Emma Newman's Blog, page 14

Authors and conventions

I’ve been avoiding writing this post for the last few days. Now I’m glad I didn’t write anything straight away as there’s been so much negativity out there that very fine people are getting upset.

I don’t want to add to that.

I went to both CONvergence and Worldcon this year and had vastly different experiences at both. I was thinking about comparing and contrasting, looking at why certain things delighted me and why other things made me stressed and upset but you know what? I don’t think that matters any more.

What matters is how we go forward – and by we, I mean writers as part of the SFF community.

Yes, I have a tonne of thoughts about how I think things could be done better but I don’t feel I have a right to moan because I don’t organise events. I can’t imagine how stressful it all is, how much time it takes and then for it all to result in lots of people complaining? Soul destroying springs to mind. Whilst it’s good to feedback, I don’t have anything new to add on that front.

So, what I’m going to do instead is outline why I feel going to conventions is important, speaking from the only perspective I can: my own, as a writer at the beginning of my career. Then I’m going to have a bit of a mull about what I do at them, and then I’m going to ask some important questions.

I am nervous as hell about doing this, in light of how heated and, quite frankly, personal things have got over the past week and I’m afraid I’ll only make things worse without realising it. Please know that is not my intention.

Why I need to go to conventions

Firstly, these are the events where I feel I am amongst my tribe. I can geek out without people giving me strange looks. I can make jokes and pop culture references that everyone around me understands. I can have conversations about stuff I’m passionate about, rather than having to either feel utterly detached or trying to be polite about stuff lots of other people are into but I’m not.

In short, it’s my cultural home.

But I can’t ignore the fact that this is part of my job now. I’m a professional writer, so I need to be out there, visible, and hopefully encouraging people to read my books. In no sense do I go to these events actively shilling my work – heavens, no! – but there is always the hope that if I say something on panels that resonates, people will check out my work.

I feel dirty just writing that, but I have to tell the truth here. Otherwise I’d be better off working on my next book.

As an extension to that, I want to be around for anyone who has already discovered my work and wants to ask questions, or for me to sign books or just to see if I’m mad – whatever reason. This is when I can be social with readers in person and many have gone on to become friends.

These events are also important in two other ways. One: it gives me the chance to hang out with other authors. Believe me, having friends who are also published has been such a help to me. They know exactly what this constant fear is like. They understand all the weird neuroses. I’ve taken to saying that the collective noun for us is a moan of writers (affectionate, of course) but in all seriousness, we give each other a safe space in which to worry and grumble on common ground. Just like anyone else in any job. Conventions and similar events are the only time we get to do this in person and with alcohol.

The other thing is meeting other people in the industry, such as editors, agents, publicists, screenwriters, whatever – other professionals with whom we might end up working in the near or far future. I met my current editor in a bar after a friend’s book launch. It wasn’t the reason he went on to acquire my books, but it triggered a series of events that meant I was published by Angry Robot several years earlier than I had dared hope for.

I know of many, many people who have had their manuscripts fast-tracked out of the slush-pile thanks to meeting someone at a convention. Note: their book still had to be great.

Where things can get difficult

I pay for conventions out of my own pocket, just like any other attendee. This year I have been to so many I am worn out, but could only do so because three of my books are coming out in one year. Next year I will have to be very careful about which ones I go to as there simply isn’t as much cash in that pot. I made a decision to go to so many this year because I wanted to give those books the best shot I could, as well as all the other reasons outlined above.

Investment isn’t only in money but in time. For me personally, big events like trips to the States for Worldcon aren’t just the 5 days of the con, but several days of travel, jet lag, anxiety and sleepless nights before leaving and illness afterwards. It can disrupt my writing for three weeks instead of one. No-one’s fault but my own, I’m just laying it all out here. It’s another reason why I have to pick my conventions carefully next year; I can’t lose the writing time.

Now, that financial outlay (in the case of the US cons just the flights alone are almost a grand – hence only possible because of book deal lump sums) means that on some level, I want a lot more from a convention than it’s necessarily fair to expect. CONvergence was everything I wished for and more, but I can’t expect every convention to be like that. Why? Because I am one of many, many authors and conventions aren’t just for us. Also: they are run by volunteers who have lives. I know other conventions are different, but I’ve only attended fan-run ones so far. (Apart from the sci-fi weekender, but that’s something else in my mind.)

