Make An Occasional Appearance

Writers tend to be introverts; some of us have made an art of avoiding people as much as we possibly can. Which sort of ironic when you realize how much of our job is based on interacting with other people and learning from it. As such we need to find times to interact with others, even if we don't want to do it.

One of the ways to do this is by showing up at a local convention, preferably in the artists alley section. The idea is to make some sort of connection with our fans, if at all possible.The way you do that is showing up the convention and making yourself available. Sell some books, give some signatures, and maybe even shake a few  hands. 

We try to avoid that. And it's not actually a bad thing. However, you're going to find out to the more convention appearances you make, the better it is for your bottom line. You're establishing some sort of connection with your fan base, and by doing so actually showing that you're actually a living breathing person. By doing so we can develop a fan base who are willing to go to bat for us in other weird areas and maybe even actually buy our books. 

And that's definitely a great thing. I mean, we definitely want to see people buy our stuff; a lot of us don't actually write just for the sake of writing. However, it's important to make sure that when we show up to the conventions that while we're there to build a fan base and actually build a reputation, we place that to the side and just have as much fun as we can. We put that aside and just deal with people as people; we need to make the fans feel special and you can't do that if you're thinking solely in business terms. 

This isn't to say that you should put aside completely, but only worry about the business when you're taking the money box to your room. 

You are going to find some the real connections, and the ones that work the best are the ones that are based on some sort of level of truth. So when you show up at a convention, just remember to be who you are not who you think people are expecting. At the very least, pretending to be someone else will tire you out really quickly and burn you out quickly; being yourself is usually the best option for longevity.

That said, keep in mind that a lot of writers make a lot of money from conventions, both during and after, so make every effort to make some sort of convention appearance and try to enjoy it. Your bottom line will appreciate it, and you may actually have some fun.