This year I'm going once again to Wondercon... And this time I'm not getting a booth. Nor am I sharing a booth with anyone else. Instead I'm getting a table in the gaming area and I'm going to hand out information there. The reason is because most of the audience in sci fi and fantasy crosses over into games.
The reason I initially started developing games for Relic Worlds is because I knew it would be a way to interact with potential fans. With books, I'm constantly pushing for them to purchase something. With games, I could actually play with them; interact with them as they learn how to play. They also get to step into the roles of the characters from the series, which makes them all the more curious to read about them.
Once the game is made, (which, thus far, I have also self-published like the books,) I can take it to game conventions in addition to sci fi conventions, and present it to a whole new, yet cross-over, audience. I bring flyers for the books so people learn about it after playing.
I actually first learned about Game of Thrones from a board game. I had no idea it was a book series until one of the players started saying, "that's what happened in the book!" Of course, then I got interested and started reading it. Since then, there have been more games about it that came out well before the show, which grew the audience faster than if it had just been a book series.
The game can also be visually pleasing. In my case, the first game is a miniatures game, so I developed a large volcano, which my girlfriend jokingly calls "Breakup Mountain" because it almost led to that. But it gets people's attention with its size and colorful orange and red lava pouring down the side; not to mention the fog that pours out the top when you pour dry ice inside.
We'll see what kind of crowd it can draw at Wondercon this year. The entire intention is just to draw attention to the series. I can't sell anything at the game table, but that's all right with me as even when I had my own booth, there were very few sales. It was mostly about getting people to know about the series.
If you're there on March 23, come on by the gaming area. We'll be easy to find.
