LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!

The countdown has officially began.

Well, it didn't just start, it started 13 months ago when the brain child of this conference twisted the arm of a webmaster and got the website up and running. The countdown clock was the brainchild of our webmaster, James.

Every week I would look at that clock and say, "wow, that's seems like a long way off" and then I looked at the clock today and said, "oh my gosh! it's here already".

I have been fortunate enough to work with some great people on this conference and have learned a lot about them and about myself in the process.

I learned that I love to have fun in everything that I do. Our monthly meetings started off with organization and an agenda and quickly erupted into a free for all of conversations, jokes, laughs and plenty of coffee. In the end we all have worked like a well oiled machine. We have come together for a common goal and that is to bring you the best damn conference possible.

If you are coming to the conference, I can't wait to meet you and if you aren't...shame shame, you are going to miss the best damn party, EVER!

See you in four days, 20 hours and 15, 14, 13, 12....well you get the picture....

I'm as giddy as a two year old waiting for Santa!

Submitted: B. Swangin Webster

Memoriable First

I’m Ann Arbaugh and I’m happy to join Intrigue Publishing and the C3 Board as the Conference Volunteer Coordinator.  

My first professional experience with Conferences was back in 2006.
Austin’s wife, Denise, was the Maryland Writers Association Conference Coordinator.  She put out a call for volunteers and I stepped in. I thought I’d be helping with a small task, but Denise really needed someone to organize all the volunteers. No problem, I said.  

Sometimes it’s better not to know how big a job really is becaue you don’t have time to talk yourself out of it.  

There were many communications about which volunteer to assign to what position, how many people were needed, and many other details that needed attention. Yes, there were even a few emails from Denise.  She was afraid I’d back out.

Not a chance. 

The weeks passed quickly. 

Conference day was filled with meeting new people, running up stairs, and making sure everyone was in place. The facility didn’t have catering, so we took care of the food on our own.  I had to make regular runs between coolers and our rooms, bottled water filling my arms, making sure that our moderators didn’t run dry. 

I sat in on several sessions for minutes while catching my breath. 

At the end of the day, we relaxed at a cocktail hour. Everyone who worked the conference was tired. I felt like I’d been in a whirlwind all day. My brain was fried and I wondered how I did as a first-time volunteer coordinator.  

Then Denise came up and repeated what one attendee told her – “This was your best conference ever.” 

That’s all I needed to hear. 

Since that time, I’ve attended many local conferences and retreats in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Each one was put together by a great team of volunteers. 

Flash forward to August 2012 and a short email from Denise asking if I’d like to help Intrigue Publishing with the C3 Conference. Being cautious, I asked for more info. I checked the website and was very impressed. 

Three days...Lots of sessions... Hunt Valley Inn... And Jeffrey Deaver? Seriously? My reply email said “sign me up”. 

Every C3 meeting makes me more excited about the Conference. Ideas are coming together. My job, so far, is to add ideas and thoughts regarding our volunteers. My real work begins in a few months. 

For now, I’m going to sit back and pick up another Deaver novel.

My assignment is to read several books by each of our guests by the time September arrives. 

Why don’t you pull up a chair and join me.

Which authors will you be reading? 

What's the appeal?

What is it that makes Cons so appealing? First of all what kind Con are we speaking of? Is it a scifi convention or writing conference? And are you going as a fan or an author or both?

I am Amy McCorkle and my first Con as a professional was the 2011 Fandom Fest/Fright Night Film Festival.  I went as a way to promote my work and to get my name out there. As someone who writes under a pen name as well as my given name it was a great way to get my feet wet. I had a table with hardly anything on it, some bookmarks and trading cards and I sat next to a generous individual, Bertena Varney  who showed me the ropes.

I learned valuable things on how to network and even found a publisher there. (My second one) Hydra specializes in speculative fiction.

Scifi Conventions are great events where everyone is a fan, even the authors, and everyone helps each other out. It’s a very inclusive atmosphere and the friends you make at one Con are very likely the people you’ll see at another and it’s a great way to network professionally and personally.

Writers Conferences on the other hand are places where there is a more business-like attitude. People are often there to learn how to get published. There are the exceptions like Romfest and RomCon which are reader oriented romance versions of the sci-fi cons, but when you go to a writers conference you are going somewhere to either learn something, learn how to sell your work, or promote your work.