That being said, I consider my job at these events is to entertain people. To add to debates, to make people laugh, to provide another perspective. I’d like to think that what I can bring doesn’t necessarily conflict with the reasons readers and fans (as opposed to writers who are also fans too) go to these events.

Even as I write this I’m worried there’s an “us and them” thing emerging – I’m just trying to outline how the convention experience is different for a writer as opposed to someone who doesn’t write. Even when I went to conventions before my book deal I was aspiring to be published – I had differing needs and hopes from a convention to someone who has no desire to be published.

Which leads me on to the next bit…

What authors do at conventions

Generally, this falls into the following programme item types:

Panels / games like Just a Minute

Readings

Workshops

Kaffeklatches

Signings

Talks on specialist subjects

I have been on quite a few panels now. I’ve given a few readings and signing sessions, I’ve given two workshops and intend to deliver more. I’ve never put myself forwards for a Kaffeklatch because I’m a newbie on the scene and feared no-one would sign up. Those are for people who are far more established than I.

There are also interview slots for Guests of Honour, but not for the rest of the programme participants.

Panels can sometimes be great, sometimes they are awful and all places in between. Readings entirely depend on the number of people who turn up and thankfully, I’ve never had so few people that I’ve wanted to cry. That will happen at some point. Both of the workshops I ran were full, which was a huge relief.

As an aside, I think panels need to be better – they all need to be as good as the best ones are now. We need consistently good moderators, we need panellists who put the needs of the audience before their own, we need questions at the end, not five minute long comments. Why? Because then everyone gets a chance to shine and everyone gets their questions answered.

The non-programmable items

There are room parties and bars in which everyone can mix. There are private parties too, of course, but there are lots of opportunities to socialise. One thing I’ve read post-Worldcon that made me sad was that an attendee felt the hotel bar was unwelcoming as it was constantly packed out with pros in groups. It was. We need this, as I mentioned before, but it breaks my heart to feel we excluded people. Can this be handled better? I don’t know. At some conventions the hotel bar has been so expensive only those with company subsidence and budgets for socialising could afford to buy drinks – with us poor authors grateful recipients, so it’s not just a social thing sometimes, it can be financial.

There’s just being spotted in the corridor, there are the times you pop over to your publisher’s booth/table or the people selling your books in the dealer room and people meet you there. There’s the time after panels when the conversation extends into the corridor and on the way to the next item.

Extras

I ran a Split Worlds game at Nine Worlds this year involving puzzles and LARPing. It wasn’t part of the programme but was fully supported by the organisers who were kind enough to give us a room over the whole weekend to run the game from. However, it took a HUGE amount of work, wouldn’t have been possible to do without my husband, best friend and two other friends which makes it impossible to roll out on the same scale at other cons and is not something that everyone would want to do.

I also plan to run a live “Tea and Jeopardy” at a future event. That would be pure entertainment – something more akin to a performance than the usual programming. Authors/guests would be interviewed, so it would give as many people exposure as a panel would in an equivalent time slot.

But is this enough and is this what fans and readers want?

I was on a panel at Worldcon at which only myself and the moderator turned up. As it was about social media and the moderator, Karen Anderson, was a gracious and generous expert, she decided to effectively interview me and sprinkle in her own advice along the way. It was an amazing opportunity – thank you Karen! – and made me appreciate that interviews can be great in a way I hadn’t before. It enabled more dialogue with the audience and the atmosphere was fantastic. I’d like to see pairings of authors (or other type of professional) where one interviews the other and then switch half-way through. I know this is usually reserved for Guests of Honour, but I do think they could be just as enjoyable when featuring other authors/artists etc.

A downside is that it gives only 2 people a crack per hour, so I’d like to see them alongside panel stuff too. (Says the woman who’s never organised one – again – I’m trying to be positive and look forwards.)

So, here are the questions – for convention goers or people considering it:

Are you satisfied with the things we authors do at events?

Is there something else you’d like to see authors do?

Is there something we do that’s just become a tradition that no longer feels relevant?

And on a more personal note, if you’re reading this because you like my books and my other work (e.g. Tea and Jeopardy), is there something else you would like me to do at conventions you’re attending?

