Aiming for Archon 42

Ty and I are about to go on the road again. This time we're headed across Missouri to our final sf convention of 2018, Archon 42 in Collinsville, IL. After this the holidays start, and so does the "iffy" weather.

It's been a long time since we've been to Archon. For many years there were scheduling conflicts, but those problems are behind us now. I'm looking forward to heading back.

I'll be busy, that's for sure. I'm on four panels (moderating three), plus I have a reading, and that's not counting the artwork I'll have on display. Here's my schedule:

Friday October 12
4:00-5:00 p.m. (Gateway-Cahokian) – Paying your Bills with Exposure 
Everyone knows you can't pay for groceries or gas with exposure - but why do so many people think it's acceptable to ask artists to work for free?  What's the best way to respond to such requests?
7:30-approx. 9:30 p.m. (Art Show) – Art Reception
I have a full panel of paper sculpture to display.

The display has changed a little since Westercon 71/MALCon 6 in July, but most of the work shown here will be on display at Archon 42.

Saturday October 13
1:00-2:00 p.m. (Gateway-Cahokian) – Crayola is Fine, Right?: Art on a Budget
How can you create your art without breaking the bank?  What's okay to skimp on? What’s worth paying more?
3:00-4:00 p.m. (Gateway-Cahokian) – Sharpen Your Skills: Basic Drawing
Designed for new artists looking to improve their drawing skills. Pick up my annotated list of resources, or email me for a copy!

Sunday October 14
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (Gateway-Illini A) – What is Your Preferred Type of Con?
Cons come in all types and sizes: huge & media-driven? Small and intimate? Focused on one subject or many?
12:00-1:00 p.m. (Gateway-Illini A) – Author Reading with Meg Elison, Jan Gephardt, and Lettie Prell.
Enjoy a sampler of short readings by three contemporary sf writers. I bet you can guess what book I'm reading from!

Here's my postcard for Archon 42, promoting the reading on Sunday and urging people to.sign up for my newsletter, for updates on the publication schedule.

IMAGES: Many thanks to the Collinsville, IL Chamber of Commerce, for the "white" Archon 42 logo. The other two images are by me, and may be used for reblogging or reposting, as long as you include an attribution for the work and a link back to this post. Thanks!c

My DemiCon 29 Experience

I had a good time at DemiCon 29 this year. It's an intimate convention, about 500 or so attendees, and as with all science fiction convention experiences, each person's reaction may differ. The things I look for in an sf con tend to be networking opportunities, a good Art Show, and interesting panels (to be on, and to attend).

The Iowa Writers' Panel featured readings by (L-R) Rachel Aukes, Lettie Prell, Adam Whitlatch, and Shannon Ryan.

Networking
Since it was a smaller convention, there weren't as many attending writers and artists as one tends to see at larger cons. This can be both good and bad. It's a chance to get to know a few of one's fellow "pros" better because of frequent interaction--but you make a limited number of contacts. Since I get along well with most people, I generally find at least a few people with whom to have a good conversation.

Smaller conventions also are great if you like more interaction with fans. The panel discussions tend to be more interactive, which offers an opportunity for delving deeper into ideas and information a given audience wants to explore. You never know who you may meet, or what areas of unexplored expertise or new ideas they may have.

Christine Mitzuk, the Artist Guest of Honor at DemiCon 29, gave a painting demonstration, and talked about her career.

Art Show
Smaller conventions often have smaller art shows, but DemiCon had a pretty good representation of "the usual mail-in suspects," including Sarah Clemens, Theresa Mather, and David Lee Pancake, as well as attending artists. Smaller conventions are places where local artists and talented beginners can gain a better showcase. The Artist Guest of Honor was Christine Mitzuk. I enjoyed interacting with her at programming events, and having a chance to see her beautiful work.

Sunday's Creative Process panel at DemiCon 29 featured (L-R) Christina Henry, Author Guest of Honor; Jan S. Gephardt; Christine Mitzuk, Artist Guest of Honor; cartoonist and writer Daniel Mohr; and writer/historian Rob Howell. (Photo by Tyrell Gephardt)

Panels 
I would have liked a somewhat wider range of panels, but as I gathered (after the fact), to get a panel scheduled, one of the would-be panelists had to suggest it beforehand. If I'd figured that out sooner, I'd have suggested several more ideas, myself! I'm used to a different system--but never mind. I enjoyed the panels in which I did participate.

I especially enjoyed the readings, though I unfortunately had to miss the readings by Lettie Prell. I did get a chance to hear Adam Whitlatch, Rachel Aukes, and Shannon Ryan. I also had a chance to do a reading--but unfortunately, they scheduled mine opposite the Masquerade (DemiCon is WAY into costumes and cosplay). I had a small but enthusiastic audience of one (and he wasn't even related to me! My son Ty was scheduled for something else opposite my reading).

One highlight was the chance to work on several panels with Rob Howell. I'd met him earlier, and I've been on panels with him before. He brings a sense of humor and a rich depth of knowledge to every discussion.

The Trans-Iowa Canal Company takes a curtain call at the end of their humorous DemiCon 29 Opening Ceremonies performance.

