The video podcast Dwarven Tavern interviewed me during Gen-Con. Here’s that interview:
It’s actually a follow-up interview from the one they did of me last year. Sadly, I never found it until during recently. Here’s that one:
Tag Archives: Gen-Con 2013
But I Digress…, Episode 16: 5 More Tips on Selling Books at Conventions
“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand
In a “sequel” to my first vlog, I give more tips to aspiring writers for selling books at conventions, all of which I learned from attending Gen-Con 2013 in Indianapolis. This makes a grand total of 13 tips. I hope you’re not superstitious. (haha)
Gen-Con 2013 Highlight Reel
I’m a writer, and I can’t find the words to express how fun Gen-Con was this year! Here’s a video compilation of the fun things I did and crazy/amazing people I met. Thanks Eric Anderson and Darrin Ball for joining me on this adventure!
Please enjoy, True Believers!
Gen-Con 2013, Day 4: I’m the Doctor
(Continued from day 3).
After three days of sleep-deprived insanity and fun, Sunday was a welcome relief. I only signed up for one event and the exhibitors’ hall closed early. My last cosplay was a simple one: the 10th Doctor. Mind you, it was only a fancy T-shirt that looked like his costume. I had tried making a real costume using thrift store items, but that didn’t pan out before the con. I’ll save it for Halloween.
Anyway, we enjoyed our last breakfast at the hotel. I walked by Darrin, who was still too humble to brag about his HeroScape title, and said, “This means what you eat is the breakfast of champions.” After eating, I made sure to thank the black man who I’d seen every day at breakfast. I deduced he was the chef, so I thanked him for all his work. With our stomachs full, we packed up and checked out.
Since we were leaving at different times, Eric and Darrin rode together and I drove separately. Our only event that day was the Christian Gamers Guild/Fans for Christ worship service at the Westin. It was huge this year and required a larger room. The music leader was Tom Vasel, the president of the Dice Tower network. He was quite animated while singing, which was a great thing to see. Also, this year we actually had music! Last year the attendees had to sing the worship songs a cappella. We partook of communion using the same wafer/juice packets used last year. Derek White the Geek Preacher returned. This year he cosplayed as his Dungeons and Dragons character, a cleric. His message was entitled “Living a Life Well Played” and preached from Genesis 1:26; 2:4-7. I learned some interesting things during that service, the most mindblowing being that D&D’s co-creator, Gary Gygax, was a Christian!
A couple arrived at 10am thinking that was when the service was and were disappointed they missed it. The woman even cried a little. Derek gave them leftover communion packets, offering a blessing, and several others—including myself—hugged her. I’m sure they felt the love.
On the way to the exhibitors’ hall, I caught a few minutes of a floor show (there were many throughout the weekend, and I wish I’d taken more time to watch them), featuring a Klingon minstrel and his lovely assistant/dancer. His name was Il Troubadour. I’d met him at his table the day before. He played a mandolin while singing in Klingon. Yes, you read that right.
The rest of my day was dominated by Doctor Who. Since the crowd was thinner, I went to see Peter Davison, aka the Fifth Doctor. Meeting him was probably my best story from the convention.
As I always do at a convention, I give the celebrities free copies of my books. But I also had another gift for Mr. Davison. His Doctor was known, among other things, for wearing a celery stick as a lapel, claiming it warded off a gas he was allergic to. So, after taking one photo and giving him the books, I said, “I’m sure thousands of fans have given you this over the last 30 years, but…,” and slid him the bagged celery. “In case your allergies flare up again.”
He laughed. “Actually, no one has ever given me this before.”
“You’re kidding me!”
“No. You’re the first.”
Geeking out, I asked, “Can I get another picture since I’m the first?”
He thought about it a second. “Oh…all right.”
This is that photo:
Riding high on that experience, I left Eric in charge of my table while I explored the hall. I met a fellow writer who had a toy of the First Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, which he introduced saying I was “playing with cosmic forces.” He told me he’d had the thing was over 30 years old and he’d had it for 15 years—and the batteries still worked!
I returned to the Who North America booth to meet the Dalek I’d bantered with last year. The Dalek was having fun posing for photos with other fans, saying things like, “Smile or you will be EXTERMINATED!” But before I could get a picture with it, a kid stole the show. He was maybe 6-8 years old, dressed as the 11th Doctor, and had perfected his British accent. I filmed him as he taunted the Dalek and fell over after the evil alien had zapped him, only to stand up and say he had regenerated as the 12th Doctor and continue to taunt the Dalek.
