I got back from GenCon late on Sunday, but I didn't have the mental capacity after four long days of a convention and then a five hour drive to type up a full con report. But here I am now.
I and my friends arrived Wednesday in Indianapolis for the convention. I had a few minutes to setup that night, but had to await the rest of the promotional items, such as the posters, bookmarks and even some extra boxes of books, until the publisher delivered them in the morning. So the rest of the night was just recovering from the drive, grabbing a quick dinner and trying to get to sleep early.
Thursday we woke up at 6:30am to get showers, breakfast and meet up with the publisher. We lugged the items into the exhibit hall and setup the table for the first of four days of selling. And they do look GREAT!
Joining me at the table for almost the entire weekend is Jodi (the same Jodi mentioned in the acknowledgment page of the book). Here she smiles for the camera.
Without her, the weekend would have been worse, and I definitely would have sold far less. What's more, she drew an original wallpaper that went on the promo CDs (which weren't done until later in the weekend).
Across the aisle from us all weekend was Maxwell Alexander Drake, aka "Drake." He joined us for a cheap dinner late on Thursday and chatted with us when traffic was slow. He, and many of the people around us, were very cordial and pleasant folks. Not one scared away the customers or interfered with the other authors. In other words, a very good neighborhood of tables.
Friday was the first day the publisher had to enjoy the con. He stopped by to make sure that the table looked good (and as you will see, the presentation improves on Saturday). He also made sure that the candy was up to his high standards.
By this time, sales had picked up. I also walked with the publisher away from the table to try to sell myself, since I had evidence that my skills as a writer are worth something. Got a couple of interested people, and will follow up with them after the show. But rest assured, Eizo's the priority right now. Her next book will be finished before anything else.
Saturday was another day, but this time came with some sad news. Our neighbors at the Authors Avenue, C.J. and Ramon, were not a group. Ramon's aunt fell ill and he would be gone the rest of the weekend. I hope his aunt recovers quickly.
I wanted to venture out to shop. I left Jodi at the table (where she drew art on my laptop and with my tablet), and she attracted more people with her outfit. Isn't she the cutest?
Sunday, the last day of the show, sales had picked up thanks to a family fun day badge that people could pick up cheap. I saw plenty of new faces on this day and passed out even more of the bookmarks. By the end of the weekend, I think we went through over 300, easily.
The publisher stopped by again to find out how the weekend was going. He and I discussed the next books, how to promote the current one, another project and what to do about next year's GenCon. I will be there again. How large of a presence will be determined by sales of the book.
I also made another cool friend. Lyz Liddell from the Secular Student Alliance gave me a button that reads "DAWKINS IS MY HOMEBOY" in exchange for a Christian tract being passed around at GenCon that had a Star Wars theme. Her organization is a valuable service for students, and I hope to help them out someday soon.
I apologize for the limited report, but most of the weekend was a blur due to lack of sleep or too much input. But if you stopped by the table or talked to one of us this weekend, please feel free to reply and help flesh out the tale.
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Topic: GenCon 2009 report (Read 830 times)