fantasy/scifi conventions

New Release: Corpses and Cognac!

/ Dorian Graves / Leave a comment

It’s finally here!

Corpses and Cognac is now live, and can be found wherever you like to acquire your books! For those who love to track books on Goodreads or Storygraph, you can also now add it to your TBR pile over there.

After working on this book nonstop for the past few years (and many, many editing drafts), it’s such a relief to finally see the book out in the world. I’ve been writing the adventures of the Gallows brothers for over ten years now—I started back in college, and may those early drafts never see the light of day again—and it’s wonderful to see their struggles and triumphs resonate with so many people.

This past year has been a wild ride for me—not just because of being quarantined for a year, but some readers may recall that I also regained my book rights and pivoted to self-publishing the Deadly Drinks series at the same time. There were plenty of struggles, par for the course in 2020, but there were also a lot of bright spots in this journey. I met Bill Tracy through a mutual author friend, and he’s been the best editor for the series that I could ask for. M. Brackett happened to post about wanting to work on book covers right when I was looking for an artist, and not only has that partnership been wonderful, but that also led me to a wonderful community of artists and writers that inspire me every day. I’ve met plenty of fellow authors, spoke about my craft, and more.

And now, I’ll be at upcoming online conventions!

First, you can catch me at Rainbow Space Magic next weekend. On Friday at 4 PM PST, I’ll read an excerpt from Corpses and Cognac, and then Saturday at 7 PM PST, you can catch me talking about Fandom and Fanfiction. Then in May on the 8th-9th, you can catch me at IQARUS, another queer online book con! Those panels are still being figured out, so stay tuned for that and other potential online cons in the future.

Meanwhile, now that I’m finally out of editing crunch, I can finally sit down and catch up on some reading. If you’re also looking to do so, perhaps you want to check out some of the books over at the God & Monsters bundle? Bones and Bourbon is in good company with other tales with mythological beings and wild adventures.

I’ll keep all of you up to date with any further book adventures here (though for the most up to date news, you can follow me over on Twitter, where I tend to be a bit more active). In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy Corpses and Cognac now that it’s finally out in the world! (And if you do, and happen to find a moment to share even a short review, that would mean the world to me AND help with the book’s release.) I’m going to take a moment to rest and work on a couple fun projects before diving back into my next big story. I’ve got a couple in the plotting stages that are going to be really exciting to work on.

Looking forward to it!

~Dorian

Rainbow Connections: OryCon and Rainbow Awards

/ Dorian Graves / Leave a comment

Greetings, dear readers!

A lot has happened in the past month! First was OryCon up in Portland, and then came the Rainbow Awards last week. My head is still spinning from all of it, so it’s high time I sort everything out with a blog post.

First up, OryCon and my thoughts on it. I hadn’t actually planned on attending OryCon this year; I thought I’d missed my window to affordably sign up earlier in the year, so I planned to stay home and focus on writing. But a couple weeks before the event, I received a message from J.S. Fields: one of their tablemates had withdrawn, and they needed someone to take the place as the fourth table member. I crunched numbers and found I could squeeze it in. Two weeks later, with a fresh box of books and bookmarks in my car, I drove up to Portland after work and prepared for a new convention.

OryCon took place from November 8th through 10th, at the Red Lion Hotel on Jantzen Beach right at the border between Oregon and Washington. I was at the Queer Science Fiction table with three other authors: J.S. Fields, wood scientist and author of the Ardulum series; L.M. Pierce, author of the Trans Liberty Riot Brigade; and Ziggy, writer of the Crossing Wires podcast and various short stories. We were fairly close to the opening of the Dealer’s Room, with a jeweler on one side, another author on the other, and a table for selling Filk music across from us. There were quite a few authors at the convention, including friend of the table Ross Winkler, author of A Warrior’s Sacrifice a couple tables down, and multiple tables for groups of authors, like NIWA.

So, how was it all?

First off, when I was still agreeing to the convention, I was informed that OryCon a far slower convention than others in terms of sales, but high in other sorts of connections. I found this to be pretty accurate. For sales, I only sold about 11 books; it was apparently an even slower sales year than usual, and I also witnessed a lot of sales sniping from other vendors. However, those who did buy our books often came back to tell us that they’d started reading and loved what they’d read so far, and those who’d attended before received a lot of interest for the newest books in the other authors’ series.

I wasn’t on any panels myself due to my late addition, but the rest of the authors at my table got to join some, and I did attend the live podcast episode of The Overcast. Panels seemed to run smooth and have strong attendance, and they were spaced apart well enough that those attending multiple panels had ample downtime between them. There were a couple hiccups with programming (a couple panels were incredibly similar, or had descriptions altered to be different than what those who pitched the panels intended), but the actual panels themselves went off well. I also heard that the convention took a lot of feedback between last year and this one, which was good to hear.

