I'll give the nod to Gavin Jefferson to begin with; since he was one of the first people I can remember asking me, 'what do I get out of going to conventions?'
For those not sitting comfortably, I have a number of reasons here. Everything from giving me something to talk about to keeping me at the forefront of my peers and my audience. If that's enough answer for you, feel free to bail out now. If you're sat comfortable and want a deep dive into the hustle/game of it, read on.
What comes to mind now as I write this is the volume of conventions/attendances that I have lined up so far this year which, for me, is a record number. So far, I have the online version of the UK Ghost Story Festival next month, StokerCon in Connecticut in June, FanExpo in Toronto in August, and WorldFantasyCon in Brighton in October. I currently have at least another one that I'm booked in for (and more detail on that when I'm able), along with another that I may attend.
Before I get into it, I'll mention that I did touch on this previously in an entry called, "Mix Business With Pleasure." There is an element of conventions which is mixing business with pleasure, seeing your peers in person and getting new business at the same time. But doing conventions takes a degree of game. So, here's where I get into it.
"What do I get out of going to conventions?"
1. I GET TO SEE MY PEERS.
I know I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again: as a kid, I was painfully shy. So much so that when I was ill and my mother took me to the GP (General Practitioner, read: 'physician', i.e. doctor), I sat in that chair next to her, swinging my legs and looking down at my feet. Why? Because I couldn't make eye contact with people. Years of experience and history taught me that shrinking violets just ...shrink, so I faced that fear head on. But here's the thing. I'm not a people person or social butterfly, but I can appreciate people.
As someone who was 'the runt of the litter' and incompetent at best with women, I can appreciate that people - not just women - come in all shapes and sizes. I can remember how it is to be socially awkward; and I sure as hell remember how it is to lack confidence. Having spent time on social media talking to numerous people, be they authors, editors, publishers, podcasters, illustrators, journalists, etc. you start to get to know them. And as such, you've already gotten to know them to a degree, which makes those real-life interactions easier - sweeter, even. Especially if you love the same franchise, can't stand that scene in the same film, appear in the same anthology, have both submitted manuscripts to the same publisher, etc. Conventions are an additional way to build and reinforce those associations, those friendships. Not only that but...
2. THEY SHOW YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR CRAFT.
As fun as it can be attend those conventions, they can also be tiring. More often than not, those conventions are held somewhere you don't live. Across the city if you're lucky. Across the country. Or across the planet. These things bring additional challenges. Juggling work and family responsibilities. Additional expense to make the journey to the convention, a ticket to attend the convention, and a place to stay while you're at the convention. Plus, those additional considerations like time away from the comfort and norm of your daily routine; and mingling. Doing a meet-and-greet with a plethora of people who - despite best intentions - aren't people you'd usually spend so much time with. And given how conventions can be, it's not unheard of to start early; maybe talking shop over breakfast to staying up late, talking shop in the bar long after last orders. Such is the nature of the beast.
Yes, conventions can be full-on. But in attending those conventions and engaging with people who you wouldn't usually meet, they show a level of dedication to your craft. They show that you're open to engaging with people - from those you know to those you don't. They can also appreciate more the lengths you might (literally) go to in order to do so. Again, conventions are hardly down the road from you ...and if one of them is, that's not likely to happen again any time soon.
3. THEY GIVE PEOPLE A CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW YOU.
Even without a pandemic behind us, social media has made it easier to engage with people. You can just 'Like' someone's post on Facebook, Twitter, et al. - without being face-to-face with them, making eye contact, smiling, and nodding in approval. As in many a business, that face-to-face interaction is hard to beat.
Personally, I don't buy into the notion that authors are socially awkward. By default, we may spend more time in isolation than the non-scribes as we devise a tale, plot a tale, write a tale, edit a tale, etc., etc., etc. See where I'm going with this? Good. Because when that's all said and done, at some point, you'll have to engage with the genre community - whether you're sending that manuscript to a publisher, stating your case with an editor re. edits, working with an illustrator/designer in relation to your book cover, etc., etc., etc. But, if you can state your case with eloquence, charm, personality and such? Better yet - if you carry yourself with eloquence, charm, personality and such? Yeah; it's easier for people to get a measure of YOU when YOU are in front of them and when YOU are talking to them and when YOU are engaging them and YOU are piquing their interest.
