy and slow and a touch of melancholy, and recovery is going to take days.
I don’t look at this in financial terms. Not yet. What I did at Boskone was plant more seeds. I talked to people. I created memories. I’m practicing all of the skills I will require as my professional writing career advances. I can manage a table. I can sell books. I can conduct interviews. I can talk the talk and walk the walk.
Will I do this again next year? I don’t know. I have my doubts. Maybe by the time I need to make a decision on such things, I will have forgotten how much work I did these last two events. Or, maybe I’ll be more economical with my time and money. Time will tell.
Those are my closing thoughts on Boskone. Very soon, I’m going to start writing a story in this space, and invite you all along for the ride.