Something, Something, Events and Guest.

Blog No. 228

Syndicon is over (for another year) and man, did I have a good time. There’s something about having that lanyard around your neck that says guest on it to make you feel warm inside. I’m convinced that being a guest made the day go by more quickly. That, or watching all the cos-players taking goofy pictures across the aisle from my table. As for sales, the rising tide of comicons in Windsor, tied to the fact that No Light Tomorrow is starting to get saturated in this market made things a little tough. It’s no fun seeing that hard work and proactive thinking of the folks running Syndicon fall to a crowd that is getting overwhelmed by options. I think they have a few tricks up their sleeve for next year though, so I’ll continue to wait with bated breath.

Sunday is the Sarnia Pop Culture Show (another guest event) and the start of my out of town run (that may end in London for Shock Stock in May). The two event run may not be impressive, but it’s enough to keep me busy, so I’m happy to give it my all and keep working when I’m home. Last year in Sarnia, Christian and I sold a monstrous number of books. I don’t think we’ll reach the same numbers again (due to that saturation thing an because Christian is almost out of The Space Between Houses). Also, we weren’t asked to do panels this year (a really cool addition to my list of things I’ve done). Hopefully that means I can spend more time selling and schmoozing. I met a few vendors and guests at Syndicon who will be in Sarnia too, so we’re all eager to give reviews on the stuff we sold to each other (or maybe that’s just me).

Either way, the Sarnia Pop Culture Show should be a good day. It’s work, but it’s fun work (or as fun as work can get I suppose). The days at events always starts off nerve-wracking for me. It isn’t until we’ve got our first handful of sales that I start to relax. It’s not about the money (even though it totally is) it’s about having a successful event. A successful event for me is making my money back and getting my writing into the hands of some new readers. (Or getting some new writing into the hands of people who read my old stuff). Getting to meet new people and make some good contacts is a common bonus to the sales. We’re all out there together, reaching for the same (or similar) goals. It’s great to find the ones to get that by helping each other, we’re helping ourselves. With that in mind, I hope I outsell them all!

On top of my listed events, I’ve been invited to a couple of local schools in the coming weeks. It’s a weird thing, going to a school to do work. Because I spent (a very limited) time teaching, it feels like visiting an old girlfriend or something. Things are oddly familiar and comforting, but there’s an underlying animosity I have to stifle. It’s fun working with the kids, especially since there is always one who is actually interested in hearing me speak. There’s no money in it, but it’s cool to do it and I feel like we all have the responsibility to help out if we can. I remember going to the water treatment plant as a kid. The experience stuck with me and I’ve tried to keep good water habits ever since. If some kid in that classroom wants to be a writer and I can help them do better than I have. I should give it my all. Right? We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not. Besides, maybe those kids will grow up to be readers and buy my books because they remember me from visiting their class. Either way—see you in Sarnia on Sunday!