LauraJUnderwood
Silly Author Person
I will have to say this was a MUCH better MidSouthCon than last year. Programming on useful subjects was plentiful. I had a full platter.
When I left the house Friday, we were expecting storms, and I saw only clouds until I got right out of my county and into the next where it was a veritable flash flood situation with truckers slinging great gobs of water on everyone else to the point that one had to slow down and use the blinkers. But after about 60 miles of that happening on and off, it cleared off, rotating between cloudy and sunny patches for the rest of the way. No delays on the road either, which was nice.
I got to Memphis around 3:00 which gave me plenty of time to get checked in with ConCom. My first program was not until 6:00. It was on Con Ettiquet.
Mostly, it was a discussion of how to approach authors and editors at conventions without making an a&& of yourself, something a lot of new writers and fans need to understand. It's not the Internet. It's in person, and you should be on your best behavior when you want to approach an author or an editor at a convention.
Once that was over, I was able to go find food, and then I joined fellow YDP folks Selina Rosen and Lynn Stranathan for their later programs.
I was sharing with Selina and Lynn, and Selina's nephew Anthony (cute, quite and rather introverted 14 year old). We went to bed early that night because I had a 10:00 am panel.
My morning panel was on Modes of Publication. Should you go Big Press (always, if you can), Small Press (yes, the small presses are vastly populat) or Do It Yourself (only out of desperation, and even then, do it RIGHT). My fellow guest and I--including a gentleman who started out self publishing, but he was able to sell 7000 units of his books in 3 months time, and that put him in the spotlight enough that an indepentend press picked him up--agreed that one should seek professional publication, and reminded folks that if you MUST go it yourself, make sure you hire an editor, a cover artist, a copy editor, and be as professional as possible.
Bopped back to the table for a short time, and then I had a "Street Corner Reading." Am not too fond of these as you are basically standing in the hallway reading out loud to no one in particular. They believe you will gather an audience, but those of us who did it thought it was not the best way, and were wishing they would go back to putting readings in a room, or at least having seating for an audience and a quieter location.
My 1:00 pm panel was "Little Details." Things new writers get wrong and how to fix them. Again, the panel was a mix of experiences authors and folks in the editorial end of the industry, and we discussed everything from doing research to making sure your manuscript is sparkling clean.
At 3:00 pm, I sat on Pro Row and signed books and discussed stuff in general with my fellow authors.
I had time to eat and spent much time pushing books before my 8:00 pm panel "Animals in Fiction." The discussion ranged from "realistic animals" to the "mythical and magical" sorts as well as "sentient creatures." We discussed how we used them, how we learned to use them realistically, and suggested books and stories the audience might find useful.
Afterwards, I sat in on one of Selina's panels, and then I went back to the room and did a little work. We all retired early because Sunday was the day of packing, getting out of the room and SELLING MORE STUFF. Which we did...
I had a 3:00 pm panel Sunday--my last for the day--and in spite of being opposite the most popular panel "Dark and Stormy" (a MidSouthCon tradition) we had a fairly interested audience for "E-book: Friend or Foe?" We discussed formats, reading devices, the ins and outs of Library lending of ebooks versus purchasing. We discussed how publishers felt about ebooks, how writers felt about them, and what writers should beware of when thinking of ebook publication.
After that, I hit the road for home, and reached my bed some time after the am hours.
It was a really good MidSouthCon.
I hope they will have many more...
When I left the house Friday, we were expecting storms, and I saw only clouds until I got right out of my county and into the next where it was a veritable flash flood situation with truckers slinging great gobs of water on everyone else to the point that one had to slow down and use the blinkers. But after about 60 miles of that happening on and off, it cleared off, rotating between cloudy and sunny patches for the rest of the way. No delays on the road either, which was nice.
I got to Memphis around 3:00 which gave me plenty of time to get checked in with ConCom. My first program was not until 6:00. It was on Con Ettiquet.
Mostly, it was a discussion of how to approach authors and editors at conventions without making an a&& of yourself, something a lot of new writers and fans need to understand. It's not the Internet. It's in person, and you should be on your best behavior when you want to approach an author or an editor at a convention.
Once that was over, I was able to go find food, and then I joined fellow YDP folks Selina Rosen and Lynn Stranathan for their later programs.
I was sharing with Selina and Lynn, and Selina's nephew Anthony (cute, quite and rather introverted 14 year old). We went to bed early that night because I had a 10:00 am panel.
My morning panel was on Modes of Publication. Should you go Big Press (always, if you can), Small Press (yes, the small presses are vastly populat) or Do It Yourself (only out of desperation, and even then, do it RIGHT). My fellow guest and I--including a gentleman who started out self publishing, but he was able to sell 7000 units of his books in 3 months time, and that put him in the spotlight enough that an indepentend press picked him up--agreed that one should seek professional publication, and reminded folks that if you MUST go it yourself, make sure you hire an editor, a cover artist, a copy editor, and be as professional as possible.
Bopped back to the table for a short time, and then I had a "Street Corner Reading." Am not too fond of these as you are basically standing in the hallway reading out loud to no one in particular. They believe you will gather an audience, but those of us who did it thought it was not the best way, and were wishing they would go back to putting readings in a room, or at least having seating for an audience and a quieter location.
My 1:00 pm panel was "Little Details." Things new writers get wrong and how to fix them. Again, the panel was a mix of experiences authors and folks in the editorial end of the industry, and we discussed everything from doing research to making sure your manuscript is sparkling clean.
At 3:00 pm, I sat on Pro Row and signed books and discussed stuff in general with my fellow authors.
I had time to eat and spent much time pushing books before my 8:00 pm panel "Animals in Fiction." The discussion ranged from "realistic animals" to the "mythical and magical" sorts as well as "sentient creatures." We discussed how we used them, how we learned to use them realistically, and suggested books and stories the audience might find useful.
Afterwards, I sat in on one of Selina's panels, and then I went back to the room and did a little work. We all retired early because Sunday was the day of packing, getting out of the room and SELLING MORE STUFF. Which we did...
I had a 3:00 pm panel Sunday--my last for the day--and in spite of being opposite the most popular panel "Dark and Stormy" (a MidSouthCon tradition) we had a fairly interested audience for "E-book: Friend or Foe?" We discussed formats, reading devices, the ins and outs of Library lending of ebooks versus purchasing. We discussed how publishers felt about ebooks, how writers felt about them, and what writers should beware of when thinking of ebook publication.
After that, I hit the road for home, and reached my bed some time after the am hours.
It was a really good MidSouthCon.
I hope they will have many more...
