Convention Review from a first timer: Ad Astra 2018 - Toronto (Part 1 of 5)
This year I finally did it - I came to a science fiction convention. Ad Astra has been around for a long time (the first one happened in 1980). It's a smaller scale event in terms of convention space, since it's taking place in the Sheraton in Richmond Hill (nice rooms by the way), but even then, there are about 10-15 panels running at any one time.
In some ways it's a daunting experience, even on a smaller scale. I'm very much stuck in reality - job, life, etc. - and my hobbies are generally quiet and private. Coming out of my shell is a bit difficult, especially when it means talking about being a writer in genres that, while they get a lot of love (and I appreciate that), is still somehow regarded as fringe by all the 'serious' adults. It's weird too, because science fiction makes more money on an annual basis than most other forms of entertainment. Books, comics, graphic novels, manga, TV, movies and games (to name a few) - when you add the ones with science fiction elements up, you're dealing with an absolute gigantic pile of money.
So here I am, listening to panels and trying to emulate how everyone seems to be so much more relaxed and excited than me. I've met some nice people, asked some questions and learned a few things about the publishing industry.
Now then, I said this would be a review, so here's my take on the first panel I visited on Friday night:
Publishing your novel (Justus Stone, Sarah Raven, MJ Morse and JF Garrard): This panel was comprised of two indie/independent authors - self-publishers - and two others who also publish traditionally and/or run a small press. While the panel description focused on the different avenues to get your work out there - submissions, queries, self-publishing platforms - about half of the time was spent on getting the work finished. This threw me off a bit because a different panel was already dealing with this topic, and I decided to go to this one because I don't need that information - I've already learned how to get to the ending. It's not that the information was bad by any means - it was nice to hear the different perspectives and experiences of the authors - but it wasn't what I was expecting, and was off the advertised topic.
Afterwards, they did go into their experiences with a lot of the available platforms - Smashwords, Ingram, Amazon and Wattpad to name a few. They also talked briefly about the big two: DAW and TOR, but unfortunately none of the presenters have had any success there. They did have good advice about submissions though - for example never, ever, ever submit anything without first reading through the submission guidelines and making sure you're complying with them. Queries to agents was another topic they covered - there are about 30 in Canada and, honestly, most of the best ones are in New York. So that's an added challenge - but again, the advice was mostly common sense: if you're sending something, be professional about it - this is a business. It involves sales and money - so come to the table prepared, and don't be afraid of the work. Because if you're a new author, work is the name of the game.
And that's where my second concern with this panel comes up. Writing is a solitary act most of the time, but once you have a book, you need to get it 'out there' somehow. Do you go indie or try traditional approaches (submissions and queries)? Do you look for an agent and how likely is it that you'll get one as a new author? Short answer is most of the methods outlined above are pretty unlikely to result in success right away. You have to hustle. You have to network and meet people and build a platform and advertise and pick a publishing path and invest in your work, maintain records, somehow earn some money, pay taxes on your earnings and so on and so forth.
That's what I wanted to know about - the hustle - tips, tricks and experiences on specific things people have done that have helped them build a base and start to earn a living. Ways to engage readers and potential fans - ways to convince people that the story I've torn myself apart trying to tell is worth buying. What I got was a collection of general anecdotes about why writing is important to the panelists, very general information about what platforms they've used to sell their books (for which they didn't provide specifics in terms of numbers and whatnot - not a bad thing, but it'd be helpful), a lot of cross-talk from a very pushy, middle-aged man in the audience who wanted to control the conversation and show everyone just how knowledgeable he was and, unfortunately, no real opportunity to ask questions at the end.
I don't mean to be hard on the presenters - heading a panel isn't an easy job and I applaud them for being willing to take time out of their own convention experience to share their stories. At the same time though, I want to be honest with myself and my reader(s) when I use or experience something. I don't think anyone brought speaking notes with them, which contributed to a general sense of being disorganized and unfocused - haphazard even.
TL/DR: I got some good information, just not an hour's worth. 6.5/10
In some ways it's a daunting experience, even on a smaller scale. I'm very much stuck in reality - job, life, etc. - and my hobbies are generally quiet and private. Coming out of my shell is a bit difficult, especially when it means talking about being a writer in genres that, while they get a lot of love (and I appreciate that), is still somehow regarded as fringe by all the 'serious' adults. It's weird too, because science fiction makes more money on an annual basis than most other forms of entertainment. Books, comics, graphic novels, manga, TV, movies and games (to name a few) - when you add the ones with science fiction elements up, you're dealing with an absolute gigantic pile of money.
So here I am, listening to panels and trying to emulate how everyone seems to be so much more relaxed and excited than me. I've met some nice people, asked some questions and learned a few things about the publishing industry.
 |
| Some swag I grabbed along the way |
Now then, I said this would be a review, so here's my take on the first panel I visited on Friday night:
Publishing your novel (Justus Stone, Sarah Raven, MJ Morse and JF Garrard): This panel was comprised of two indie/independent authors - self-publishers - and two others who also publish traditionally and/or run a small press. While the panel description focused on the different avenues to get your work out there - submissions, queries, self-publishing platforms - about half of the time was spent on getting the work finished. This threw me off a bit because a different panel was already dealing with this topic, and I decided to go to this one because I don't need that information - I've already learned how to get to the ending. It's not that the information was bad by any means - it was nice to hear the different perspectives and experiences of the authors - but it wasn't what I was expecting, and was off the advertised topic.
Afterwards, they did go into their experiences with a lot of the available platforms - Smashwords, Ingram, Amazon and Wattpad to name a few. They also talked briefly about the big two: DAW and TOR, but unfortunately none of the presenters have had any success there. They did have good advice about submissions though - for example never, ever, ever submit anything without first reading through the submission guidelines and making sure you're complying with them. Queries to agents was another topic they covered - there are about 30 in Canada and, honestly, most of the best ones are in New York. So that's an added challenge - but again, the advice was mostly common sense: if you're sending something, be professional about it - this is a business. It involves sales and money - so come to the table prepared, and don't be afraid of the work. Because if you're a new author, work is the name of the game.
And that's where my second concern with this panel comes up. Writing is a solitary act most of the time, but once you have a book, you need to get it 'out there' somehow. Do you go indie or try traditional approaches (submissions and queries)? Do you look for an agent and how likely is it that you'll get one as a new author? Short answer is most of the methods outlined above are pretty unlikely to result in success right away. You have to hustle. You have to network and meet people and build a platform and advertise and pick a publishing path and invest in your work, maintain records, somehow earn some money, pay taxes on your earnings and so on and so forth.
That's what I wanted to know about - the hustle - tips, tricks and experiences on specific things people have done that have helped them build a base and start to earn a living. Ways to engage readers and potential fans - ways to convince people that the story I've torn myself apart trying to tell is worth buying. What I got was a collection of general anecdotes about why writing is important to the panelists, very general information about what platforms they've used to sell their books (for which they didn't provide specifics in terms of numbers and whatnot - not a bad thing, but it'd be helpful), a lot of cross-talk from a very pushy, middle-aged man in the audience who wanted to control the conversation and show everyone just how knowledgeable he was and, unfortunately, no real opportunity to ask questions at the end.
I don't mean to be hard on the presenters - heading a panel isn't an easy job and I applaud them for being willing to take time out of their own convention experience to share their stories. At the same time though, I want to be honest with myself and my reader(s) when I use or experience something. I don't think anyone brought speaking notes with them, which contributed to a general sense of being disorganized and unfocused - haphazard even.
TL/DR: I got some good information, just not an hour's worth. 6.5/10
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