Other highlights 
DemiCon offered a range of other activities besides panels, readings, and the art show. As noted above, there was a Masquerade, there were room parties every night, and Opening Ceremonies, as usual offered a new performance by the Trans-Iowa Canal Company, or TICC, a group of comedic actors who present skits with an sf or fantasy bent.

Assorted visions from DemiCon 29: (L-R) Susan Leabhart, Fan Guest of Honor, with friend; the laser-light show at the Karaoke party Friday night; Something you just don't see every day, a giant pink inflatable flamingo in the hotel lobby.

IMAGES: All photos except the one with Jan in it (which is by Tyrell Gephardt) are by Jan S. Gephardt, taken with permission where applicable. If you wish to re-post them, please don't alter them, but do please give an attribution, and embed a link back to this post. Thanks!

Authors, reading

I attended DemiCon 28 last weekend. It's a science fiction convention in the DesMoines, IA area (technically, Urbandale), where they had an art show, masquerade, panel discussions, parties--the full gamut of things I have learned to anticipate at sf conventions in my decades-long career of attending them.

Mark Van Name does a reading from his novel
No Going Back at Balticon in 2012.

And they had author readings.

In my experience, author readings at large conventions by "big name" authors can be standing-room-only events. Author readings by mid-list or relatively unknown authors tend to be the orphan stepchildren of convention programming. If anyone shows up for one, that counts as "wildly successful."

Some promoting, arm-twisting, and recruitment of friends and family to fill the audience may be required, for newbie writers. We may have loved listening to people read us stories in grade school, or be passionately attached to our audio books and podcasts as adults, but somehow getting people to attend readings at sf conventions continues to be kind of a heavy lift.

As some of my more persistent blog-readers may have noticed, I'm a writer who's poised on the brink of having a novel to release into the wild. It's gone through multiple drafts, been professionally edited, and I've done all I can to make it the best novel it can be. The time has come to start making people aware it's coming.

I asked for a reading at DemiCon. Better yet, I got one--although I wasn't scheduled for many other programming events where I could promote it. I made fliers (with advice from my son about copy writing), and invited everyone I could.

P. C. Haring read several interesting excerpts
from his novel Slipspace: Harbinger. 

I also was able to connect with a couple of other authors, who also had readings. One of them was P.C. Haring, who'd been scheduled for a reading that morning at 9:00 a.m.

Now, in the normal world, 9:00 a.m., even on a Saturday, is a fairly reasonable hour. At a science fiction convention--especially one with as many lively room parties as DemiCon 28 has, a 9:00 a.m. panel on Saturday might count as cruel and unusual punishment.

I'd noticed this scheduling earlier, and commiserated with him. Then, on an impulse, I offered him the second half of my scheduled hour from 4-5:00 p.m. This was not entirely altruistic on my part: my voice tends to give out after half an hour or so of reading. In any case, he accepted the opportunity. We had a nice attendance--the room was about half-full. I read my first chapter, then he read excerpts from his book. Before we knew it, the hour was over and we'd all had a pleasant listen.

Then we gathered up as many of the audience up as possible, and trooped across the hall to listen to Lettie Prell read from two of her short works. The first, "Emergency Protocol," is a flash fiction (very short) piece that will be published by Analog Science Fiction and Fact at a future date. It is wonderful: watch for it.

Prell then read excerpts from The Three Lives of Sonata James, a thought-provoking story that's been reprinted in Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016, and The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Two, edited by Neil Clarke. Good stuff.

Did I gain anything by encouraging my audience to also listen to P.C. and Lettie?

Could/should I have filled my entire hour, all by myself? Well, certainly I had enough material to read (assuming my voice held up). And from comments I got later, the audience would have been game for listening to me. So maybe I made the wrong call. If you look at it from the point of view that all authors are in competition with each other, then I definitely did. Nice guys finish last, and all that.

But I don't see the world as a zero-sum game, and I especially don't look at writing that way.  I cannot possibly write fast enough to be the only author someone reads (unless they read ver-r-r-r-r-ry slo-o-o-o-o-o-owly, indeed!). Even much more prolific authors ultimately can't. Everyone's readers are also going to read other authors' work.

Therefore, I'd rather be a resource, a connector, a person who introduces people to others they may also like, in any given network. I fundamentally do not believe that any given group of writers (or artists) are competing, so much as conducting parallel enterprises. If we conduct our careers in friendly, cooperative ways, as far as I'm concerned, we all gain, and actually might expand our own networks a bit in the process.

IMAGES: Many thanks to the Balticon Podcast, for the photo of author Mark Van Name giving a reading from his novel No Going Back. There aren't very many photos of that particular activity (author readings at sf cons), so I was relieved to find a good one! The promo card for my novel, Going to the XK9s, is a combination of my copywriting and design, much improved by comments from my son Tyrell Gephardt, and an illustration I commissioned for promotional purposes, by Jeff Porter. The cover art for P. C. Haring's novel Slipstream: Harbinger is from his website. The illustration for The Three Lives of Sonata James is by Kevin Hong. It is posted here courtesy of Goodreads. Many thanks to all!