I ask because whilst I don’t have any solutions for the problems that have been expressed by many others, I do have control over what I can personally offer to the programming people or alongside programming, depending on what you want.

Thanks for reading all of this. And for what it’s worth, thanks to all the people who give up their time and resources – be they creative or financial – to give authors like me the chance to meet readers and fans and friends.

Tea and Jeopardy 10 – A Chat with Lauren Beukes

The tenth episode of Tea and Jeopardy is now live and you can find it here.

In this episode, the entirely fabulous author Lauren Beukes is invited into my tea lair. We talk about discombobulation, Fairest (set in the splendid Fables universe) and what we should all call Lauren once she has taken over the world.

If you’ve listened and got an answer for the question I asked at the end, be a bless-poppet and leave your answer in the comments below.

I’ll pick my favourite and that will be announced in the next episode.

There will be a blooper reel for this episode, but not until next week as I’m at Worldcon at the moment and, you know, drinking and carousing and whatnot.

Credits for sound effects can be found here.

Where you can find me at Worldcon

The madness that is my 2013 schedule continues with my impending trip to Worldcon in San Antonio, Texas. I haven’t even had a chance to write up my last US trip to CONvergence in July (it was fantastic), nor my impressions of the very first Nine Worlds Geekfest a couple of weeks ago (also fabulous).

It feels like an age since I wrote a proper blog post and I fear several spinning plates are wobbling, but now is not the time to worry – now is the time to let you know where you can find me at Worldcon if you wish to do so.

Thursday

9pm: Just A Minute 

I am one of the players. Oh God. Honestly, I am utterly terrified, even though I’ve survived this once before. For those of you who haven’t seen it, come and watch Paul Cornell get increasingly discombobulated in the most adorable way as he hosts his version of the famous game.

For the rest of the evening:

I’m hosting a room party with a bunch of other author friends. We’ve been told it’s suite 3436 at the Rivercentre Hotel, but that might change last minute of course. Suffice to say look out for the Booksworn and Friends party on the party floor and I’ll be there from 10pm ish onwards. I’m bringing toffee and other traditional British sweets for your delight and delectation too.

Saturday

I’m planning to go to the SF Signal meet-up as last year’s was lovely and then on to the Angry Robot Spotlight panel to cheer my editor Lee Harris on. Then straight after that:

4:15pm at the Angry Robot table in the dealers room I’ll be signing copies of the Split Worlds series. I’ll give a copy of my short story anthology ‘From Dark Places’ to the first 5 people who come and get one of the Split Worlds books

7pm: Drinks with Authors at Ernie’s Bar – all the info is here, basically lots of booze, lots of authors, door prizes and all kinds of shenanigans, no doubt!

The rest of the time I’ll probably be floating around the bar or on the party floor. I’ll be at the Hugo’s on the Sunday night too.

Right, I’m off to finish sewing my latest outfit and do the other eleventy billion things I need to do before I leave. Engage Kermit Flail Mode.

Tea and Jeopardy 09 – A Chat With Mike Underwood

The ninth episode of Tea and Jeopardy is now live and you can find it here.

In this episode, the deliciously geeky author Mike Underwood is invited into my tea lair and I reveal my favourite answer to last week’s dilemma. We talk about Star Trek, swordplay and gateways to the geek lifestyle.

If you’ve listened and got an answer for the question I asked at the end, be a bless-poppet and leave your answer in the comments below. Outlandish and comedic suggestions are most welcome, remember!

I’ll pick my favourite and that will be announced in the next episode.

Oh, and here’s a little blooper reel for this episode, which is mostly Pete (who plays Latimer) making me laugh. A lot. WARNING: There is swearing.

Credits for sound effects can be found here.

Come into the Split Worlds…

Right from the start of the Split Worlds project, before the book deal with Angry Robot Books, I planned to run some games set in the Split Worlds once the books were in the hands of readers. I’ve been an avid roleplayer for many years and love the thought of giving readers the opportunity to experience the worlds in a more immersive way.

