Oh, What a Con
It’s taken me a full week to recover from Once Upon a Convention. The mess in my office tells me I’ve still got a ways to go.
I went into this con with certain expectations based on the information from the con chairs through various meetings and Discord chatter. Those expectations were not exactly met, but I don’t believe anyone did anything with ill intent. Poor planning and terrible communication is what it seemed to boil down to as far as my experience with this con goes. Others were much more negatively affected, and it truly is a shame. A lot of us had high hopes.
All that aside, I met some wonderful people! From the volunteer staff, to the vendors and fellow authors, to the attendees, you all made this a great experience!
My booth on day 1 of the con.
All the love, though!
As I’ve mentioned, I haven’t done a full-blown con since before the pandemic. In that time it became easy to shrink into myself and believe that what I was doing was futile. Preparing for this con and my “comeback” to writing reminded me how amazing community can be.
Mark, Sofs, and pNut have been my anchors, my constant and never ending supply of love and support. However, I have some additional, necessary shoutouts!
Heather Jones Coaching - If you subscribe to my newsletter, you might recall me talking about how I signed up for her life coaching to get my writing back on track. Not only did she help me do that, she also set me up to prepare for the con and tackle all the obstacles that came my way. You can thank her when Book 2 comes out! Hahaha!
Waiting for the masquerade to begin.
Ruby Hunt Design - Sometimes all you need is a haircut to feel like a new person. In my case a website redesign and marketing plan were what I needed to inject new life into my business! Enter my sister Ruby who excels at all of that. I mean, how awesome is this website?! She also joined Mark and me at the con on Friday. She was the one doing all the meet-and-greets with all the authors, vendors, and attendees while I struggled to get out of my anxiety shell. I am so glad she came! We had such a fun time!
Regan - I am blessed to have a friend who empathizes with my introversion, is an amazing cosplayer, is smart as all get-out, has the cutest mom, and has the kindest heart ever. We’ve known each other for over 25 years and even though we don’t talk on the daily or see each other often, she knows exactly when I need her and has been so supportive throughout my writing journey. How lucky am I to have caught her at the masquerade Friday night and have her stop by my booth Saturday morning while her mom was sipping coffee on the balcony and looking out over the Gaylord courtyard?!
My stunning friend Regan spilling hydreangeas ^_^
Kim - She is the reason I signed up for OUAC! I would never have heard of this con if it wasn’t for her sharing the info. I met Kim when I had a booth at FaerieCon. That was when she got my book and has been so supportive ever since. Reconnecting with her at OUAC was awesome. Her Belle cosplays were amazing, and I love her uplifting attitude. I watched as she flitted from booth to booth, talking to authors and vendors about their work. The world needs more of her brand of kindness.
Thanks to Kim, my book is fairy-endorsed!
James - I met James when I shared a booth with my brother at Awesome Con, which was the very first con I did. Imagine me with less of a clue than I have now, trying to convince people to read my book. James quietly picked up my book, read a few lines, bought it, then walked away. A few days later, he’s posted a super positive written review and video review! He’s one of my most loyal readers and came out to OUAC on Friday to reconnect and share some of the craftwork he’s been up to. Then, on Saturday this other guy visits my table and says he’s James’s friend Evan! I hope Evan enjoys the book as much as James did!
All the Friends - At OUAC I was able to meet so many readers. There were people who came in from upstate NY as well as Arizona! I met readers who recognized HelloBaby’s artwork when they saw the banner portraying Aren and were just as excited as I was about the art. I had a fascinating discussion with a fellow Final Fantasy fan. (Squall is not dead!) And, oh my goodness, Atiny came out in force! ATEEZ would be so proud of the way we found each other in the wild and yapped about concerts and lore.
I really hope everyone is enjoying my book!
Atiny Forever!
Finding my people
Cons are great because that’s where you find your people. These are the people who want to nerd out over fantasy books and artwork, trinkets, ballgowns, and jewelry. Everything has been carefully crafted and attendees have an opportunity to get things that you’re not going to find on Amazon or at your local mall.
The amazing Kelly Legarreta of A Dragon Adventure
It blows my mind that people come to these cons with the intent to shop indie. They are thrilled to take a chance on a book with a cool cover or a pitch that sounds interesting. They’re hungry for stories from different voices and it is amazing.
Book Nook Raffle Winner!
Congratulations to Gabby who won the Book Nook I raffled off! She opted for the DIY kit versus the one we had already put together. I would love to see how it turns out, Gabby!
The Book Nook at my booth was a great conversation piece. One couple talked to us about how they were redesigning one of their living spaces to create a cozy library and loved the idea of decorating with a Book Nook on the shelves.
Quite a few people had strong opinions on actually putting one together, which brought out some funny stories. Most of the stories involved DIY kits that had been gifted and were either still sitting in the box or only partially put together months (years) after receiving the kit.
The one comment we heard a lot was, "there's no room on my bookshelves!" Ha! Isn't that a nice problem to have? But of course my bookish friends don't have room on their bookshelves! As someone who also has that problem, it never even occurred to me.
If you didn’t catch it, here’s the video where I draw the winner. When we got home from the con, I had to scrub my face. I also managed to burst a blood vessel in my eyeball, so I had to switch to my glasses. That’s the kind of tired I was after this con!
Now what?
After preparing and working out all the details involved in doing a con, I finally get to concentrate on writing! I get up early and write every morning, so I plan to meet my goal of having Book 2 done by next year. In the meantime, I hope all my new readers are enjoying Book 1. I’ll also be putting the jars of Aren’s Stars, as well as more watercolor bookmarks, in my online shop.
I don’t plan on doing another con until my second book is done—unless there’s something that convinces me that it would really be worth doing. Let me know in the comments if there’s a con you think would be a great fit for me!
Until then, happy reading!