May was a ridiculously busy month for me
as an author, since I accidentally booked three different appearances in three
different cities. All within a two week period. Luckily, all three were within
my home state of Texas and relatively close to each other. It started out with
attending the very big Romantic Times Book Lover’s convention in Dallas. Then I
got four days of rest (still had to
work at the day job) before I headed to the Austin Author Affair. I stayed the
weekend there before hightailing it home to attend Comicpalooza in Houston on
Memorial Day. So much fun.
Overall, I had GREAT month. I met a lot of new readers,
bloggers, and authors that are now on my TBR list. I had a blast at every
event, but each of them was very different from the next. Dallas was HUGE,
Austin was quite small, and Houston was somewhere in the middle and of a
completely different flavor all around. Which did I like the most? It really
depends on exactly what we’re talking about.
RT is highly publicized and well known.
This was the 32nd year for the event, so there were hundreds of
people all over the large hotel. That means I almost never saw the same set of
people from one day to the next as I stood in lines or even just walked around.
It was a great networking opportunity but also a little overwhelming. I’m not
an introvert by any means, and even I had to hide in my hotel room a couple of
times just to get away from the constant noise and hubbub of that many people
all in one place. As an author, my sales were meh. I sold four of the eight
books I had to offer.
AAA was in its first year. All of the
participating authors and the promoters worked our tails off to get the word
out about it, but there’s no magazine dedicated to the event. Attendance was
decent considering it was the first year, and it was storming heavily on the
day of the signing. Sales again were meh, I sold three print books and one
reader bought my e-book on her phone as we talked. This isn’t the first small
con I’ve attended and I like them because of the more intimate setting. I was
able to meet a few new people that I encountered more than once, creating a
more solid connection than with those at RT who I only spoke to once then maybe
saw in passing a few times.
Comicpalooza is in a class by itself. It’s
a comic book convention that is attended by cosplayers, authors, actors, musicians,
and fans of just about every genre you can think of. It’s a great place to
people watch and take photos of complete strangers who have the time and money
to put into costumes. I love it! This year I moderated a panel for the first
time. It was fun and I had four great authors on my panel. Though that was my
only commitment for the event, I still walked around to check things out but
didn’t try to sell my books. At my first Comicpalooza I rented a table with two
other authors and only sold one book. It’s a place where looks are everything
and I think we really needed more to spruce up our table.
So overall, if sales are all you’re
interested in then smaller conventions might be best. If networking is your
goal then definitely hitter the bigger ones, and visit the bar often. For an
overall good time and unique finds, got to a genre based convention like
Comicpalooza. But the main thing if you’re an author is: GET OUT THERE. You
might think no one knows your name, but I promise someone somewhere is dying to
meet you in person.
-Missy Jane
*Make reading a guilty pleasure ...*
www.authormissyjane.com
BIO:
Missy Jane is the alter ego of a
married mother of four who was born and raised in Texas. She spends most of her
time lost in worlds of her own making, alternately loving and hating such
creatures as vampires, shape-shifters, sexy Archangels, and gargoyles (to name
a few). When not writing, she spends her time reading, taking photos of her
beautiful daughters and training her husband to believe she's always right.
Excerpts from Missy's paranormal and
erotic tales can be found at http://www.authormissyjane.com and http://msmissyjane.blogspot.com/.
BLURB:
Loving her is forbidden. Leaving her is impossible...
Raphael is the Archangel of Justice, a
champion of humans and a warrior who has kept demons from the human realm.
Having a half-demon hiding in his home is strictly verboten. And the fact that
he can't keep his hands off her? Well, sometimes the war between good and evil
is best fought between the sheets...
Astaroth Sinclair's demon side is taking
over, staining her entire body red and raising her body temperature hot enough
to incinerate her clothes. Even more complicated is the fact that she is
helplessly and hopelessly in love with Raphael—even if they have nothing in
common other than explosive chemistry.
But when Asta starts digging for answers,
she sets off a chain of events that no one could have foreseen. Now her love
for Raphael will either save the world...or destroy it.
Links:
Great Post, Missy Jane!!!! I saw you at RT during the book signing. I was sitting across from you!!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer!! Thanks. That was a crazy, busy time, huh? My husband hid in our hotel room. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo crazy busy!!!
ReplyDelete