Convention Recap: CONjuration 2024
TRANSPARENCYEVENT RECAP
General Thoughts
My third year in a row doing CONjuration, and there is a reason I do it every year without fail: it is a staggering amount of fun. If you are in the Duluth/Atlanta area and aren't going, what the hell is up? One thing I love about this con is it doesn't really bring in celebs. It focuses entirely on bringing a ton of panels and activities, a solid vendor hall, lots of authors/creatives, and a family friendly atmosphere. And it nails it.
My bro Ben Meeks and I shared a booth and hotel room as we like to do (Richard lived close enough that he just commuted each day). We also got to go have dinner with Bobby Nash, which anytime I can sit and hear that man tell stories from his career...damn. Good times. We got lucky and Bill Bridges (a hero of mine as yall will know) was able to join us.
One little hiccup was I forgot to pack Horace, my stuffed possum I keep in my booth. I got all set up and then realized he was back at home. I was cussing myself, but then ran into the Franks...who gave me an awesome crochet possum. Then on Sunday a fan friend of mine gave me a large weighted plush possum. The universe heard my need, and filled it with the most lovely of people. I really am blessed.
As always I ended up doing way too many panels (and I loved it), and excitingly this weekend now holds the record as my best selling event that isn't Dragon Con. So let's dive in!
Small Thoughts
I have a few small thoughts.
When am I going to remember to start packing zip ties? Seemingly never.
I need to remember to make a little book promo sign thingy for Create Your Way To Freedom, my new little self help book for creatives. This was the first event I had them for sale at, and I sold a couple. Neat.
On a panel someone recommended using a CRM tool to help keep track of email conversations, and make sure they don't slip through the cracks. I...really need this. Open to recommendations if folks have them, ideally ones that don't cost much/anything.
I was asked for ttrpg recommendations for children with developmental issues, especially around math. So again, hit me with recommendations if you have them.
A fan friend of mine who has in the past made me a small possum (that sits on my shelf of pride in my office) won the cosplay contest for her sewing ability, and that was really rad I thought.
Over time I will likely end up phasing out any rpg zine that isn't specifically a game, and I doubt I will develop any going forward that aren't full fledge self contained games.
I need to do a good tidy of my rolling tote, to clean out and make sure I have everything out of it that I no longer use/am about to stop using for my booth. Free up some room, since in the new year I will have some new books.
This is the con that I would say I am the most popular at. It's a weird feeling, pretty much anytime I walk from place to place I run into someone I know, either a friend from the con circuit, or a fan I have made at this con. Ben actually commented on how popular I was (to be clear, tons of folks there sought him out too, he's very much loved there too), which was wild. To the smallest degree I think I can see a tiny sliver of what it's like to be...famous isn't the right word...well known.
What...?
This section is where I relay the occasional WTF conversational moment(s) we get into at booths sometimes:
This wasn't a What the Fuck moment so much as a...what do I say moment. I was approached by a young black person about my books. They were interested, but they asked me (in a very polite way) if my books would make them uncomfortable as a person of color. Which I like to think the answer is a resounding no. But I couldn't really think of how to succinctly answer that. "Oh don't worry, I have a black friend," isn't the reassurance folks think it is, so I at least had the good sense to not try and drop that particular line. Whatever I said, it reassured them and they picked up a copy.
Panels
Yeaaaaah! I got to do a bunch of panels! Eleven in fact, which is how many I did last year. Which I said I wasn't going to do again...but y'all know me, I can't turn down a panel when folks ask haha. As such, since I didn't download the app (because the Con very wisely gives each of us a panel list to put on the back of our badges so I didn't need to), I can't remember the names of every person I paneled with. So I am just going to list the moderators for the most part.
FRIDAY
1. Writing with Magic: Using Digital Tools
Moderator: Tyra Burton
Yall all should know by now how much I love to panel with Tyra. So I was stoked when I saw that her and some other good digital media friends of mine (Charles McFall and Joe Ard) had signed up to be guests at CONjuration. In this panel we discussed tools we use to help further our brand, from Atticus to Affinity.
2. Our Favorite Cryptids
Moderator: Me!
I got to have both Frank sisters (Author Marlena/Artist Kelly) on a follow up to last years 'Cryptids of the Southeast' panel. Throw in Ben Meeks and Hollis Jo McCollum and it was a recipe for a great time. We talked everything from Hogzilla to Megalodons.
3. Wise N Nerdy: Where Fatherhood Meets Fandom
Moderator: Charles McFall/Joe Ard
This is the third time now I have gotten to be a guest on the Wise N Nerdy podcast at a convention for a live recording, and as always it was a great time. It was the perfect end to a busy day of slinging books and paneling.
