Big Conference vs. Small Conference

 

By Thomas Kies

I confess, I’m signed up to go to Bouchercon in New Orleans in September.  After attending the one in San Diego two years ago, and then again in Nashville last year, I was reluctant to commit to going to another.  It’s not that they don’t do a good job.  They work hard at making Bouchercon a good experience for everyone involved.

That’s part of the problem, however.  There are so damned many people there.  I think there were over 1,500 participants in Nashville last year.

Yes, I love seeing old friends again, and yes, I love making new friends.  But honestly, I feel lost in the shuffle. 

In March I attended the Suffolk Authors’ Festival presented by the Suffolk Virginia Tourism Bureau.  They limit the event to about 50 writers across different genres.  The one-day event was attended by about 550 readers, many of whom bought our books. 

I had a chance to interact with almost all the other authors and spend a lot of time with attendees.  Because it was so small, the folks who put it together spent a lot of time and effort to make sure we were all happy. 

That includes coffee and snacks in the morning, lunch, and then a really nice dinner, exclusively for the authors along with an open bar.  Anytime you have an open bar for authors, you’re making friends. 

That final evening, I spent drinking wine and talking with the likes of John DeDakis, John Gilstrap, K.L. Murphy, Jeffrey Higgins, and Bill Rapp.  Earlier in the day, I was on a crime panel with Maya Corrigan, Esme Addison, Jenna Harte, and Carrie Ann Knox, none of whom I’d ever met before, but were delightful.

The cool thing about the panels at the Suffolk Festival was there was only one panel at a time.  The room was filled with attendees.

 Don’t get me wrong, if I didn’t enjoy going to Bouchercon or Thrillerfest, I wouldn’t spend the money.  And those events, after the airfare, hotel, food, and bar tab, are pricey.  My publisher, Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks, has always put together a wonderful book signing at Bouchercon.  The event organizers do their best to put as many authors on panels as humanly possible. 

The dilemma with so many panels is that there are multiple panels going on all the time. Some are very well attended…and some aren’t.

There are so many attendees that if you’re not an extravert, you’re going to get lost in the crowd.  And let’s face it, an awful lot of authors are introverts.  At the bigger events, you’ll have a better chance to meet editors and agents than at the smaller venues, but sometimes, it’s at an additional cost.  

The point of this piece?  Don’t overlook the smaller events.  The big ones are good, for sure, but it’s easy to feel lost in the crowd.

Buy My Book. Please!

Gentle Reader is going to read only one of your books. I’m convinced of that. Then GR is either going to love your work or give you a pass. One book. That’s it. I don’t care how good you are or how much money you make or if the whole known universe thinks you are the best writer ever.

If Gentle Reader loves you he or she will buy everything you’ve ever written. If the dear soul doesn’t.

Well.

I’ve seen writers agonize over sales, quality of their books, marketing, social media, etc. But basically it comes down to a tricky match between the reader and the writer. Books are too expensive to buy those of writers we really don’t like all that much. For that matter, reading books we aren’t enthusiastic about are like being on a forced march. We don’t have to if we don’t want to. It’s one of the bonuses of being an adult instead of an English student.

I read books that I don’t care for. Quite a few, in fact. I read them out of curiosity, or because a friend has asked to “blurb” a book, or because I thought they were going to be worth reading. But I often feel cheated and resent wasting my time. I read a number of books to study technique, or because they are a classic that everyone else has read. I’m a sucker for good reviews. I read books that win awards. I’m going to read everything that’s on the Edgars list. And all the Pulitzer finalists. Ditto National Book Awards.

My oldest daughter, Cheryl was over the other night carrying books I had given her for Christmas. On top was Lila by Marilynne Robinson. The first words out of her mouth were, “Whatever you are reading, put it down. Right now. Start reading this instead.” Now that’s the way to sell a book.

My daughter, Michele, tried to stop me from taking The Secret Place by Tana French. Because her husband hadn’t read it yet. Isn’t that silly? I pulled the seniority card.

Our whole family reads everything Tana French writes and also Craig Johnson who writes western mysteries. Audrey likes David Mitchell, but I don’t. How could she not have liked Gone Girl—but she didn’t.

My husband loved military history. Especially books about World War II. I gave Mary Beth one of Mo Hayden’s books and she was an instant dedicated fan. She bought everything Mo had ever written.

What we are looking for is a real live fan. The kind that adores our books and will tell all their friends. But to reach this person we have to do a lot of work. We can’t make someone like our books. But we can do everything possible to make sure a likely person knows about a book we’ve written and if possible, persuade them to read the first few pages.

That’s where the rub comes in. What is the best way to get our books in the hands of a reader?
At the beginning of this year, I decided to do more with social media and go to fewer conferences. I went to fewer conferences, but fell down in my determination to conquer social media.

There are three basic ways to get find that elusive dedicated fan:

1. give talks and presentations at bookstores, libraries, or groups
2. Become a social media whiz
3. Go to conferences and befriend a fan

The trick to find our own "best way."