Some of you may know that I used to play in bands when I was younger, and I absolutely loved playing live shows. Here’s an old photo from roughly 20 years ago, where I was playing a show in Reading, UK, with my anarcho-thrash band “SANCHO.”
My dress-sense has barely improved since those days!
While I don’t get to play shows these days, I do get to table at conventions - and that’s also something I love. I know some creators don’t enjoy conventions for many reasons, but I’m not one of them. I love meeting people and talking about my books, comics in general, and a host of other topics including string theory, depending on the situation.
I was recently at FanExpo Vancouver, which turned out to be a great show, as I sold more books that weekend than I’ve ever done! It was a fun - but very tiring - three days, as you can see from my expression in the photo below.
I don’t tend to think of myself as a good sales-person. I’ve had many jobs in the past that required me to sell a product, and I was fired from each-and-every one of them. Tabling at cons is all about selling… but not necessarily selling your books.
Over time, I’ve found it’s more important to sell myself to strangers - not literally, of course - but selling my passion for stories helps make it easier for people to want to pick something up.
I think that’s one reason why my recent show was so successful. In the past, I would tie myself up in anxious knots while trying to run through the pitches I had memorized.
Yes. People learned about the books I was hoping to sell to them, but they didn’t really care. Like many creators, I think I put that down to audience indifference, the high price of entry to the shows, the plethora of other artists, or a host of other externalities.
But, I was the problem.
I remembered how we used to play shows in different towns, night-after-night, but mostly sticking to the same set-list, and with us mostly reliant on muscle-memory - but I don’t ever recall anyone being bored.
Granted, when the songs are barely 60 seconds long and brutally fast, it’s hard to fall asleep. But what I remember most from those days was that we always put on a show. No matter how many days in a row we had been playing, no matter how tired we were, we wanted to entertain. We wanted to win over people who had never heard of us, and most likely would never see us again.
There was a lesson in there, but it took me a long time to figure it out - and don’t get me wrong, this is still a work in progress - but the proof is in the sales data.
I’m not trying to entertain people who stop by my table.
But I’m trying to give them an experience.
They get to learn a little about me, and I get to learn a little about them. That’s the thing I’m trying to sell. It’s not about plots or characters or even genres of books. It’s about seeing the person in front of me, and engaging with them.
As I think about the changing arts and entertainment landscape, I can’t help but feel that it’s those interactions - those experiences - that will be the hardest to replicate in the metaverse, or through the use of AI, or some other tech-tool.
Despite my penchant for pessimism, I’m actually optimistic that cons and shows and other live events will continue. I think there’s an intrinsic need for human connection, and that’s what drives us out of our homes to attend these events.
That’s why I love going to cons.
And that’s why I feel better about tabling at cons.
I left the show feeling drained, but happy to have engaged and connected with so many people. I think my change in perspective and attitude made me more relaxed, more interesting, and therefore better able to sell my books to people who were excited to read them.
What about you? Do you enjoy cons, either as a creator or as a fan? What do you enjoy most? Let me know in the comments.