SATURDAY
4. Finding the Stories: Bob McGough
Moderator: Charles McFall
When I saw that I was on a panel that was basically just interviewing me, I was so, so nervous. I was convinced that no one was going to show up, which would have been a blow to the ego for sure. When I saw it was the first panel of the day on Saturday, I was even more convinced. But damn if there didn't end up being 7-8 folks show up. A dozen other things they could have been doing, and they chose coming to hear me be asked about how I came to be the creative I am today. Mind-blowing.
5. What Creatives Need To Know About AI
Moderator: Me!
I teach this as a workshop, so I thought this would be a good panel. And we had and actual prompt engineer on the panel, which was a great add!
6. First Sentence: The Most Important Words Of Your Story
Moderator: Berta Platas
Our moderator for this had to miss, so Berta stepped in to herd Ben Meeks and I through our thoughts on first lines. This panel, through crowd questions, actually ended up being a bit about editing overall, as well as prepping for agents.
7. One Sheet RPG Live Play
Moderator: Me!
For the second year in a row I got to run The Witch is Dead as a late night live play! And it was just as silly as last year! We even had one of the same players from the crowd from last year. When I saw her in the crowd, I instantly called her up to come play again, because of how awesome she'd been last year. As an added bonus, Ben Meeks didn't kill any random crowd members this time lol.
8. Sorting SEC Football Teams!
Moderator: Me!
CONjuration has an entire track where panelists and the crowd come together to sort various characters from shows and fandoms into Hogwarts Houses. Being the madman I am, I suggested sorting SEC Football teams, and they actually allowed it haha! Spoiler: Tennessee is Slytherin. But, in a tragic turn of events, I was voted down and my beloved Alabama was also voted into that house. Never has a room been so full of incorrect people :p
SUNDAY
9. Organic Marketing for Authors/Creatives
Moderator: Me!
Another workshop I teach that folks enjoy, so I turned it into a panel. We had a great crowd and panel, and I think we had a lot of value on offer.
10. Writing for the Reader with Aphantasia
Moderator: Sally Davis
This panel was the brainchild of a father and daughter I met last year at CONjuration. Sally has Aphantasia (which means she can't mentally visualize things that she reads/hears). There is more to it than that obviously, I invite you to go look it up. Anywho, I have a fairly mild case of it, and we got to talk about it with a really great crowd that had some amazing insights. And Sally made a powerpoint that really just knocked it out of the park.
11. Conjuring Collaboration: When is Teaming Up Magical
Moderator: Tyra Burton
Ben, Charles, Joe, Tyra, and me all on a panel. The dream team, the perfect collaboration really, talking about the risks and rewards of collaborating. It was a panel full of real life anecdotes, and I loved it. The perfect end to my paneling at CONjuration 2024.
Sales
As I said at the start, this is my best selling event to date that isn't an event that rhymes with Smagon Con. Over 900 bucks in three days? Yes please. As a point of reference last year I did 754, and the first year I did 470. So yeah, steady positive growth. So what helped/hurt this year?
I was in the vendor hall instead of authors alley. I really enjoy being in authors alley, and it is usually cheaper (here it's actually free if you do enough panels). But folks who come into the vendor hall do so to spend money. It's a different mindset.
I had a ton of repeat customers. Folks who had bought and loved my books last year returned. My Friday sales were basically all customers like that. But I also had folks who saw me at Dragon Con who saw my name in the program here and sought me out. That was legitimately mind blowing to me.
My zines sold well. I am getting a handle on how to move them I think.
Conversely, I think I can pretty well say the dice experiment has not really worked out. It might would work better if I sold dice sets, like a dnd style playset. But that doesn't fit my brand, so I won't be trying that. My plan going forward I think is to just drop the dice altogether. But I won't be going back to stickers. Zine's will be my 'cheap something' on the table, which even though they aren't all that cheap (10 bucks), seem to be achieving what I wanted the 'cheap something' to achieve.
Southern Saudade didn't move this con, but I didn't have it out prominently, so that tracks. Same for no ultimate bundle. I need to make a good sign advertising it, and then I think I will start back having the occasional sale of them.
I did have spare copies of books 2-3 as I planned to start doing, which worked out nicely. I brought three extra of each.
The art cards have been a bit of a bust. So the ultimate bundle will drop those, and I will now throw in Create Your Way To Freedom in its place. So I won't be packing them in the future.
Daily Sales Numbers:
Friday: 279.00
Saturday: 390.00
Sunday: 241.00
Total Sales Numbers By Item:
7 Bringing Home The Rain
2 Books 2 or 3
12 Omnibus 1
4 Omnibus 2
0 Omnibus Bundles
1 Southern Saudade
2 Create Your Way To Freedom
0 Dice
0 Dice Bundles
5 Zines
4 Zine Bundle
0 Ultimate Bundle
Total: 910.00
Fixed Expenses:
Badge: 0.00 (included in booth fee)
Booth Fee - 150.00
Hotel - 151.00
Total - 301.00
Grand Total Profit - 609.00
