Arizona Dreamin’ & Author Promotion

I’ve been lazy about promoting myself for a few months now. The posting to FB, advertising, boosting…tweeting (which I suck at), guesting on blogs…applying for the big book advertising places… I just lost interest.

Sigh.

It all just overwhelmed the actual joy of writing. So…I took a break. (I do want to sell books, and get more readers…but I’m uncertain of whether the standard promotional methods work for me. Let’s face it, I don’t write anything that easily fits into normal categories.)

Now, I’ve always loved conventions. As my author bio says, I got to a lot of conventions. Sometimes, as an author, sometimes as a reader, sometimes simply as a spectator. The people at conventions, be they scifi/fantasy cons, romance cons, steampunk cons…or large events like Renaissance Faires, Pirate Festivals – are imaginative, energetic and magnetic. I love the people.

I enjoy just going, just being there. Being at conventions as an author is both scary and wonderful. Scary? Yup. Scary. The fear of being unseen, unheard… well, that can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I believe I did well at the Arizona Dreamin’ Convention, this last weekend. I wasn’t perfect, I missed chances to meet more readers and other writers. I let my reticence, regarding a sense of intruding, hold me back sometimes. Too many people I didn’t talk to, didn’t introduce myself to… Too many pictures I didn’t take…

But I did better than if I’d been at one of the massive conventions, like the Romantic Booklovers Convention.

I like promoting in person. Especially at cons, like this smaller con. I’d like to do more. In fact, I’d be happy to make cons my sole means of promotion. Because I’m betting better and will be better at the next. And the next…

Arizona Dreamin’ was an extremely sweet place to learn all this. I want to thank Kris Tualla and Morgan Kearns for putting together the convention. Siobhan Muir for sharing my room, (congrats on the big win!) all those who sat at the table I co-hosted with Deena Remiel…glad you liked The Admiral.

table 2

Add the delightful men who competed for the Man of Our Dreams…and all the readers I met…those you enjoyed when I babbled and asked questions…

They’re holding a writing retreat next year, and I know I can learn and benefit from something like this.. I’m not altogether sure what I can offer, but I’m going to work on coming up with something – because this is a convention I want to be part of.

Ever been to a convention? Would you consider going to one? If you do attend cons, do you look to meet authors you know, or new ones?

4 Comments:

  1. Aw, thanks, Maureen. I really enjoyed sharing the space with you and seeing you there at the event. 🙂

  2. I’m so glad you said yes when I invited you to come as a featured author! So glad we got to sit together at the same table. So glad you’ll be coming back for more hijinx and fun! You are a welcome addition to the zany crew! <3

  3. Thanks for the shout-out! You were a delight and I wish we had more time to hang out. GO PIRATES! (Is that a thing?) <3

  4. Beth Hanzl Phares

    Maureen, I know I am not like every other conference attendee, but I try to read at least one book by each and every author who is going to be at a conference. I did this for RWA Desert Dreams in 2014, I did this for both Az Dreamin’ 2014 and 2015, and am planning on doing it again for each and every conference/convention I attend in the future. How could I possibly hope to speak to an author without having ANY idea as to their voice, their stories, their bestsellers, their more obscure works? It is my job as an attendee to know something about them before I meet them; otherwise I’ve lost an opportunity to connect with them! I know my OCD is showing, but meeting you, and actually connecting prior to the convention via Facebook, was one of the high points for me! No, we never got to share the Kraken’s rum. No, we didn’t even do a quick selfie. But did I come away feeling like I got to meet and know the lady who took me into the confines of Alan Silvestri’s mind? You KNOW I did! Forever grateful to you for taking the time with me and my spouse!

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