As mentioned above, the only panel I made it to was a live recording of The Overcast podcast, run by J.S. Arquin. This was a treat to attend, not only because it was fun to be part of a live show, but because The Overcast produced one of my short stories, Hell is for Children, way back in episode 3. It was amazing to hear how far the show had come, and to get a chance to thank Arquin for taking a chance on me when we were both first starting out.

What made OryCon stand out, however, was the camaraderie. I’d never tabled with other authors before, and it was so inspiring to work with other authors, all of us in small press (with stories published by NineStar Press) but in different places of our journeys. We learned from each other, swapped publishing tips and elevator pitches, and just had a good time chatting in the moments between. Plus, there were plenty of other authors to connect with at other tables, such as talking DnD over at the NIWA table, or even hearing about the WIPs of other con attendees and volunteers.

I returned home from OryCon invigorated in a way I haven’t been from an event before. I’ve reworked parts of my overarching publishing plan, brewed new outlines and plot hooks, and even have some exciting new projects coming down the pipeline. I’ve been writing like mad and scribbling notes in a way that I haven’t been able to for months. I’m inspired. I’m excited. I feel like myself again, bubbling with ideas and ready to roll.

And yet, doubt still creeps in. It always does for authors, no matter where we are in our publishing journeys. So many plans, so much inspiration, and yet I found myself stuck working long hours at the day job (itself busy with the holiday rush), trying to balance family time during the Thanksgiving holiday with completing chores, and where was there time to write? When would I get time to make all these wonderful stories I had planned, if the dishes couldn’t just do themselves?

Then the Rainbow Awards results hit. I’d submitted Bones and Bourbon a whole year ago, but had heard dead silence on the honorable mentions front, so I assumed that it hadn’t quite hit home with the judges. I was ready to take a couple mediocre reviews with grace and congratulate the winners. Then, just before the awards started to roll out late Saturday night on the 7th, two honorable mentions arrived. Sweet, I thought! A couple good reviews, that I could be happy with.

The awards started proper. Fellow author friends hit high notes in their categories. I made a note of books to read. Then I saw the “LGBTA – Contemporary General Fiction, Fantasy & Sci-Fi / Futuristic” category. What was that in second place? Was it somehow….Bones and Bourbon?

It was. And then when the awards resumed rolling out in the morning, it also hit second in the overall “Transgender Book,” and first in the “LGBTA Debut Book” category. For once in my life, I found myself speechless.

All my ideas weren’t for nothing. All the snatched moments of writing between work shifts, all the convention rushes, all the plotting and rewriting…all of it paid off. And it’s all thanks to you, dear readers and judges.

Thank you for taking a chance on my weird and queer debut, full of monsters and broken families all trying to hold themselves together. Thank you to those who found kinship in Jarrod’s struggle to be his true self, in Retz discovering how to be his own person, and all the other journeys within. Thank you to all who laughed at the idea of carnivorous unicorns, who oohed and aahed at the cover, and let it all draw them in. And for every review posted, every time you suggested it to a friend or asked for it in your bookstores and libraries, every time you gave Bones and Bourbon a chance…

I can never thank you enough. But I can release more books I hope you’ll love, shake your hand and dedicate a signed book to you when we meet at a convention (perchance at OryCon next year?), and maybe I can start to show you a fraction of this gratitude that’s filling up my heart.

Dear readers, you’re the best.

~Dorian

The (Late) SpoCon Report!

/ Dorian Graves / 5 Comments

Hello again, dear readers! Can you believe it’s almost October? “Corpses and Cognac” nears completion, this blog is now a year old, and…I’ve been so busy that I forgot to post for two months. Woops.

So, with the adage of better late than never, time to finally talk about SpoCon! Which was…all the way back in August, wow. Not only is SpoCon the primary fantasy/scifi convention for Spokane and the surrounding area, but most of its proceeds go toward supporting local libraries and schools. I was already heading up to Washington that month anyway to visit family, so I figured I’d swing by!

SpoCon took place from August 10th through 12th, at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel. The art show and dealer’s room was on the first floor, while the panels were split between the first and third floor. My table was located in a hallway right outside of the dealer’s room, which brought us some nice traffic (and later, a great view of all the cosplayers heading to the costume contest). I brought my romantic partner with me this time, who helped run the table whenever I had to speak on a panel. A chainmail jewelry artist was on one side of our table, and the other was for Oneshi Press, a small group of wonderfully creative comic artists and authors.

