Day 2, last panel. The very last panel I went to on Saturday was about Zombie-lit. The panelists were Mario Acevedo, M.H. Bohnam, Stephen Graham Jones, Rebecca Lyons, and Sara Megibow. Basically, they were postulating if zombies would ever be as popular as werewolves and vampires. They never really came to a conclusion, but things do go in cycles, so it's hard to say. Sara mentioned that a lot of her queries are for zombie books, and one of her clients actually wrote a zombie romance. I don't remember what it's called (not my cup of tea), although I think it was a YA novel. Either way. Stephen Graham Jones had just come out with his book (literally, it came out on Friday), "It Came from Del Rio," which sounded just fabulous, so I bought a copy. I'm trying to finish another book before delving into that one, but I'll let you know how it goes.
I didn't really learn anything from the panel because it was just a discussion, peoples/authors opinions. It was entertaining and funny. It was the perfect end to a very long day! I did get to spend a little more time talking to Sara, too. Jones's publisher was at the back of the room (who I bought the book from), and she wanted to talk to him about options for her clients. She was wondering why authors went to indie publishers and what was in it for them. Since I was standing there, I offered my two cents. I told her that for some of us, there are only so many agents who handle our particular genre, and once all of them have said no, we don't have any other options. She was looking at it from a business perspective, and since most indie publishers are a little more up on the technological side of publishing, she wanted to know how it could benefit her authors. I have no idea if they talked more after I left.
Later that night, we went to the costume contest, but I was pretty much done. My brain was chocked full of information and I didn't sleep well the night before, so I was in bed at 9:00. On Sunday, I really only had one panel I wanted to go to: Self-promotion for Artists. This actually turned out to be for artist artists, people who paint, draw, etc., so it didn't really apply to me. The one bit of information I could use was that you had to invest in yourself if anyone else is going to invest in you. When starting out, it doesn't have to be a ton of money, you have to live within your means, but a little can go a very long way. That, and make sure you have a presence on the web.
Upon leaving the panel, I ran into Nathan Lowell again and we had a much more in depth discussion on podcasting. He is really big in podiobooks, which I would like to get into, but it seems a little daunting. I have to get approved (which probably isn't a big deal), but then my files have to have special tags and conform to their standards. I'm not really into the technical side of that, so I would have to do a little research/training before I can submit. Either that or I'll just talk to Tamara. She has a knack for those kinds of things!
After that, we checked out of the hotel and headed home. I was very tired and excited to see my boys. All in all, I learned a lot at the conference and made some great contacts. I have a few friends who get really jazzed after being at a conference and can't wait to get home and start writing, but me, I just want to read. There were so many books and authors that I was interested in. I will have to find that balance between reading and writing. I'm sure I can handle that!
