They asked me if I needed a water refresh...
Like, holy hell. They came around to my booth several times a day. "Need a water? Need coffee/soda? Anything?"
I asked for ibuprofen - received. I asked for water - cold and delicious. They kept me company when the panels went on and there was a dip in customers. They told me jokes, helped me move, kept me sane! I'll tell you, my weekend was made 100% better by these guys.
The rumor mill churns and churns, and I've heard very bad things about ComicCon, and many other cons. They don't care about you, they don't care about your feelings/hopes/dreams. They'll charge you out the ass to dolly your stuff up to your booth. You can't bring and use your own dolly. Your booth is a long way away from your car. They'll laugh as they watch you haul 50lb boxes of books half a mile to your location.
I highly recommend doing a smaller con for your first. It's intimate, you meet tons of people, REAL people, you get treated like a god, and the price is f*ckin' right.
I was noticed by publishers ^_^
Because the event was so small, there was lots of potential to be noticed. There was a publishing studio in the vendor room with me, and a "collection of writers". There were at least three publishing studios attending the con as civilians. I have many people to reach out to at the end of this, and damn it, I'm feeling overwhelmed... but that's a good thing!
Getting noticed felt super good. My ego's been stroked once, twice, and thrice over... some might say too much. In any case, it can be a nice confidence booster for someone who's been operating in an empty silo for 11 months straight.
I made back the cost of my entry, and had some for spending!
Yes, I had to buy table runners, tableclothes, bookmarks, stickers, business cards, chapstick, postcard flyers, door hangers, and that doesn't even include the money spent on stock to sell! However, I have more than enough left over (because duh, you buy in +1k pack bulk) for the next con, and the next.
The things I bought for this one con will serve me for at least 4 more to come.
There were gobs of amazing people to meet
I met more than my fair share of fun, quirky, unique, fantastic, and all-around wonderful people. Smaller cons are so amazing for that. People have time to stop, say hi, interact, learn a bit about one another. I think my favorite human I met was on the last day. He came by with his brother (an author with whom I traded several books that just shot to the top of my TBR) and noticed I was alone. He stayed and chatted for at least two hours, which I'm sure sounds ridiculous. But it absolutely wasn't. We went on to discuss ideas he had, characters he'd dreamed up, amazing worlds he'd created, and he wasn't even an author. It amazes me how many people don't consider themselves storytellers, but are such incredible storytellers!
I personally feel that storytelling is human nature, and all humans are capable. Whether or not all humans want to do it is a different subject.
This is running long, and I feel I might bore you... so here are tons of pictures!
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| Oh look, it's me! Our Booth. |
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| Jeremy at the booth. |
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| RUFIO!!! |
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| Some very cool Steampunk cosplay |
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| The Princess Bride cosplay to end all cosplay. Indigo is in the back with a ROUS on her back! |
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| An amazing corset+dress+skirt shop! She was very proper as I took her picture. |
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| Some of the coolest terrariums I've ever seen. DINOSAURS! |
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| Out in Colorado Fiction group. They focus on GLBT writing and inquired if I had any. It just so happens... ^_^ |
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| Some of the awesome prizes available for the silent auction! |
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| My nextdoor neighbors throughout the con! I uh... bought myself a viking headband. That thing is siiiiick, and warm =) |
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| Very nice woman who makes some of the coolest unicorn and demon horns! Gosh dang it, I'm so nerdy! |
I'll definitely do MALCon again. If they'll have me, I'll for sure do the author's row next year. I didn't manage to sneak out there for pictures because I was much too concerned with my booth presence, but I promise I'll collect much better pictures at the next con.
For now, this is me signing off. Night kiddies!