Then I made things worse. I walked in front of the Dalek and pointed my sonic screwdriver at him. He panicked. “Alert! Alert!” he yelled. “Sonic device detected! Alert! Alert! Eye stock malfunctioning!” Then the light on said eye stock went off.
Yeah, I might be the Doctor…if I was cool enough.
When I returned to my table, I was soon joined by Becky and Kate. The latter wasn’t wearing her costume, so I didn’t recognize her at first, which they didn’t let me live down. As the day progressed, Becky appointed herself my manager, literary agent, editor, and fashion designer, among other things. (Did I mention the little tyrant likes being in charge?) 😛
Four o’clock came too soon. The con ended. My friends left. I packed up. A small sadness crept over me. I missed the convention already.
I packed everything up, but despite all the books I’d sold, the boxes were still heavy. I was determined to get to the parking garage, though. Thankfully, I met some people riding on big modified bicycles with seats in the back for hauling. I got a ride from one of them, a woman multicolored hair, and gave her a nice tip (I should’ve given her a book).
Well, there you have it, True Believers. Gen-Con 2013 in a nutshell for me. There are many other stories I could’ve shared, but I did my best to focus on the important ones. I’ll be posting a photo gallery from the convention—including photos of many fans who purchased books—on the website soon. I’m also compiling a “highlight reel” of the videos I filmed while I was there. That’ll be posted on YouTube.
I can’t wait until next year! Only 363 days to go!
Gen-Con 2013, Day 3: Never-Ending Battle Against Evil
(Continued from day 2).
My apologies, True Believers! I did my best to try to post a daily update on my Gen-Con exploits, but busyness and sleep deprivation joined forces to prevent me. 🙁
Regardless, I shall regale with with more stories.
I operated on the least amount of sleep–5 1/2 hours, at most–this day. I was slightly loopy and I think I slurred my words a few times. Thankfully, adrenaline and the copious creativity managed to fuel me the entire day.
My cosplay was Superman. Capt. Charisma said it was a “bold costume” (I’m not sure what he meant by that). It’s a good thing since, as you’ll soon read, I “battled” two nefarious characters.
After manning my table for around an hour, I joined Eric for a swing dance lesson. Along the way, I met young woman who had designed her own TARDIS dress and a white Dalek. This resulted in a deadly stare down. Anyway, as for the lessons, it was very fun. I met several interesting girls, including one named Susan. She was a lot of fun to dance with. The lesson itself was taught by a local dance teacher, who called himself a “raging geek.” It covered the same steps I already knew, but like I said, it was still fun.
On the way back to my table, I saw the now completed gigantic balloon sculpture of Cthulhu, which had been made by a talented artist. I couldn’t risk the opportunity for a photo-op.
After snapping a few more pictures of cosplayers, I returned to my table. That afternoon I met a young man who could solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute. I have the video to prove it (it’ll be part of a “highlight reel” I’m editing).
That doesn’t compare to the 4-year-old little girl I met. Her name was Darcy. Walking with her mother and two siblings, she saw the kobold sculpture on my fellow writer Edward J. Russell’s table and thought it was a dinosaur. I seized the opportunity to say, “Do you like dinosaurs?” and pointed at Destroyer. She got excited, so I said she needed to get her mom to buy it for her. I even told her to give her the pouty face, which she did. Then she looked at Pandora’s Box and said, “A ‘Halo’ book!” Then at The Day After and said, “A teddy bear!” I spent several minutes talking with Darcy and her family, always trying to get Darcy to convince her mother to buy a book for her. It almost worked, I think. I took a few pictures with her and her siblings before they left. At least I entertained them.
I had another writing seminar at 3pm with Michael A. Stackpole. This was one on writing a successful book series. While I realized I may have taken this one the year before, I ran into my friend Becky Blomberg while I was in it. When we stepped out, I met her friend Kate, who was dressed as a ranger, complete with facepaint. After a few photos, I returned to my table.
Lyric and Lyssa from the Dwarven Tavern came to me with their father, saying they needed to interview right then, which I obliged. They were some of the coolest people I met the entire convention.
