Last weekend, I was at CONvergence, one of the largest fandom conventions in Minnesota every year. I was a speaker on two panels: one about writing and publishing serialized fiction, and the other about the Expanse book and TV series.
I pitched the panel about writing serialized fiction back in November 2021 – before I’d joined Laterpress. Thankfully, my serial writing credentials were sufficient without the publishing company boost that I wasn’t bumped off a speaking slot on the panel I’d pitched (which CAN happen.) I’m just very small / young author in the grand scheme of things, so I’m glad I got to share everything I’d learned.
With the vast amount of knowledge I’ve gained over the last year, I’m planning to put in for as many panels as I can again next year. They’re fun! I’m weird – I’m an introvert with absolutely ZERO fear of public speaking. I don’t even have to switch myself into the “ON” mode most introverts do for something like that. 1-on-1 meetings are a bigger drain on my batteries than speaking in front of 100. Not sure why that is.
I had lunch meetings with other authors on Friday and Saturday. It was awesome to get to chat up other authors, learn more about their craft, how they approach their business, and their successes and struggles.
I approach all of this with a growth mindset. I assume there’s always something more I can learn, and that everyone else in the author life knows something I don’t, and could teach me. I always want to learn more and improve, whether that’s writing craft, business sense, interpersonal networking and relationship building (a common introvert weakness), building up an author platform, or knowing what authors want from a platform like Laterpress.
At the convention, I spoke with MOST (not all, unfortunately) of the authors who had tables in the artist / vendor area. Those I did talk to, I purchased books from. I respect the convention hustle. I’ve spend about $200 on books this month LOL. Going to need to rein that in for September and October.
On the writing front, I’ve been very bad this month. Nothing written last week as I did convention prep, nothing this week as I prep for vacation, and likely little next week either. My brother and his wife are visiting from Spain, and I want to spend as much time with them as I can. The book can wait.
That said, once they’ve returned to Spain, I’ll be in Extreme Focus Mode outside my core working hours for Laterpress. I’m not rushing this book because it’s my first – I want it to be the best it can be, and if I’m ever going to take time on one, it’s the first in series / my debut. I’d like to have it done and available everywhere before the 20books convention in November, if possible, so that is the goal I’m working toward.
I’m probably going to have to sacrifice a lot of my reading time to make it happen. But I’ve read over 80 books this year, so I think I can make that sacrifice without thinking I’m “not reading enough.”
Author Nate Gillick 