I’ll be brief with discussing numbers, because I’d rather talk about the panels. I sold 19 books at the convention itself, each with 8.8% sales tax included. While me and my partner’s admission was free thanks to being a panelist, I did have to pay $100 to get my own table to sell books at. Otherwise, I could’ve left some books at the “Marmot Market” and let them sell it at a 20% commission. My personal sales did end up covering the table fee, but since I was a little late getting my hotel room, it didn’t quite offset that cost.

However, even if I didn’t make as much sales-wise, I did get to speak on seven different panels! I got to cover a wide variety of topics, so let me discuss each of them in detail…

  1. The Magical Menagerie

If there’s one thing I love to write about, it’s weird creatures, so it was a great topic to kick the convention off with! We discussed everything from researching monsters from different cultures, helping people figure out how to utilize certain creatures in their plots, and what the most useless creature we’d ever heard of was—which, if anyone was wondering, mine is the Squonk.
Also, kudos to the Thor and Loki cosplayers who interacted with the panel in-character almost the entire time. You two were hilarious.

  1. Ideas: Where Do They Come From?
    This was a fun panel about the different ways authors plot their books. Half the panelists were pantsers, the others were plotters, and I seemed to be the halfway point (I try to plot, and then meander a bit from there). We also discussed our inspirations, how we get ourselves unstuck, and so on.

  2. Terribly Funny
    This panel was specifically about the use of humor in horror fiction. Unfortunately, one of the panelists wasn’t able to make it, so we just had two new-to-panel authors with no direction. It became a discussion on different kinds of humor and theories on plot pacing in general, plus forays into improv theater.

  3. Creating Memorable NPCs
    One of my two panels on tabletop RPGs. While the point of this was about what makes NPCs stand out, it also became about different styles of running a game, which became a pantsers/plotters debate like in the (outlining) panel earlier. Our general consensus was that there are a number of factors that can make a character stand out, but sometimes, the strangest things—like a random radio DJ or a nut-throwing squirrel—will stand out to the players.

  4. Building a Campaign
    This was one of the two panels I suggested for the convention, and I was joined by two members of the RPG Research team. We discussed different techniques to keep players interested in a tabletop RPG campaign, from the planning stages to in-between sessions.
    This panel has actually been recorded for the RPG Research’s talk show; it should be available for the general public soon, or now for those who want to support them on Patreon.

  5. See You, Space Cowboy
    Here’s the other panel I suggested for the convention, which was about colonization in science fiction. My original idea had been to discuss how often colonization is forced into scifi narratives, from shows like Star Trek to games like Mass Effect Andromeda. However, the panel instead became a discussion on the viability of actually colonizing planets in our near future, with me focusing on the moral and societal aspects and my fellow panelist covering what we’d need for supplies and staffing. We also covered how corporations may come to lead the space race, different ways to get people to survive the trip to new planets, and so on.

  6. The Writing Habit
    This one was specifically about staying dedicated to writing. This was a bit of an odd panel for me, seeing as I haven’t worked with deadlines until this year, and I had far less time as an author compared to the other authors. Perhaps the only panel where I didn’t talk that much, but it was interesting hearing everyone’s different routes to authorhood.

There was also some miscommunication involving a writing workshop, but that was the only hiccup I experienced the entire convention. Everything else was run rather smoothly, and both staff and con-goers alike were all in friendly spirits.

All in all, while SpoCon wasn’t the most lucrative convention, I garnered a lot of interest by participating in panels—and learned quite a bit myself. I was also able to finally meet Dawn Vogel and Jeremy Zimmerman, the masterminds behind Defcon One Publishing (who’ve published a few of my short stories over the years) in the flesh. I actually learned about SpoCon from one of their blog posts, so thanks for inspiring this adventure in the first place!

Now that I’ve confirmed that I survived the convention, I’m going to burrow back into my writing again (as well as preparing the upcoming writing comic, slowly but surely). “Corpses and Cognac” is coming together nicely, and seeing all the support for Bones and Bourbon helps inspire me to make this the best sequel I can.

Also, since it turns out today is the one year anniversary of this website…here’s to a great start, and to even better (and maybe more consistent) blog posts next year. Thank you all for your support so far~!

~Dorian

Books at BayCon!

/ Dorian Graves / 2 Comments

The other night, I finally stumbled home from BayCon. I was gone for a week, traveling down familiar highways to see old friends and spread the Bones and Bourbon love to California. I loved every second of it, though it is nice to be home again.

