Games - The Ally to Science Fiction and Fantasy

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.

Wondercon

So I had a really good time at Wondercon, and I have a few thoughts about it.

First, and most importantly, as I was predicting, it's taking over for Comic-Con. It started at just the right time to pull the core away from the larger convention. Here's how.

Wondercon originally was taking place in San Francisco. Two years ago they had to renovate the convention center, so they moved it temporarily to Anaheim. The move was intended to be temporary, and served as a testing ground to move Comic-Con there. The contract between Comic-Con and the city of San Diego was coming up for renewal, and if the trial convention worked, Comic-Con might move there. San Diego countered by promising to expand their convention center.

The trial convention was a disaster. Parking was a mess, first of all. Not only was there a shortage of it, the convention had not made a deal with Disney to allow overflow parking to move there, and they had no backup plan, so attendees had to guess at places in the general area; and since Disney takes up most of the surrounding locations, there are few places to go. I personally had to walk for more than a mile with my heavy gear and books. The shopping mall where I parked had no idea why everyone was going there, and were not happy that their parking spots were being taken up by non-shoppers. The organization at the convention was also very poor. The computer system apparently had problems as people who had bought tickets online were not able to get in because of some glitch that had lost their information. Those who did get in had to buy their tickets at one end then pick them up clear at the other end of the convention center, then walk clear back again to the opposite end of the convention. To top it all off, it rained that day. There were several leaks and garbage cans were placed around the convention floor to catch the water coming through. Here's the kicker to that: there were three floors above us, so the water was getting through all those levels.

So Comic-Con stayed in San Diego, and Wondercon returned to San Francisco. But the organizers in Anaheim decided to try it again. 2013 went a bit better, though their parking was still a problem.

What has worked in Wondercon's favor is Comic-Con's complete ineptitude. Despite a promise from the city, the convention center really hasn't expanded much. And despite clear interest from fans and a desire from companies to show more material, the convention itself has not expanded. They continue to keep the convention down to four days rather than going for a week, like Sundance Film Festival, or two weeks, like Coachella. Such an expansion would ease congestion and provide opportunities for more people to come. Instead, they sell the same number of tickets to an ever-expanding customer base, thus making it impossible to please people who want to come.

This expanded customer base, by the way, is primarily people from the mainstream who have little interest in comic books, science fiction, or fantasy. It's celebrity seekers who are following the large corporations that are sending their celebrities and marketing experts to the convention to advertise and make lots of money. It's become a fad, and people who want to see the latest thing are going. These are temporary fans, and when it is no longer the in place to go, they will move on.

The base fans, meanwhile, have been squeezed out. In order to get a ticket now, you have to state your interest, then watch their website for updates because when they announce the tickets will go on sale, (6 a.m. on a certain date,) you have to be on your computer and start clicking buy at the moment they go on sale. Then, if you're lucky enough, you'll get listed in a lottery and they will draw randomly as to whether or not you are allowed in. So, a dedicated fan who has been going every year, (some for decades,) has to literally win the lottery in order to get in.

Some people who have been going to Comic-Con have noticed a change in the fan base lately. Fewer people in costume and more people who seem less interested in the products. This is why.

Wondercon does not have the fame Comic-Con does. It hasn't attracted the mainstream audiences who are only wanting to follow what's popular. As a result, it's a large concentration of true fans. It's great for sellers like me who get more from a small number of sci fi fans than a large number of people who don't care. And it's better for fans who want to see what they're interested in rather than having every television show and movie shoved down their throat whether it matches their genre or not.

There is a bit of a fear, however, that the stigma of Comic-Con will follow. First, and perhaps most disturbing, as you walked into the convention center you passed under the gaze of James Spader on a poster of The Blacklist. A fine show, I admit, but it has nothing to do with Comic books, sci fi, or fantasy. It's just a corporation wanting to sell their product to a large audience, just like at Coimc-Con.

And then there's the parking. Still insufficient, but worst of all, incompetent. When I tried to park, I was told by a guard to go to the lot on Western Street. So I did. They told me to go to the lot on Katella Street, so I did, and they told me to go to the lot I first went to. So they were literally sending the attendees in circles. When I informed them of this, they didn't believe me, and they refused to get on their walki-talkis to confirm what I was saying. I had to go to the shopping center I parked at two years ago and lug my stuff a full mile to the convention.

But they did seem to fix the problem with the tickets, and with the rain, so that's good.

Book Conventions – What are they really for?

This Saturday I’ll be going to Wondercon to promote my new book Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World.  That makes this the perfect time to explain how I use conventions to promote.

When I first started going to book conventions to promote my work, I went in with the mentality that they are book sales where I would sell my work and try to make a profit.  I was VERY disappointed.  When I compared not only how much I paid to get space at the table, but also to get gas to get to the convention, food while there, parking, and sometimes even having to buy a ticket to the convention, I found that I had to sell a huge number of books just to break even.  Frankly, I didn’t even make enough to justify the time spent.  I didn’t even make enough to pay for the gas it took to drive to get my seller’s permit.

Did that make it a complete waste?  At first I thought it was.  However, when I started giving material away, people flocked to me.  They started following my work, and some have become long-term fans.  This has paid off in terms of people purchasing my material later.

The moral of the story?  Bring material to give away.  Also, try to get a table with others.  Getting one by yourself is not only costly, but doesn’t look as good unless you have a huge amount to fill the table.  Sometimes there are lone authors sitting at a table that no one wants to go near.  It actually looks a bit sad and can be a deterrent.  I go with the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society.  Sure, it’s their name on the banner, but I get a space at the table with my own materials, and often I get people who came over to look at other authors.

I prepare for the convention by making a small diorama of the subject of the book.  This weekend it will be Relic Worlds, so I have a diorama of some ruins in the desert with an adventurer exploring them, and a little battle happening around him.  I will also have bookmarks, and the first chapter of the book to be given away for free.  It’s an investment of around $150, but the series will be seen by a lot of people and will be taken more seriously because they saw it at a booth at a major convention.

It’s also a good idea to get into a convention where the trend of your audience is going.  I’m actually more excited about being at a booth at Wondercon than I would be at Comic Con this year because a lot of the die-had sci fi and fantasy fans are moving to Wondercon from Comic Con.  They have gotten tired of how overly commercialized Comic Con has gotten, and how it’s more about the big mainstream movies than they are about sci fi, fantasy, and comic books.  So, while there will be a lot more people at Comic Con, most of them are curious onlookers wanting to see what the new trend is rather than people who will become long-term fans.

It’s always about the niche in independent publishing.  You’re not going to get the mainstream audience; not at first.  Go for your niche.

http://www.comic-con.org/wca