Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Indies at Cons: You're Welcome as a Reader, Not as an Author

Here at the border to the Midwest, we have a lot of book cons within driving distance. Small ones, huge ones, genre-specific, generalized, library-sponsored, city-sponsored--not publisher or Hollywood sponsored, mind--but if you got an itch, we've got the festival with the book on backscratchers.

The catch for me? I'm a self-published author, which for the sad majority of the conference organizers means I'm not a "real" author. I'm welcome to attend as a reader, but not as a professional. "Thank you for interest, but call us when we can find your books in Target." It makes choosing which cons to attend really simple: if the Con welcomes Indies and treats them equal to trad-published authors, then the odds of me participating vastly improve.

Now, there are Indie-specific cons, but it's an author-beware sitch. Too often, they're akin to MLM trade shows, where you're the prey and the "networking" is with vanity publishers, "PR" spammers, and book "doctors." Also unless it's a genre-specific con, most of the Indie stuff is targeted at non-fiction authors. When it comes to those type of cons, the emphasis is on the "con." You're better served handselling books at a local fair.

Locally, there is an exception to the Unwelcome Indies trend. One part due to the genre to which it caters (hello, Romance) and one part to the tenacity of the organizer who embraces the community as a whole. I'm referring to Lori Foster's Reader & Author Get Together (RAGT) that welcomes trad and indie authors for a weekend of hanging out with readers and an open-to-the-public book sales/signing event. It's a pay-to-play event, with conference revenues going to local charities. It is, in essence, a fundraiser more so than a con. Mad props go to Lori Foster and her team of organizers who persevered through all the lumps and bumps over the years of integrating indie books into the event. (The onsite-bookstore had challenges offering indie books, what with the inability to return unsold stock among other issues. Lori and her team continue to revise solutions while offering ones that work best at the time for all.) 





9 comments:

  1. I loved going to RAGT, but it became insanely expensive for this author to attend anymore. This year I'm attending Literary Love: Authors Rock Savannah (it's way cheaper than RAGT and sounds just as fun). Don't know how well that will go (although I'm optimistic after hearing from other authors who have attended), but I've never been to Savannah so Hubby and I will also make it part of a vacation. If it goes badly, it may be the last convention I attend.

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    1. Oo! I'll keep my eyes peeled for your update on LL: Savannah! Hope it's welcoming to you and a ton of fun. :)

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  2. I'm sorry to hear you've encountered that. Eventually it will change...

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    1. Aw, thanks, but it's one of the exchanges we make for the "freedom" of Indie, right? RIGHT?!? ~drinks~

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  3. I attended Coastal Magic in Florida this year, and it was kind of the inverse. I was the weirdo trad-published author on many panels of veteran, bestselling indies. My weirdo status was compounded by the fact that I missed the email (I guess it was an email?) where they decided not to have a bookseller this year for the first time because most of the authors were indie and would bring their own books anyway for the sale/signing. I ended up with no books to sell. Awkward! lol But anyhow, Coastal Magic is very friendly to indie writers and to fantasy, urban fantasy, romance, or mishmash of all of the above. The organizers are pretty awesome.

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    1. Doh on the BYOBooks! Not having an "official" bookseller is a big change. The Romance community has excelled at embracing Indies, and a lot of other orgs could take a tip or three from them.

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  4. Ugh. That's all I got so I'll just clink my glass too.

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