Yeah; YOU.
You might miss a Facebook like. You might miss a Tweet. You might miss a repost or a tag. It's a damned sight harder to miss a person when they're in front of you asking what you're working on, or why they have to outline their stories, or why they self publish, or why they drink Jack & Coke before and after each draft of long fiction. You might not be great at this; at least not at first. But, like a lot of things, you can get better with practice.
Know this: the main reason I started going to StokerCon in person is just that; so that more people can see me and I can engage with more people. There's an irony in that, being a black man in London writing horror, I still encounter plenty of peers who don't know/recognise me. So I work on changing that. And the more you can meet someone in person, present yourself as creative and driven...
4. YOUR PEERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU AS A RESULT.
Why? Because you've shown that not only are you driven enough to go to a convention across the country or planet, but you can talk to someone about the genre with love and enthusiasm, and talk about your body of work and your next project(s) the same way, if you're a good talker, you'll pique their interest, they're more likely to want a piece of you. I've had everything from invites for everything from book signings, readings and discussion panels to invites for anthologies, podcast sessions and live/in-person interviews. And this is a non-vicious cycle - because the busier you are with the business of writing, the more likely it is that your peers are going to do business with you.
Even at that very convention you attend, you may end up being a part of it. While people may arrange to attend conventions and plan to take part in the programming, that's in theory - but it doesn't always happen in practice. People may have double-booked, need to cancel last-minute to deal with emergencies, etc. But then, as per the showbiz 'the show must go on' - so who gets to fill in? Someone who's eloquent. Someone with charisma, someone who can talk, engage, someone passionate about the craft, the business, etc. And in being on a panel or a reading, if you can keep people engaged (yes, that word again), your peers and your audience are more likely to stick around to see more about you and what you bring to the table.
5. THEY GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO BLOW OFF STEAM.
Make no mistake. Time in the business - at least as an indie author - can be hard work. Sure, it might not be the same as a 'regular' office job (if there is such a thing) or working on a building site or whatever, but that doesn't mean it's without challenges. That case of writer's block or imposter syndrome or some other such ailment that stops your proverbial juices like a cork in the wrong hole. That submission you've not heard back about, that author with a sense of entitlement when it comes to book reviews, the convention guest who cancelled last minute, etc. etc. etc. Such things are common to the genre community - and such people/publishers/reviewers/etc. are common to the genre industry. So when you hit a convention, not only are you in the company of those experience the same things, they're the people who experience the same things with the same individuals. So there's that common ground.
That's not to say you'll bond with everyone - because that's unrealistic. But as a whole, the genre community is one of diversity, inclusion and support ...which might seem ironic given that some of us write some really insidious and twisted shit. And who knows what you'll have in common besides of a love for horror? It could be a love of Kraken rum, with a side of nachos. It could be pizza. Or a mischievous sense of humour. Or a love of Spider-Man and lifting weights. And because you're around your peers with that common ground for how many hours over how many days, you may have some stories to tell. I have no doubt that Ben Jones won't let me forget The Waitrose Incident, or that Pete Indiana Allison will always be mindful of 'so much flute' since I warned him about Alien: Covenant, and that Ramsey Campbell won't forget the standing ovation he got at last year's FantasyCon. Etc., etc., etc.
See? There are worse places to be than in the company of your peers for a couple of days or so.
6. THEY GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT.
Lest we forget, they do give you something to talk about. For those that fear missing out, this is a way to keep them informed: everything from pictures of discussion panels and signings to unanimous middle fingers, skeletons reading books (yes, that's that I said), pictures of burning typewriters, great food, swanky evening wear. And for those just curious about conventions, apparently a picture is worth a thousand words.
And for your audience at large, they do show another aspect of your hustle, whether it's your craft or how you approach it, or who you approach it with. All part and parcel of piquing people's interest in you. Which can be a good thing.
There it is. Game, 101. - Conventions.
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