Now, I promised a lot of you that I would share my experiences at BayCon, including how viable it is to sell books at it or similar conventions. I’ve written up as much as I can recall, including sales and costs. Keep in mind that this was my first convention, and these numbers may not hold up for others—I’ll find out how accurate this is later in the year, when I try out SpoCon in August and hopefully make it to either OryCon or EuCon this November.

BayCon is a smaller convention in terms of attendees, and takes place over Memorial Day Weekend, making it a four day convention instead of three like most cons. It is a fantasy/scifi convention, meaning it celebrates those genre as a whole instead of focusing on a particular fandom, medium, etc. It is listed as the longest running convention in the Bay Area, and in recent years has taken place at the San Mateo Marriott Hotel (known amongst congoers as the “Escher Marriott” for its confusing layout; certain spots qualify as the 2nd and 3rd floor of the hotel simultaneously, and it only gets more convoluted from there). There’s a sense of friendship and familiarity amongst this convention; a lot of folks discussed how much the comradery and support of their fellow nerds meant to them, which was wonderful to experience.

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At the Convention (photo taken by the Steampunk Explorer)

I spent most of my time in the Dealer’s Room on the second floor, and was conveniently located right next to a door, so I was the first thing many people saw. My table was sparsely decorated—a placard with my name, a straightened pile of books, one book propped up on a stand (with a figure of Dorian Gray from Penny Dreadful sitting on it, which drew folks in) and arranged piles of bookmarks and a sign denoting them as free. I had a fellow author with her portal fantasy universe to my left, a scarf and soap maker to my right, and opposite me across the aisle, a number of jewelry makers. Most of the authors were on the far ends of the room or right behind me.

 

Time for some numbers! I brought 61 copies of my book to BayCon with me, and I ended up selling 34 of those copies, and also donated a copy to a charity auction. Each book runs for $14.99, plus I added sales tax into the price, which for San Mateo was about 9%, making each book $16.34. Most people were happy to use their cards once they saw that I had a scanner and a chip reader—I use Square, which works wonders once set up—but a fair amount of folks also opted to use cash, meaning I had to grab a lot of extra change.

For all the physical copies sold at the convention, I made about $523, with a sales tax payment of around $46 after the fact. Plus, a fair amount of people decided instead to order ebook copies—I don’t have the numbers for how many, but hey, I’m just happy for more readers.

Question is, did this cover how much I spent on the convention? Well, this is where things get complicated.

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Photo from setting up the table.

Acquiring a table at BayCon was $150, which included my registration, and I was able to bring an assistant for a reduced price of an extra $50. I stayed at my assistant’s place instead of at the hotel, so I didn’t have that fee to worry about. Food at conventions tends to be expensive, so I brought along my own breakfast, lunch, and snacks each day, and split meal costs with others whenever possible for dinner (or just ran to Trader Joe’s and got some cheap but tasty chicken wraps).

I also opted to drive down, instead of flying. It’s about a nine hour drive from Eugene to the Bay Area, and after years of driving this route, I’ve nailed down that my car can make the trip with only two stops for gas each way. A special family connection gets me gas at a reduced rate at specific stations, so that cost is lower for me than it is most others, which meant it was cheaper for me to drive. This also allowed me to transport all my books and supplies (such as clothing and food) myself, instead of having to ship everything to the convention itself or running everything through baggage claim.

Plus, for cost, I acquire my stock for 40% off the listed price, so I do pay $8.99 for each book, plus a little extra for shipping. I also brought bookmarks, which was around $60 on UPrinting for 500 bookmarks.

(A note I forgot to mention when I first posted this: Do remember that you can write most of these things off on your taxes as business expenses, since being an author IS a business!)

David Price Shoot - TorsoShot (SMSized)

Fancy photo taken by David Price

Once all these numbers are crunched, it becomes clear that I didn’t make profit off of just the physical book sales, though I was quite close. However, there are also the digital sales to consider from a profit standpoint, and also sales that will happen later if those who bought the book at BayCon like it and spread the word. Plus, one can’t discount the exposure brought in; I had a couple of interviews, rubbed shoulders with fellow authors and some influential voices in my field, and was even invited back to next year’s BayCon, with offers of speaking on panels and readings.

But most of all? BayCon was FUN. Everyone there was so friendly, happy to stop by the table and talk about their favorite books or past nerdy encounters they’d had. Old friends reunited in the aisles—one couple was even celebrating their anniversary, having met at the convention 26 years ago. We swapped stories and ribbons, talked about what we loved in stories and what our fandoms meant to us, or even just laughed at the confusing layout of the hotel. There was unique artwork, fun and informative panels, cool cosplays, and more. I even made it to a LARP based off Steven Brust’s Dragarea universe, where we played as assassins and crime lords and somehow didn’t murder each other (or even draw a weapon the entire game); it was amazing how much fun political scheming and assassination plotting can be. I got to see many old friends of mine, and make new ones along the way—there isn’t a price you can put on that.

