My First Balticon! Why This Event is Special
[image error]I think I’ve alluded to this story a few times here or there, but I wanted to make sure I expressed why Balticon was something special to me.
About four years ago, I attended my first Balticon. I heard about the guests, and couldn’t help but drive straight to the event. It was like paradise for aspiring authors.
The first night, I was wide-eyed and awestruck as I stumbled into a dining area and realized several authors (including one I think particularly highly of), were just hanging out and chatting like regular people and stuff. So I took a seat at a table with said respected author and a bunch of us just talked.
During the conversation, I’d mentioned how many rejections I’d gotten and how I was worried I wouldn’t get published.
The author (who will remain nameless because while I wish this person knew how much of an impact that conversation had on me, I never want to try to imply an endorsement) asked how many books I’d written. I think I’d finished four manuscripts by that time. Author told me about self publishing. Author took away the fear I had regarding self publishing. Here’s this best-seller and huge community influencer talking to rando-wannabe #273,99, and Author is nothing more than encouraging.
We didn’t talk about any of my books in particular. We talked about overdone tropes. We talked about world building. We talked about the permanence of dark fantasy, and Author simply told me to go for it.
During that same convention, I met the man I hope will one day be my agent. I haven’t trapped his attention yet, and I have several agents I think I’d work well with, but this is the guy I’ll confess is number one on my draft board. That happened during a conversation I had with him. I was wandering the halls (trying to stalk Author without earning a restraining order) when I saw the agent sitting by a small, handmade sign that read, “I’m an agent. Pitch me your book.” I pitched him Bob Drifter. It didn’t grab his attention, but he gave me a touch of feedback and it helped make the story better.
The point is, I was this young man who wanted so desperately to be an author, and Balticon was this warm, encouraging environment devoted to the craft I wanted to have as a profession. I can say with absolute certainty that I’m not where I am now (this soon) if I didn’t go to that Balticon. I’d gone to a few others as an attendee, and now, here I am, selling two books at the convention that set me on the path to getting published.
I can’t really express how this feels. I’ve come to ave more realistic expectations for what happens during conventions, but I’m still excited to be here, hitting a major genesis point for my life. It’s full circle, but not complete. I still have a lot of growing and learning to do. I still have a lot of work.
That said, I’m happy to be here and look back on how far I’ve come.
I hope to see you all at the convention. Whatever your goals or nerdish habits are, this is a place you’ll enjoy seeing.
Thanks for reading,
Matt
