Friday, July 28, 2017

New England Author Expo

How's that for a dynamic, eye-catching title? *eye roll* Okay, so I have some things to work on when it comes to this blogging thing. No great shocker there, not to me at least. I'll get better at it. Or I won't. Stay tuned, I guess?

This past Wednesday, I was able to be a part of my very first author exposition. Let me tell you, it was nothing like what I was expecting. Part of that was because I had no idea what to expect, and part of it was because I set the few expectations I had way too high. I Loved. It. There were tons of other authors, there were panels, and with that came a great deal of networking. My favorite part, hands down, were the panels. If that was the extent of my day, I honestly would not have been mad. I was never the best student in school, but when it came to subjects I was interested in, dude...I was INVESTED. I felt like a little nerd, sitting in the second row with my pen and notebook, listening as though these people were giving me the secrets to all the things in the universe, and I could not have cared less.

Though some of my readers are authors themselves, most of you are not so I will not go into detail about everything I learned. Anyone who does want me to share what I learned, drop me a comment and let me know. Maybe I'll compile a special email for those of you who show interest.

It was amazing having my editor with me for the day. She's one of the few people who can take my neurosis, look me in the face, and tell me to chill out without me reacting poorly. That's a huge reason why she's the best editor for me, as well. I know most people hear that she is my best friend and automatically discredit the author/editor relationship between us, and with good reason, but I like to think we're different. She's brutally honest with me. She's flat out told me she doesn't like things. Heck, most of the time, she doesn't even like my main characters, but she's able to still work with them. It cracks me up now (but never in the moment) that the things I get most excited about in my writing are usually the things she absolutely does not like. She made me cry when she told me a huge chunk of Dragon Song had to be taken out or vastly rewritten. Yes, she's my best friend, but she is also a phenomenal editor. I could not be more grateful for her and the support and encouragement she provides. *cough* Anyone who is in need of an editor, let me know. She is now taking new clients.

During the course of our day, not only was I able to make connections with other authors and local publishing houses, but Jessica was also able to make some pretty amazing connections. One of the women we met during the day was a local television producer. I had no idea who she was when she came to my table and asked me about my Claymore dirk. I explained to her that I am ridiculously proud of my Scottish heritage and that it plays a big part of my series. She then asked me if I had any books that had come out this year, so I showed her Dragon Song, giving her a quick synopsis when it was asked for. She asked who Jess was and I explained she was my editor. Upon asking Jess how she got into editing my novels, Jess told her how she could only read so far into the first book before she had to stop because of all the problems she was finding. We told her about the books filled to the brim with red pen, and still, she was a little bit skeptical of the whole best friend/editor dynamic. It wasn't until I told her that Jessica made me cry that her attitude became rather open. She quickly snatched up one of Jessica's cards as well. She told us both that she is a local television producer, and that she's looking to fill slots on her show for next year. Though she made it clear that she couldn't promise us anything, she told us that she loved what Jess and I had and that she wanted me to send her my press package (Um...my what now?) and my book.

...so now I need to figure out what the heck a press package/media kit involves, and fast!

I didn't sell any books that day but I was able to trade with three other authors. I'm really excited to read their work, mostly because they are all so different from one another. They took my books as well, and hopefully, we'll all get some good reviews from one another out of the deal.

Up next: Black Swan Renaissance Faire in Tilton, NH, August 12-13. If you're cool, you'll be there.

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