I’m exhausted.
Still.
This past weekend at Kansas City Comic Con was my first time ever being a vendor at a convention. It was an incredible experience. Much like my first time as a panelist only a few months ago, I mostly tried to remember to take a step back and soak it all in.
Despite coming home at last on Sunday evening feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, the entire weekend was an absolute blast.
Coffee at the car! … it’s a long story …
I looked around at that convention hall with everyone setting up on Thursday night and just thought, “Yes. Wow. This is happening.” It’s been my goal for almost four years now to end up in that spot. And then it happened.
If you’ve been following this blog over the past few years, you already know what it took to get there. But prepping for this first con was insane, you guys. It’s mostly the fact that this was our first one, so we had to order/create/organize everything. There was nothing we could just pull out of storage from last year, you know? We really wanted to have a first-class presentation this very first time, too, so it put a lot of pressure on all three of us to get a whole lot of stuff done in a fairly short amount of time. But … we pulled it off! Several high-profile people stopped by our table to introduce themselves and offer some pretty amazing information/opportunities, and I largely credit their interest in us to our overall first impression with the look of our table and set up!
And here’s the thing. I don’t think I ever would have been able to get a table at KCCC this year (at the very least, certainly not one so beautiful!) if I was doing this alone. So many things have been possible so much more quickly because of my partners-in-crime Kristin Helling and Rod Galindo. It’s amazing to be able to work with people who seem to share your brain! Three solid days with each other and everyone emerged alive and in one piece, lol.
On Sunday, as we were dismantling our “monster gallows” like a well-oiled machine, I looked around at us, at the emptying convention hall, at our lighter book boxes, and realized you gotta really get along with someone in order to do something like this with them. To do such a thing with anyone other than real friends would have been hell! 😛 So I suppose you could call KCCC the real test of how well our personalities mesh! I’m happy to say it was a resounding success!
Watch out! Jedi and Sith coming through!
I was proud of us and everything we had accomplished up to that point. And I’m still proud of us. We had decent book sales, but even more amazing were the people we met and the contacts we made. The vendor camaraderie was immediately warm and welcoming. I loved being able to trade our books for art and comics, too. It’s a whole new world being on the other side of that table! A world I could definitely get used to.
And let me tell you, folks, the future looks bright … very, very bright, indeed!
As Captain Jack would say, “Bring me that horizon!”
COMING UP!
For readers: My attempts to sort out my overflowing project list and what will be published next!
For writers: I’ll outline a process that keeps me sane while self-editing my epic novels!
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You three did an amazing job! I look forward to seeing the results of your further exploits! I love that you’ve made more important contacts! Write on!!!
Why thank you!!!! 😀