GalaxyCon Columbus

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It has really taken me a while to process everything and, frankly, to make sure I wasn’t going to succumb to Con Crud. When you first really think, “Hey, maybe I’ll become a successful published author,” there are things that you imagine as parts of what success looks like. Book tours, jetting across the country, signing books for throngs of adoring readers, big paychecks, etc. Obviously, that’s reality for some of the bigger names in the industry, but for many authors, particularly indie and debut authors, this is just a made-for-TV fantasy. We toil away at our keyboards, wearing as many hats as we can reasonably fit on our heads, and then add three more, just because.

What happened earlier this month, on December 1-3, was not something I would have imagined in any of that fantasizing; however, it was better in just about every way I could explain. I had no idea what I was walking into, who I would meet, or whether or not my COVID-avoidant ass could even handle it. I was determined, above everything else, to give it my best effort, comfortable or not. I walked in hopefully, but completely blindly.

Thursday, we rolled into Columbus and hung out with family for the evening before going to the hotel downtown. I had a hard time sleeping, because I hadn’t heard much from the group, and, you know, unfamiliar hotel bed. Friday morning, I grabbed my box of books and walked the couple of blocks to the Greater Columbus Convention Center and straight into GalaxyCon. Why did I have my books at a fan convention, you may ask? Through my friend and mentor, J.V. Hilliard, I made a connection with Wonder Twins Events, who host a Pop-Up BookShoppe at GalaxyCons across the country. I applied to be an exhibitor and was lucky enough to be accepted.

The first couple hours of setup were a bit of a whirlwind of meeting people, displaying my books and bookmarks, and learning the ropes of what was going to be expected of me. My open source heart loved the egalitarian concept. We weren’t there to sell our books–we were there to sell everybody’s books. I had to learn everyone’s genre and get comfortable with making the pitch for books that, in many cases, I had never even seen before. That probably sounds like a lot of pressure, but here’s the first amazing thing that happened. Everyone at that booth, to a person, was exceptionally welcoming, friendly, and just as excited as I was.

When the doors opened at 2pm, I was really hesitant at first. The big thing was that, up to that point, I had not worn a mask, which I had intended to do throughout. As people started to walk by the booth, I realized that the tables maintained a certain level of distance, and I got more comfortable with the setup. What I wasn’t doing great at was pitching my own book. C.R. Rice, one of the Wonder Twins and author of The Realm series, pulled me aside and helped me work on my elevator pitch. Before the end of day one, I had sold five copies, including the last sale of the day. More importantly, I had sold books for the other authors as well, and was feeling pretty good about things. I took myself out to dinner and tried to rest my tired feet that evening.

Saturday was a marathon; we were on the floor from 10-8. The thing that I noticed most was how people’s faces would light up when I would tell them that all of the books were by independent or small published authors, and that the authors were almost all at the booth. We even had the pleasure of meeting some other authors who were at the con either exhibiting or just visiting. A few folks came back multiple times, as the welcoming vibes seemed to extend to the other side of the table as well, and we became a home base for them. One gentleman named Alex purchased my book and said he was excited to read it, and was planning to start it the same evening. Add the Cocktails and Creatives panel at the end of the night, and it made for a very full day.

Sunday was the last day, and it was to be my shortest, since we had a long drive home ahead, and I hadn’t thought to take Monday off. I left at 12:30pm, but had sold sixteen copies in total, and left six more on the table for the rest of the day (the booth was open until 6pm). I was buzzing from this event most of the way into Kentucky on the drive home. But the best was yet to come.

We got stuck in construction traffic just south of Louisville, KY, and I got a text message. Since we weren’t moving, I took a look, and A.K. Ramirez, the only other mystery author at the booth, said that Alex had returned to the booth. He had finished the book in one sitting, and had hoped to tell me how much he’d enjoyed it. I was blown away, like literally could not find the words to even explain it to my wife. So, Alex, if you ever read this blog, thank you for taking the time to come back to the booth, and I’m sorry I wasn’t still there.

I’ll be honest, I can’t wait to do this again. I’m also going to promote the hell out of the other authors who were at the booth with me, because every single one of them deserves it.