Opportunity Overload–Penned Con ’17 Recap, 1 of…?
Penned Con was amazing. It’s been two weeks, and I swear I’m still catching my breath. Meanwhile, other authors are off to similar conventions in other cities. Wow! I don’t know how they do it! But it’s a super good thing to do as an author.
The benefits are many. First and foremost, meeting fans–or potential fans–face-to-face and chatting. Oh my God, did I talk to a lot of people. It was an amazingly well-run convention with 150+ authors and about 1,000 fans from ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. I kid you not. I met people who’d driven from states away–with their kids–an author who flew from Alaska, a fan who flew in from Florida. Holy smokes, these are dedicated readers. Exactly the kind of people whose hands you want your book in. They wheeled wagons behind them, filled them with books, took then out to their cars, came back, filled them again. I’ve never seen anything like it. They wanted me to sign their shirts, their bags, their signs, and even some books!
I’ll be at Penned Con again next year, and I’ll be looking for other opportunities like this as my schedule–and wallet–allows. Networking, interviews, panels, keynote speakers, lunch, hallway conversations, a casino night, red-carpet pictures. You name it, this con had it all! I met so many wonderful people, most importantly, Amy and Rick Miles who run the whole thing as a fundraiser for Action for Autism. Next year will be even bigger! Hard to imagine, but I can’t wait.
One of the opportunities I had was to be interviewed by the delightful, smart, beautiful and funny Jocqueline M Protho of Bookin’ Around Town. Bookin’ Around Town is a podcast that connects authors to readers on a personal level one BOOK and TOWN at a time. It was Sunday morning and Jocq and I were both a little tired and sucking down hot tea while we chatted. Jocq is a busy lady, too, and an animal lover. We talk books and writing and critters in this podcast. I hope you’ll take a listen.
Listen to “Bookin’ Around Town with Candace Carrabus – Penned Edition” on Spreaker.