Advanced Con Quest

By Megan Mackie

CONgratulations! You're now ready to venture forth on a quest to seek out consumers for your books and wares!
WAIT! It's dangerous to go alone! Take this.
This book is for authors and artists with the desire to sell at geek and nerd cons as well as wanting to learn the art of how to run tabled events. Whether you are Indie or Tra

• Language: English
• Publisher: Accomplishing Innovation Press
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823200530

Megan Mackie

Beyond the smashing success of her inaugural, Amazon bestseller, The Finder of the Lucky Devil, Megan Mackie is the author of The Lucky Devil Series (urban fantasy/cyberpunk), the Dead World Series (Post Post Zombie Apocalypse), The Adventures of Pavlov's Dog and Schrodinger's Cat (Mid-grade science fiction) and the Working Mask series (wannabe superhero).Her other work can be found on the Yonder app, where she has published three web novels, Cookbooks and Demons (paranormal demon romance), Star Courier (speculative Firefly-like fiction), and Novantis (steampunk political intrigue with sky pirates-think Bridgerton meets Black Sails). Outside of her own series, she is a contributing writer for the RPGs Legendlore and Legendlore: Legacies by Onyx Path Publishing and Sirens: Battle of the Bards through Apotheosis Studios.When she isn't writing, she likes to play games-board games, puzzle boxes, RPGs, and video games. She lives in Chicago with her husband and children, two dogs, two cats, and her mother in the apartment upstairs. She also has a thing for iconic leather hats.

Book preview

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Who Should Read This Book

The Levels of Quest (Cons)

Advanced Levels of Quests (Still Cons)

How You Find Quests (Cons)

Applications

Basic Quest Gear

Advanced Quest Gear

The Business Practices of Questing

Advanced ConQuest - Bookstores at Cons

A Brief Hunter’s Guide

to the Kinds of

Customers You Might Encounter

Hitting Up the Tavern (Networking)

Ye Olde Safety First

AdvancedCon Quest

Organizing Essential NPCs (Assistants)

Undertaking Side Quests (Programming)

Gathering Ingredients

for the Potion of Long-Term Success:

Emails and Mailing Lists

Conclusion (And Beginning)

Ye Helpful Checklist

About the Author

Advanced Con Quest: The Art of Selling At Cons

Copyright © 2023 Megan Mackie. All rights reserved.

Accomplishing Innovation Press

1497 Main St. Suite 169

Dunedin, FL 34698

accomplishinginnovationpress.com

[e-mail]

Typesetting by Autumn Skye

Edited by Accomplishing Innovation Press

All rights to the work within are reserved to the author and publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 International Copyright Act, without prior written permission except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please contact either the Publisher or Author to gain permission.

This book is meant as a reference guide. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this book are a product of the author. All brands, quotes, and cited work respectfully belong to the original rights holders and bear no affiliation to the authors or publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022945564

Paperback ISBN-13: 979-8-8232-0054-7

Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1-64450-722-3

Ebook ISBN-13: 979-8-8232-0053-0

Special Thanks to:

My mother Connie, supportive mom

My husband Paul, who is the reason I’m in the good timeline. 

Rick Heinz, author of the Seventh Age series

Kevin Anderson, author of Dune: The Duke of Caladan, book one of the Caladan Trilogy written with Brian Herbert, and numerous other books

Timothy Zahn, author of the Thrawn Trilogy and numerous other books

Anna Zahn, an amazing person

John Jackson Miller, author of Star Trek Picard: Rogue Elements, Kenobi, and numerous other Star Trek and Star Wars books

Brian Anderson, author of the Sorcerer’s Song series

J. B. Garner, author of The Push Chronicles

Aysha Rehm, awesome editor

J. Caleb Clark, above and beyond cover artist

Casey Enwulf, my essential NPC

Introduction

A dream written down becomes a goal. A goal broken into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action becomes reality.

—Unknown

Congratulations! You have written a book and published it.

Now what?

In the past, publishers would send their chosen authors out to do book tours across the country to find readers and build a fan base. These tours were often hosted by bookstores, which was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Then Amazon happened…

I’m not saying that either book tours or the bookstore industry are dead altogether, but they have lessened significantly since the rise of the great website wonder and the equally chaotic rise of the Indie publishing industry. So, what is the answer?

If you are picking up this book, you have thought about selling at geek and nerd cons. Or, possibly, this is a novel idea to you, and then I’m glad I could offer you a unique solution. (Pun intended.) Whether you are Indie or Traditional or a hybrid of the two, in this tome I will tell you everything I know about how to sell your book successfully by hand, one person at a time. Contrary to my fiction work, I’m going to try to keep this information as simple as possible. I might even include pictures!

Who Should

Read This Book

Anyone interested in handselling anything at a con. I am focusing on books because it is what I sell, but these principles can apply to any Con Quests you plan to go on. These are all the tips and tricks that have contributed to my success.

The Levels of Quest (Cons)

Library Cons

When you are starting out, it can be overwhelming, so the smartest thing to do is start small. That’s where Library Cons come in. They are small, the tables are often cheap or free, and the people who go to libraries like books, so you will find a receptive audience. It’s a good place to practice your pitching skills and work out your approach. (See more about this in later sections.)

Local Cons

These cons are usually small, possibly 5,000-15,000 people. Local cons are often found out about by word of mouth and can be very specialized, focusing on a single idea. For example, Horror Con is about all things horror, Steampunk Geneva is about all things steampunk. Often you will find Literary Cons in this category. LitFest is a bookselling festival hosted in Chicago’s Printer’s Row that sells and promotes all things books. Literary cons, specifically, are great because they are open to all genres of books, so if you have a book, you will fit in. But it is possible to get a table at cons that do not fit the genre of your book. Historically, I would go and sell my urban fantasy/cyberpunk book at steampunk cons and always did very well there.

Other Things of Note about Local Cons

•These cons may or may not be divided between a regular vendor hall and an artist alley.

•Local cons also may or may not require you to have a website promoting your books or an Amazon link during the application process. They are basically just looking for proof that you are legit.

Regional/City Cons

The big cheeses. These cons are the gold standards, the ones where tens of thousands of people attend, and you can never hope to market to them all. These cons have a lot to recommend them. They are often expensive or difficult to get into, but if you manage to get into them and you have your pitch and product ready, they can be very lucrative.

These regional/city cons are the sweet spot for individual authors who have gotten fairly confident and established. They are where you can potentially get the most return on your investment.

That is not to say that you couldn’t go ahead and start at a larger con. If you feel confident, or the con is familiar to you, I say go for it. The most important point I want to make is simply to start somewhere. Birds don’t fly until they jump from the nest, and the same is true for anything you want to start.

These cons will definitely want you to have a website to include on your application. Partly to prove that you are legit, but