Saturday night my big event was the Five Year Mission show, so I changed into my Capt. Kirk costume again and headed to the Westin Hotel. Along the way, I met a kid dressed as Link from “Legend of Zelda,” who was playing an ocarina. While I took a few pictures, I kid you not, a Joker cosplayer sat next to me and started meditating! (I love insane crossovers!)
I talked with a pair of girls standing outside the ballroom was being held in, and I learned they were helping the band. Not only that, I learned one of them was engaged to a member of the band. In fact, she had started as a fangirl! It was a wonderful “nerd love”: story. I talked with the other while waiting for the doors to open and inadvertently became the start of the line–a line that stretched around the hall! The crowd had to be twice the size of the one from last year’s show.
This year, the band had an opening act: a rapper named Andy D. All I’ll say about him is that I didn’t care for him. Regardless, I was happy to see Five Year Mission take the stage. They played several new songs from their upcoming album, along with some of my favorites from the CD I bought last year. However, while last year they selected an audience member to be the Gorn, now the lizard creature is their mascot. He wandered the ballroom, watching the show and interacting with fans–including me! I’d been running around taking photos and videos, and I saw him coming down the aisle, so I snapped a photo. He even stopped to pose. I stepped aside and motioned for him to go by, but he instead attacked me! I (gently) punched him, neglecting to do the trademark Kirk double-fist swing (which might’ve worked), but to no avail. Finally, I ducked down. He showed mercy (I guess the band did reform him) and walked on.
The best moment of the show was when they re-enacted the fight between Kirk and Spock in the episode “Amok Time” during the song for that episode (which I;m listening to as I write this, ironically). These guys are such fun, and they love their fans.
I met up with Eric and Darrin. During our walk back to the parking garage, I ask We were ed Darrin how he did in the HeroScape tournament, which he told me was the national tourney for the game. He won it! Yes, I am friends with the national HeroScape champion (who’s too humble to brag). He defeated the longtime reigning champ in the semifinals. The prize was the increasingly rare first master set for the game. As he told me what happened, I felt like the three of us needed mugs of root beer to clink together like vikings in Valhalla.
We did our best to get to sleep earlier than usual at the hotel. We were sorta successful.
(Continued in day 4).
Gen-Con 2013, Day 2: Fear of Commitment
(Continued from day 1).
Today has been busy, and yet not so. I cosplayed as Captain America. After exploring the exhibitors’ hall a bit, I went to my table. While there was more traffic than yesterday, I still encountered many uncommitted buyers. They still wanted to survey the area to see what else they could. Many promised to return tomorrow or Sunday.
At noon, I attended two writing seminars. The first was on cater building. One of the writers on the panel was a professor/writer who hosted a podcast that interviewed writers. I asked him if he needed more interviewees, but they were booked until December. Afterward, I might get in.
The second seminar was on networking (not name dropping). It was an informative panel. One of the writers present even showed up in a corset she was goaded into wearing!
When I returned, I met my favorite customer of the con so far. A young woman named Emmanuell. She was cosplaying as classic Uhura. My writer neighbor Ed had told her to wait for me because I wore my Capt. Kirk outfit yesterday (so he says… :P). She was a sweet girl, but disappointed nobody else in her group dressed up. She bought a copy of Pandora’s Box I told her to come to the Five Year Mission show tomorrow night, and she said she might (albeit in another costume).
I also met one of the reviewers who stopped yesterday while Eric watched my table. Two girls named Lyric and Lyssa (they have such awesome parents!) They work on their parents’ podcast, the Dwarven Tavern. I enjoyed talking with them and gave them free copies of all my books. They’ll interview me tomorrow.
By the way, a lady amateur director offered Capt. Charisma a movie role. 😐
My costume was a huge hit. Even at a con, with thousands of other cosplayers, I’m the most popular guy in the room. It helped I was a rare Cap cosplayer (so far). I was popular at my table and wandering the halls. A three-year-old boy named Connor especially loved me, so much so he warned me there was a Dalek down the hall (I shoulda said I’d kick its ton can keister).
I managed to arrive at my next event, a photography seminar at the Westin Hotel, only slightly late due to the many photo-ops. It was two hours long, but not as good as I was hoping. 🙁 It was at least informative.