With all this said, selling at genre conventions isn’t for everyone. You need to be willing to talk to people, and without cutting costs where you can, it may cost more than it brings in. If you do give it a try, you may be pleasantly surprised by how well it works and the connections it opens up. Plenty of the other vendors there make their living by traveling the convention circuit throughout each year—perhaps the same will work for you!

 

Now, if you feel like selling your book (or other nerdy products) at a convention, here are some tips:

  • Say hello! Sometimes, a greeting and a smile is enough to turn heads and get folks to look at your book. Make a little small talk; ask how they’re enjoying the convention, if they’ve seen any cool panels, or even just comment on their outfit. At conventions, a lot of folks wear clothing that references a fandom or interest, which is a great starting point to talk—and if you can connect it to your book, so much the better.

  • Make sure you have a pitch prepared. Explain what it’s about in a way that’s clear and concise, but also interesting—having a twist in it helps (in my case, mentioning the carnivorous unicorns). It’s engaging, and interested readers can use it as a starting point to ask you more about your book.

  • A trick I picked up from retail: hand things to people. Offer your book and a chance to read the back or flip through its pages. Give them a bookmark or business card as a reminder to stop by and check out the book again. Physical contact with a product stimulates feelings of interest and even ownership, and if they flip through the book, they might decide they like your writing style and buy it right there.

  • Don’t forget to bring change! $1 bills go a long way, especially if your book is a funky price thanks to sales tax.

  • Connected to above: make sure to research tax laws if you go outside of state. Figure out if you need to adjust your prices (some programs like Square can calculate this for you) and if you need to acquire any permits. For BayCon, I had to grab a Temporary Seller’s Permit for California, plus fill out a form specifically for sales in San Mateo, and I grabbed a Federal Employer’s Identification Number for good measure. Acquiring these permits are often free—just remember to report and pay any taxes required afterwards!

  • Seriously, bring snacks. Convention food is either expensive or prone to long lines, and while there are sometimes rooms set aside with food for dealers and other staff, they may have specific hours if volunteer-run. Plus, other vendors often bring their own snacks, so everyone can trade snacks for a spot of variance. I recommend bringing energizing protein snacks, like power bars and peanut butter cracker packs. Water is also essential, especially if you talk a lot with the con-goers visiting your table.

  • Remember that, at least for smaller conventions, they are primarily run by volunteers. This does mean they are sometimes light on staffing, and BayCon is no exception. One of the few downsides I noticed with BayCon was that the communications were a bit spotty between the staff and dealers (such as when getting information on tables and such), though there were already discussions at the convention on how to make this smoother next year. The key to this is patience, punctuated by the occasional friendly check-in or reminder. Or, if you have some extra free time, see if you can lend a hand and volunteer!

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    Ribbons I collected at BayCon

     

  • When it comes to genre conventions (at least along the West Coast), ribbons are a huge thing. These colorful pieces of fabric can be ordered in a variety of colors with any phrase you’d like, with adhesive strips that allow you to stick them together and onto your badge. Many con-goers love to collect ribbons (and may even bring their own to share), and are known to visit tables and events for sake of finding ribbons they don’t already have. Why not find a witty phrase from your book and place it on a ribbon, luring folks to your table for the shiny fabric and a reason to look at your wares?

  • Befriend your fellow vendors, especially those neighboring you. Find out about their products, and cross-sell when you can. Maybe someone visiting your table isn’t as interested in your genre, but might be interested in your neighbor’s book. Go ahead and mention it, cross-sell a bit. Your fellow vendors will appreciate it, and they may return the favor!

  • Speaking of which, it’s a common tactic for multiple authors to share a table, and you can do the same. Not only can it help by splitting the cost of said table, but you can draw more interest—perhaps someone who normally doesn’t read your genre will be drawn into looking at your book because they stopped to look at your fellow author’s books in their preferred genre.

That is all the information I can remember off the top of my head, though feel free to ask further questions in the comments if you’d like.

All in all, I found BayCon to be a wonderful experience, and even if it was not the most lucrative in sales, the connections made more than made up for it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to return next year—and maybe see some of you there too, dear readers!

~Dorian

PS: To those in and around Eugene, OR! Remember to catch me and fellow authors J.S. Fields and Taylor Brooke at our Gender Odyssey panel this Wednesday. Listen to us talk about gender and sexuality in speculative fiction, and then say hi and get your books signed!