Thanks to everyone who recommended RSS feeds for me; I’m going through the list and love the recommendations. This next post was inspired by a question from Facebook; it was such a great one I wanted to write about it so everyone could read it.

So you’ve come to a milestone in your writing career; either you’ve published a book or designed a few games and someone has noticed your product. Congratulations! You’ve been asked to be a part of their gaming, science fiction or similar convention. Never been to one before? Piece of cake!

Before you Go

The benefits to speaking at cons are pretty easy to see. You can develop relationships with new readers, fellow authors and promote a few of the other pros that have helped you along the way. Before you hop in your car, keep in mind that when you do go to a con (no matter how big or how small) you’re representing yourself as the “creative face” behind your product. That creative face becomes your persona, something that you can use as a promotional tool both on-and-offline.

Before you book your trip, you might want to ask a few questions:

• How much of my expenses (convention pass, food, hotel, etc.) will be covered?
• Will I have space in the dealer’s area to sell my books? Will I be charged for that?
• Will I have the opportunity to perform an author reading for my book?
• What type of speaking will I be expected to do? Panels, workshops, monologues, roundtables?
• What is the expected attendance of the con? Hours?
• Will there be any media coverage?
• Do I have any other responsibilities as a guest or speaker?

Depending upon the size of the engagement, you may run into a situation where the environment is smaller and more focused, so you’ll have more one-on-one time with the people there. Generally speaking, the larger the con the more professional it gets. GenCon Indy, for example, has a Press Room but more often than not this seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

The most common type of speaking engagement at a con is a panel-based structure with a moderator. Featured speakers often provide a fully-developed, professional speech in a monologue format during key moments of the con.

As A Speakers or Guest

As a convention guest or speaker, you have a behind-the-scenes look at the fan culture. Many of the attendees that go to these cons are rabid readers and collectors, who follow authors religiously. In my experiences, there are often very knowledgeable attendees that are truly passionate about what they’re into. If you are not into gaming or science fiction or fantasy, be transparent with your potential readers. In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing a fan loves more than to tell you why they love Firefly or Babylon 5. To navigate around unfamiliar territory, many conventions will post their schedule online: I highly recommend either renting, playing, or learning a little bit about some of the events you might be interested in before you go. While you would not be obligated to be accessible 24-7 for the entire convention, appearing stand-offish because you’re uncomfortable in a room full of World of Darkness fans might end up giving people the wrong message.

Your first con might be a little overwhelming, but as you keep doing them you’ll find you can develop techniques to be professional, polite, and entertain your audience. Like most things, it takes work because there will be things you enjoy and things you don’t. A lot is riding on how well the convention planning holds when the day arrives. Take it from someone who has mentored others on running cons: it’s a lot of work. If something gets screwed up because your event was delayed or the room’s not perfect, be gracious. There is nothing worse than an unhappy guest in the middle of a busy con.

As an Attendee

So what does actually happen at a con? Well, if you’re going to something that involves gaming, there will be game demos–usually in blocks of time–that people may be pre-registering for. You might see a bunch of folk rolling dice or running down the hallways with feathery hats and leather vests; a lot of different kinds of games are played at gaming conventions. Sometimes sign-up for gaming is free, sometimes it’s not, so coordinate your schedule if you’d like to play.

You’ll probably see a variety of attendees dressed up in various costumes; dubbed “cosplay” there are some folk who enjoy donning a well-designed costume to support their favorite character. Age will vary from con to con, depending upon the games available and the events. Other events might include contests and awards, celebrity signings, a dealer’s room and/or art show, room parties, seminars, interviews, charity tournaments or auctions. Attendees often gauge what events they participate in based on their intent for attending the con; people are either finding work, having fun, reconnecting with old friends, networking, speaking, or are simply curious about what all the fuss is about.

Special note: Many of this year’s conventions will offer memoriams to one of the founding fathers of gaming, Gary Gygax. Be sure, if you are a speaker this year at a gaming con, to attend at least one of them.