I’m delighted to say that the first of these games will be taking place at the Nine Worlds convention in London on August 9th-11th. Here’s the skinny:

When: August 9-11th 2013

Where: Nine Worlds Geekfest, Radisson and Renaissance hotels near London Heathrow

Cost: Free to members of the convention

There’s more information about the game, and a place to sign up for it here: https://nineworlds.co.uk/track/split-worlds-interactive-storygame

It’s designed to be something that you can immerse yourself into a huge amount, or just a little bit, depending on your gaming taste. There will be ambient stuff (i.e. gaming in the convention environment that you can tackle at your own pace without the need to roleplay) right from the start of the convention on the Friday afternoon, with more immersive (including roleplaying with characters from the Split Worlds) on the Saturday and Sunday.

Where does this fit in with the books and stories?

The game is set after “Any Other Name”, the second novel in the Split Worlds series, but don’t worry, you don’t have to have read the books or the short stories to enjoy the game. If you have read them, the world will be deepened for you, and you might get more of a kick out of seeing where some of the characters interconnect with what you’ve read so far.

How much time will it take?

As much or as little as you like – though the more time you play, the more likely you are to be incorporated into the story prize and the more opportunity for roleplaying fun. We’re very aware that there are lots of really cool things going on over the weekend, so we’re building in chunks of time to give people the opportunities to uncover clues whilst doing other stuff too.

Are there prizes?

The emphasis is on the experience of playing, but everyone likes prizes, right? The people who play in the more immersive parts of the game over the weekend will become part of Split Worlds canon and be written into an exclusive Split Worlds story. Another winner will have a character named after them (and be based on the player, with the player’s actions forming a significant part of the character’s background) that will appear in future stories and games.

Why do I need to sign up?

There are four reasons: one is so that we can send you stuff before the game starts if we need to, the second is to give us an idea of numbers, the third is that we’ll be able to contact you with critical updates and tasks over the weekend (there will be non-tech ways to do this too, just in case you can’t check mail on your phone due to signal/wi-fi/phone issues) and the fourth is the means to contact people after the game regarding the story prize. Your details will not be used for anything other than Split Worlds gaming.

If you want to see me but not play the game

That’s absolutely fine! I’ll be at the convention for the whole weekend and when I’m not in panels or running my workshop (details will be in another post soon) I’ll probably be in the bar…

Tea and Jeopardy 08 – A Chat With Frances Hardinge

The eighth episode of Tea and Jeopardy is now live and you can find it here.

In this episode, the frighteningly talented author Frances Hardinge is invited into my tea lair and I reveal my favourite answer to last week’s dilemma. We talk about childhood heroes, the perfect hat and meeting Bagpuss…

If you’ve listened and got an answer for the question I asked at the end, be a bless-poppet and leave your answer in the comments below. Outlandish and comedic suggestions are most welcome, remember!

I’ll pick my favourite and that will be announced in the next episode.

Oh, and here’s a little blooper reel for this episode, which is mostly me losing the plot. WARNING: There is swearing.

Credits for sound effects can be found here.

Tea and Jeopardy 07 – A Chat with Gareth L. Powell

The seventh episode of Tea and Jeopardy is now live and you can find it here.

In this episode, the fabulous author Gareth L. Powell is invited into my tea lair and I reveal my favourite answer to last week’s dilemma. We talk about one of our favourite films and what the L in his name stands for…

If you’ve listened and got an answer for the question I asked at the end, be a bless-poppet and leave your answer in the comments below. Outlandish and comedic suggestions are most welcome, remember!

I’ll pick my favourite and that will be announced in next week’s show.

Credits for sound effects can be found here.

Rule 32 rules for a day…

Lovelies, I’m in Minneapolis at the moment for CONvergence. Here’s my crazy schedule there. Today is also the very first day of a new Indiegogo campaign that I want to support, so I’ve invited Su Haddrell over to tell you all about it whilst I stumble around in a fog of jetlag on another continent.

Over to you Su!

Hello!

My name is Su and I’ve been given kind permission by Emma to hijack her blog for the moment to bring to your attention a very special project. Presumably you are here as a fan of Emma’s work, of fantasy or sci fi fiction, and of the genre in general. If you enjoy board and card games, tv programmes like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead or Doctor Who, comic books, role playing games, watching movies, collecting miniatures, crafting, cosplaying, or tea drinking, then I think this will appeal to you. I think that covers all the bases, but the general term that has become more mainstream in recent years is “geek.” I could go into the interesting debate about those who call themselves geeks and those who don’t, but that’s a conversation for another time, and I’m supposed to be introducing you to our project.