I like both aspects of the conventions and conferences but often conventions are cheaper than conferences.

Whereas the membership fee for a sci-fi con is 30-50 bucks a straight conference can be 200-300 dollars at best for registration alone. And for those of us on a budget that can be intimidating. Especially when trying to bust through the slush pile.

A nice thing about sci-fi cons is that sometimes speculative fiction small presses are there to pitch too. The bigger conferences are nice to pitch to the agents. I haven’t been to any mystery conferences. Until this year. This year I have two or three of the more expensive conferences to attend.

I’m attending Romfest, Killer Nashville, and Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity. All of which are more expensive than Fandom Fest which I will be comped for. But these conferences could advance my career. I am looking forward to them as the camaraderie that one feels at these things is wonderful. And that is ultimately why I love the Cons and Conferences most of all.

The Dream Book Event for an Independent Author

By Lauren Carr

Back in the days of the “giant lizard” (aka dinosaurs), after my first book, A Small Case of Murder was published; I was told in no uncertain terms, “You need to go to conferences. That is where you meet and make fans and they get to know you.”

So I started going to conferences, where I met some fans, as well as authors who showed me a few ropes that I would not have learned otherwise. As with everything, there were a few problems in fulfilling this conference attending requirement.

Problem Number One: Conferences Are Expensive—especially if they’re out of town, which is usually the case. Between the registration fee, meals, and hotel, especially in today’s economy, the cost can be prohibitive. If you are mid-list or below, most likely you aren’t going to make enough money in book sales at the conference to cover the cost. Argument can be made that the benefit of going to the conference comes from meeting fans who will buy your books at the event and hopefully continue purchasing your books in the future.

 Problem Number Two: Lack of Exposure for Independent (self-published) Authors—which, in conjunction with Problem Number One, can drive most authors to stay home.

With the vast changes in technology opening doors for independent authors, I began independently publishing my own books when I released It’s Murder, My Son.  (That’s another story.) At the same time, some conferences made the decision that self-published authors would not be assigned to author panels. This means lack of exposure to authors who have the confidence to invest in their own books. Fans don’t meet or see them, which renders attending these conferences useless.

In spite of this, It’s Murder, My Son, and my other independently published books (Old Loves Die Hard, Shades of Murder, Dead on Ice) have been receiving great reviews and great sales.

When other authors, seeing my success asked for my help, I ended up becoming a publisher: Acorn Book Services.  In working with my authors, I have struggled with ideas in how to personally introduce them to readers at great events like a conference, where they can experience the pride they have earned as authors.

I was playing with the idea of establishing my own conference when I got an e-mail from Sandra Bowman of Intrigue Publishing announcing the dates of Creatures, Crime, and Creativity Conference to take place in Baltimore. Immediately, I hit the reply button and asked, “Is this conference friendly toward independent authors?”

Moments later (seconds really!) came Sandra’s reply, “Certainly.” We set up a dinner meeting with her and Austin S Camacho (author and publisher). I was so excited that I barely ate. This was the type of conference I was looking for not just for myself, but my authors.

Days later, Acorn Book Services was a sponsor for the Creatures, Crime, and Creativity Conference (C3), to take place in Baltimore on September 13, 14, and 15, 2013.

Not only is the C3 conference friendly toward independent authors, but it is affordable. This is the first conference I have seen where the meals are included in the event for the whole weekend!

C3’s goal is to introduce fans to new authors, no matter how they are published. None of that matters. Yes, fans will be drawn by the big names who are attending (Jeffrey Deaver and Trice Hickman, to name two), but during the weekend, through author panels and other events (including a scavenger hunt), there is no way they can leave without meeting new names in mystery, suspense, paranormal, crime, and fantasy writing.

If you’re an author, you will be one of those authors that fans are going to meet!

Fans will also be meeting new authors through the C3 Anthology, which Acorn Book Services is going to publish exclusively for this event. Every fan, author, and agent attending this event will get a free copy of the C3 anthology. After the conference, Acorn Book Services will be publishing the anthology in e-book form, which means the marketing benefit will be continuing after the weekend for those authors published in the C3 Anthology. Space in the book is limited only to authors registered for the C3 event.

My next post will be more details about the anthology. To learn more right now, go to the anthology page on the C3 website and register for the conference today. This is your chance to meet and make new fans!