ConQuesT39 Announces Faculty List with Sandy Lender

Or...The Dragon's going to Kansas City for ConQuesT39 over Memorial Day weekend

In exciting news, the organizers of this year's ConQuesT in Kansas City, Mo., mailed out the Faculty Handbook for Fandom University. That's right: if you're a sci-fi/fantasy/horror fan, you're in for a schedule sure to set your imagination alight at Fanimal House 2008 this May 23-25 at the Airport Hilton in good ol' K.C., Mo. Yours truly, Fantasy Author Sandy Lender, will be on hand to speak about blogging and trends in homosexuality in sci-fi/fantasy lit, and to read from my first fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods. If you bring your copy to the autograph session Saturday at 4:30 (or any other time you bump into me at the con), I'd be happy to personalize it for you.

Now, there's more to draw you to ConQuesT than my happy mug. The special media guests this year are Ellen Muth of Dead Like Me and Jeff East of Young Clark Kent. The guest of honor is Joe R. Lansdale; the artist guest of honor is David Lee Anderson; and the toastmaster is Wm. Mark Simmons.

Seminar tracts include anime, blogging, British TV, comedy, creative writing and publishing, filk, gaming, literature, science and more. Saturday night's masquerade promises to be a Kodak moment and the Story-in-a-Bag contest should bring plenty of laughs (with prizes). It's going to be a great event, and I encourage anyone who hasn't already made plans to consider getting out to Kansas City for the long weekend. The festivities end with "graduation" Sunday afternoon so you have plenty of driving time on Memorial Day...

Down to business: If you'd like more information about ConQuesT39, check out the site here.

If you need a copy of Choices Meant for Gods, get free two-day shipping at Amazon here. I'll have some copies on hand that I can sell and sign on-site, but you shouldn't count on the dealers in the dealer room being well-stocked. I've learned from past conventions that they don't always communicate well with the distributors like Ingrams and Baker & Taylor.

Hope to see you in Kansas City over Memorial Day weekend!

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

Tags: ConQuesT39, fantasy, blogging, Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, Ellen Muth, Jeff East, dragon

Promotional Guide
Writers Can't Hide Behind the Books, Part I

When I got my contract for Choices Meant for Gods, I attended a seminar hosted by my new publisher, ArcheBooks Publishing. Bob Gelinas stood in front of a room full of writers telling us something that should have occurred to us before: no one's going to love your work and work to promote your work as much as you will.

So get out there and shout about it from the rooftops.

You can't hide behind the typewriter, computer keyboard, notepad and pencil/pen, etc., while your book languishes in some warehouse or, if it's POD (print-on-demand), waits for an order to magically come in. One way to "get out there" is to attend conventions.

Are you a romance writer? Find places where romance readers gather and get thee on panels to speak to them. Now, you're not necessarily speaking about your book when you're on said panels, but you're speaking, as an expert, on a topic related to romance. That puts you in the limelight and gives you a chance to get your name out in front of an audience. And, once in a while, a carefully placed (read: not overbearing) mention of "and in my new novel *insert name of novel here*, I exemplify this by having *character name here* do this this and this." It's not difficult to use concrete examples from your own novel to illustrate a point without nauseating your audience with the plug.

Fantasy writers like myself, thriller writers like my friend Raven Bower, romance writers like my friend Tina Murray, speculative fiction and memoir writers like my friend Jamieson Wolf, young adult fiction writers like my friend M.B. Weston know and can use these tactics easily by getting on panels at conventions where fans gather. I'm already slated to participate at ConQuest 39 in Kansas City this Memorial Day and it looks like I've just been invited back to Context in Ohio this fall. I've got a booth at a local book festival and at DragonCon. A local writer's group has invited me to speak about blogging. It's not a lot (given my work schedule, it feels like a lot), but these are examples of opportunities that authors can take to get out from behind the computer and in front of audiences of potential readers.

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at how to build an audience for pre-promotion.

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy author, promotion