Sometime ago, my team and I had the ‘What would you do if money was no object’ conversation. One of the items on the list was to open a geek café. Somewhere to go to watch films, to play games, to hang out with friends and drink tea. The idea had been sat in our subconscious for many years, but a combination of career frustration and an explosion of geekdom around the UK allowed the idea to take root. The more we talked about it, the more serious we became. We didn’t just want the café, we wanted the events too. The Sci Fi Weekender and the UK Games expo gave us a taste, and there was definitely scope for a more permanent venue for such things. It would appeal to publishers, traders, writers, artists and performers as well. We would provide a place to go to see a writer discuss their new novel, or compete in a tournament of your favourite tabletop war game. We want to create a ‘Hard Rock Café for Geeks’.

So a year later and we are in early negotiation for beautiful 1920s theatre in the centre of Worcester. Worcester is our home city, settled around the River Severn with the gorgeous Worcester cathedral at its peak. The theatre is perfect for our needs but is in need of some serious renovation and love. So our next phase is funding. In this day and age, you can’t request more money if you don’t have money already. So we are appealing to the Geek culture that we know is out there. We want to unite all the UK Geeks to help us launch the Ultimate Geek Events Venue. As friends, we all pool our money together to buy our mate an awesome birthday present. We’re upping the ante on this technique. We want to provide you with somewhere to go, and in order to do that, we’re going to need your help.

Our campaign at www.indiegogo.com/rule32cafe launched on the 1st July. We’ve already caught the eye of some of the bigger names in the geek industry and they’re helping us out. www.genkigear.com are designing us some exclusive R32 t shirts in their unique design. SFX Magazine are giving away a year’s subscription to their magazine, and www.qwertee.com have also donated to our cause. So now we’re turning to you. Donate to our Indiegogo, bag yourself some awesome perks and help us raise the funds we need! For more information on how your donation will be used and the perks you can receive, go to www.indiegogo.com/rule32cafe

We know some of you have more important things to pay for, like….y’know, food, or paying the heating bill. If you can’t afford to donate, that’s ok. If you think this is an amazing idea, then tell your friends. Like www.facebook.com/rule32cafe for more updates on how we’re doing (as well as the occasional silly picture, and youTube of kittens) and get all your friends doing the same. This proves we have the audience and market for our Geek Events Venue, and we’ll also be able to invite you to events like Geek Meets and Games Days that we’re putting on whilst we work on Rule32. So come and help us out! We need to get everyone together to make this work. UK Geeks UNITE!!

I will now handover control of her blog back to Emma. It’s been lovely talking to you, and you’ve been most gracious during this hijack. Thank you for your time and we hope to see you at the opening party of Rule32Cafe.

Su

www.rule32cafe.co.uk

Tea and Jeopardy 06 – A Chat with Karina Cooper

The sixth episode of Tea and Jeopardy is now live and you can find it here.

This week the fabulous author Karina Cooper is invited into my tea lair and I reveal my favourite answer to last week’s dilemma. We talk about writing sex scenes, Steampunk and a certain goblin king…

If you’ve listened and got an answer for the question I asked at the end, be a bless-poppet and leave your answer in the comments below. Outlandish and comedic suggestions are most welcome, remember!

I’ll pick my favourite and that will be announced in next week’s show.

Credits for sound effects can be found here.

Oh, and here’s a little blooper reel for this episode. WARNING: There is swearing.

Phase two of the hidden objects hunt!

So, back when I announced that I’d hidden descriptions of twelve objects on the Split Worlds site, I also mentioned there would be a second phase once all of the links to the objects were out there on the interwebs.

Well, links to all twelve objects are now out there. I’ve been tweeting them over the past two weeks with the #splitworlds hashtag and also posting them on the Split Worlds Facebook page. (If you hate both Twitter and FB, just do a google search on #splitworlds to find the posts.)

The second phase and the prize!

On each of those hidden pages, just below the object’s description, I’ve asked a question. Those twelve questions form a quiz and to find the answers you need to read . If you’ve been doing that each time you’ve found an object page, then you should be feeling pretty chuffed with yourself because:

The first 3 people who send me the correct twelve answers by using this form will get a handwritten letter from a character of their choice (from the Split Worlds novels and/or stories) posted to them.

Ready? GO!