My final event was a long HeroScape open play with custom figures. I played a game with Eric, who had the Wrecking Crew plus Lizard, and I had the original X-Men. I was cleaning his clock until he made a crazy comeback. But it didn’t compare to Darrin using the cheapest HeroScape army EVER! It shall not be spoken of again.
We left afterward. Sadly, when we reached the hotel and I undressed, I discovered the catch on my Cap costume zipper had broken. 🙁 If anyone knows how to fix it, please let me know!
On to day 3! The craziest of them all! Even more sleep deprivation!
(Continued in day 3).
Gen-Con 2013, Prep Day & Day 1: No Money Today
After a three-hour trip, I arrived yesterday in Indianapolis at a Hampton Inn and met my friends Eric and Darrin, who were both attending Gen-Con. (I was glad I an audiobook of Moby Dick with me). Darrin was kind enough to get us a room. I must say, I’m not used to staying in a hotel. The last time I did, if I remember right, was in 2004 on a college-sponsored mission trip to New York City, and it was a barely passable motel. To be honest, I feel like I’m being treated like a king at this hotel!
Anyway, Eric and I went to the Indiana Convention Center to pick up tickets and set up. Like last year, hauling my boxes of books was a workout that left me with a sore lower back, albeit briefly. I met a few of my neighbors, although not as many as I did last year. The writer next to me is a gentleman I call “Captain Charisma” because he sells his books like an auctioneer who was once a used car salesman. He’s difficult to compete with.
After setting up, I met Eric and we wandered back to the parking garage, taking a little time to listen to a free Five Year Mission show in a beer tent (no, we didn’t drink, but I did contemplate getting a Tribble drunk. Yes, I’m a nerd, and I think about such things!.
We returned just in time to get the pizzas Darrin ordered. He got four because there was a special. It was way more than we needed, so we’ll be eating the leftovers all weekend. We played a few games of Space Alert, revised some HeroScape custom figures Eric and I created, and went to bed.
We were all so high on excitement, we could hardly sleep.
After eating a better breakfast than I’ve had in months, I dressed in my first cosplay, Capt. James T. Kirk, complete with communicator and phaser. We made excellent time getting to the ICC, though we did have a long walk.
The doors opened one hour early at 9pm. Sadly, I don’t have much to say about my sales today. Almost everyone today didn’t buy anything from anyone. They either didn’t have money or wanted to peruse before buying. I only made two sales and donated one novel to an auction a group is doing to raise money for a food pantry. I did, however, get many people interested in Children of the Wells, including a fellow author who was so intrigued by it, he kept asking me questions about it for 10-15 minutes.
My highlight today was meeting Walter Koenig, an actor best known for playing Pavel Chekhov in the original Star Trek and Bester in Babylon 5. I was surprised to see he was so soft-spoken, I could barely hear him, and he himself seemed to be a little hard of hearing. I got an autograph, but like last year, I wanted to give the celebrities free copies of my books. I asked him, “Do you accept gifts from fans?” He replied, “Yes, yes, yes!” while pretending to gobble up food. I gave him copies of my books, showing him where I had signed Pandora’s Box, saying, “Thanks for the memories! Keep going boldly where no man has gone before!” He saw that the book was dedicated to my mother, which he said was “very nice.” I took a picture with him, and he held my book up to the camera. Finally, I asked him, “Who’d win in a fight, Chekhov or Bester?” He said, “Bester has certain advantages.”
(I wish he had said what Nick Hayden said, “Bester. He is a nuclear wessel.”)
I went a writing seminar taught by Michael A. Stackpole on writing in the digital age. I realized I went to the same one last year, but the material was different. It was reassuring to hear things had changed for the better for indie writers like myself.
From 7pm-9pm, I played a game I used to play every Saturday with friends in college: Epic Duels. But instead of it being Star Wars-themed, it was a custom version made for the anime franchise Mobile Suit Gundam. I had a great time talking with the players about animes and Epic Duels variations.
I finished the day by briefly watching Eric kick butt at the board game Monsterpocalypse and playing in a card draw Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tourney. In this game, our characters are selected by drawing names from a hat, essentially. I didn’t usually get characters I was good with, so I lost in the first round.
Meeting up with Darrin and Eric, we drove back to the hotel.
Expect more pictures after the con!
(Continued in day 2).