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[Writer Post] WorldCon and Writers

Posted by reudaly on September 4, 2013 in Conventions, Writing |

So, I’m back from LoneStarCon 3 – aka WorldCon – and though I ended up having a good time, it’ll be a while before I do one of these again. And if/when I do? It won’t be on staff. It’s a ton of work and with all the other stuff to do there? It’s a lot.

WorldCon is both a good place and a hard place to do business. Unless you have set times and places to meet people for specific reasons, the odds of you meeting up with someone at random is…tenuous at best . You either run into them multiple times or never. For instance (and a brief moment of name dropping) I kept running into the amazing and talented editor, Ann Vandermeer, but never once saw the amazing and talented writer, Tanya Huff (both of whom I’ve met at ApolloCon). And unless you HAVE business scheduled – dear and fluffy lord – DO NOT try to initiate anything beyond a polite, “I would love to work with you someday” as you’re meeting them.

Why? Because WorldCon is a sprawl. This one was on three city blocks. The guest I worked with had one day of running back and forth between the furthest buildings with little or no time to get to her destinations. So if that Big Name Author/Editor/Artist you’re trying to meet on the fly seems short, harried, and freaked out? It may not be YOU, but their schedule…or they may have just come from the Ghetto Tour of San Antonio trying to find a grocery store. Always, always cut pros slack at all the “big” conventions. They (and we – if you’re talking staff) are deep into Headless Chicken Syndrome half the time.

And if you can’t find your favorite author type at WorldCon but you know they are there? It might be that they don’t have programming. There’s a nearly alchemical formula for deciding who’s deemed worthy of what programming when at WorldCon – and conversely who does not. If you work for a smaller press and are lucky enough to make the cut? SHOW UP. Represent your ENTIRE PRESS. Because you’re going to be the only one a lot of them see. And if you DON’T have programming but have an opportunity to “unofficially” participate in some? DO IT and do it well. You don’t know who’s watching, noticing what you do, and how it could affect you.

Actually that applies to everything. NEVER look down at your nose at anyone who comes into a suite party. That person you may think isn’t “worthy” may be an editor who will remember you and never buy your work. Help sell whatever project you can – anthologies, small press books, etc – because that gets noticed too by people who can (and might) affect your career.

The key is Golden Rule and Wheaton’s Law. Oh, and write. Write, submit, rinse, repeat.

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3 Comments

  • NEVER look down at your nose at anyone who comes into a suite party.

    So very true and so very important!

  • Daniel Myers says:

    Now, I am the first to admist I don’t have the catalogue knowledge of all the great writters in the world, but I’ve never heard of Wheaton’s Law. Could you, or someone reading the comments, explain this to me, please?

  • Daniel Myers says:

    Now, I am the first to admist I don’t have the catalogue knowledge of all the great writters in the world, but I’ve never heard of Wheaton’s Law. Could you, or someone reading the comments, explain this to me, please?

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