How To Market Your Book At Cons

Guest post by Bryan Thomas Schmidt.

So, you’ve done all the research. Whether from online sites like Locus, or a general search for science fiction convention lists like this or this, through word of mouth or reading the back of Asimovs and Analog, you’ve identified several Cons for which the stars seem aligned (locations, dates, guests, size, costs, themes, etc. all seem to fit your needs, wants and schedule. Great. But hold on a minute. Before you make contact, first things first. And the first thing here is you need a good bio.

A good bio should be short but highlight the key things which would make you desirable as a panelist/guest and attendee.

Let’s start with mine:

Using Pinterest as a Reader, Writer, and Author

First, congratulations to Sam for winning the Near Witch Giveaway.

Second, MIT graduation was last Friday. Unfortunately, I wasn't in it. In the grand tradition of doctoral dissertations, my defense has been moved back a few months. I'm now shooting for the end of summer. My next few months will be split between dissertation writing and revisions of Midnight Thief, so blogwise, I’ll still be scarce for a while.

But even when time is scarce, there's always time for another social network! I've been checking out Pinterest recently (Here I am!), trying to see if I should integrate it into my social media strategy (Oh, who am I kidding? I just like the pretty pictures.). I thought I'd share some of the ways that it might be useful for book people: specifically readers, pre-published writers, and published writers.

Edit:  Since coming across Roni Loren's blog post on copyright violation, I've removed some of the embedded images on this post. For the moment, I'm still using Pinterest, but I'm looking into the copyright issue.

Point of View and Freewheeling Thoughts

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone for your well wishes and congratulations. I’m super excited about bringing Midnight Thief into the world, and I’m looking forward to sharing more details about the deal and process (BTW, if anyone has any specific questions, lemme know!). But first, for today, something different.

My freshman year of college, I took an expository writing class. One of the most important skills we learned was how to transition smoothly between different ideas. It was good, solid, advice, and improved my writing greatly. But like all writing rules, it doesn't always apply. I was reminded of this when I read Victoria Schwab's The Near Witch.

The Other Reason I Haven't Had As Much Time to Blog Lately

From Dystel and Goderich's latest deals roundup:

Livia Blackburne’s MIDNIGHT THIEF, a debut YA fantasy novel about a talented thief who joins an assassin’s guild only to find that what she thought was the perfect job is much more sinister than originally imagined was sold to Abby Ranger at Hyperion by Jim.

More details to come...

Operation Chest Hair Part I: In Which I Look at Girls Through a Manly Lens

I write about teenage girls. That's my comfort zone, but I recently got an idea for a story from a man's point of view.

This made me nervous. I'd written boys before (not without difficulty), but this new story was about a Man’s Man. You know, the kind of guy that drinks black coffee and crushes rocks with his bare hands.  To be honest, I didn't know if I had the balls to pull it off. And thus, Operation Chest Hair was born, in which I analyze Man Books in an attempt to raise my testosterone level. 

Lukewarm Cover Blurb Contest: Winners!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Lukewarm Cover Blurb Contest.  My husband, the original Lukewarm Blurber, has chosen his favorites, and without further ado:


Tied for third place are Unpublished Guy and  Dan. 

Unpublished Guy's entry:

A giant lateral leap in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Mutton Chops chronicles the way the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles rational theories of human history. 

Announcing the Lukewarm Cover Blurb Contest

We’ve passed the 1500 RSS subscribers mark! Thank you all so much for sticking around and participating in our discussions of all things writing. As has become tradition here, we'll celebrate with a contest. And I have a good one.

A while back, my dad asked my husband (aka astronomer and literary snob J Blackburne) if he liked Midnight Thief. J’s response was something along the lines of, “Yeah, I did! A lot of first novels have cardboard characters and plots that fall apart halfway through, but Livia's book was not like that.”

Later on, I teased him about having liked my book because it “was not horrible.” At which point, my secretly-supportive-but-very-mischievous husband got a glint in his eye.

“It's… serviceable fiction,” he said. “With every element needed to become a runaway bestseller amongst undiscerning readers.”