Convention Recap: ConNooga 2025
TRANSPARENCYEVENT RECAP
Con Nooga just passed, so let's dish!
General Thoughts
I had been looking forward to Con Nooga quite badly. And overall it was an amazing time. I wish that sales had been a nudge better, but I turned a profit and got to hang out with some truly amazing people!
Besides the usual level of fun of getting to hang out with my friends like Richard Fierce and Keith Robinson, I got to do a panel with Robin Sullivan, met Michael J. Sullivan, and have a good long chat with Robin. They have beeb my publishing heroes for years, so to get to meet them in the flesh? And talk with them? Mother of god it was a special sort of awesome.
Usually at cons there will be a large group of authors go out to dinner at some point. And often I avoid it...not because I don't like people. But because trying to herd 8-12 disperate author cats to one place at one time usually during a busy con is a special sort of hell for me. I hate it. I prefer to keep it smaller, like 4 or 5. Maybe 6. But this time I went and had dinner with five other authors and a couple of artists. And it was a lot of fun!
One of those authors was James Hunter, who I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting before (well, I mean I met him earlier that day...). He's a very successful LitRPG author who I actually have one of his books on my shelf from a past Dragon Con. It was really rad getting to talk with him. It was validating in a lot of ways, that I am doing some things right...but also I would be lying if it wasn't a bit overwhelming. There is so much more I should be doing! But he pointed me to some resources and I have lot's to tackle now!
As if I didn't have enough already haha!
Lastly I will say that Jerry Harwood (also an author) ran a great track. The Writers Track there was very well attended, and that speaks to the quality of the panels he organized (even if he let a scrub like me on them). He is constantly working to improve the track, which is not something you often hear a lot of people talking about.
Small Thoughts
I have a few small thoughts.
When am I going to remember to start packing zip ties? THIS TIME!! I FUCKING REMEMBERED FINALLY, YOU CAN ALL SUCK IT!
I STILL need to order some better bags for my books. I have bags that fit my books, but only just. They don't handle well, so I need to step that up a bit. (Number of events forgotten: 2)
What...?
This section is where I relay the occasional WTF conversational moment(s) we get into at booths sometimes:
To the person who talked to me at length about your rash, I appreciate how open you felt you can be with me. But...oof.
Panels
I did four panels.
Friday
1. How Much Will I Make? A Look At Self Publishing.
Y'all know how much a proponent for transparency I am, so this was essentially my dream panel. Add to the fact I got to be on it with RObin Sullivan, and my soul almost left my body. At 12.5k in earnings last year I was the baby on the panel, but no one treated me like the peasant that I clearly am. And after the fact one attendee tracked me down at my booth and was super appreciative.
Saturday
2. The Magic of Worldbuilding: Magic Systems
This was a fun one. Just a bunch of us fantasy writing nuts on a panel talking about what all you need to consider when it comes to writing magic systems. I got to whip out my very dusty anthropology a bit for this panel, which I always enjoy.
3. I lost My Mojo!: What Do You Do When You Lose The Story
On this panel we mostly talked about writer's block, but we also chatted about what you can do when you feel like you have gotten out of sorts with your WIP.
Sunday
4. To Hot to Handle: Cover Designs
Of all the panels I have ever done, I think this was the one I was the poorest fit for. Because I am somewhat of a contrarian when it comes to my covers, and what I do is not good advice for 99.9% of people. I was able to talk about the actual creation/hiring artist side of things, but when it comes to covers, there are just so many folks who would be a better pick I feel.
Sales
This was my first con with all my new books at it. And my very first sale of the week: my 150 dollar hardback bundle. When that happened I was wondering if I had packed enough books (which I packed all I had, my latest restock book order came in while I was at the con). Alas, that was not a valid worry.
Of quick note: I am now no longer selling books 2-3 separately at the booth. If someone bought book one, and they are coming back for book 2 or 3, the omnibus is going to be the only way they can buy it from me. With my pricing on the omnibus now they don't pay any extra for books 2 and 3 if they already have book 1.
I'll be honest, I struggled at this one. Partly the crowd was hard to pull to the table. Anyone I actually got to stop were all super friendly, and I think I had an above average conversion rate on sales. But I just couldn't get them to the table. And while part of that may have been the crowd, I think part it of may have also just been...me.
I'll be doing a blog post on it in a few days (hopefully) but my stress levels and feelings of being overwhelmed have me in a bit of a funk. And this was a rare large event where I wasn't sharing a booth. I wasn't in authors alley, I was in the vendor hall, and it felt a lot more lonely than I am used to at cons. Which I think fed into my funk. Which in turn translated to me sitting a lot more than standing. And not working as hard to pull folks in. I just couldn't muster up my usual zeal.
I am told attendance was down for the con as a whole, which I know didn't help sales. And my section of the vendor hall got the least amount of traffic of any I saw on my walkabouts (I have theories as to why, but will never know for sure). Add in the fact that there were a tooooon of authors, and well it was a recipe for lower sales than I expected.
One bright spot was being one row over from Amy Brewer-Davenport, one of my dearest artist friends. She is the person who painted the commision of Horace with an ice cream cone. She had prints made of that, and because of that we were sending people back and forth between our booths all weekend. If they bought my books or expressed a love of possums, I sent them her way. And if folks bought the print, she sent them my way. I am guessing a third of my sales were thanks to that. From now on I will be putting up one of those prints in my booth.
Daily Sales Numbers:
Friday: 180.00
Saturday: 355.00
Sunday: 100.00
Total Sales Numbers By Item:
5 Bringing Home The Rain
7 Omnibus 1
1 Omnibus 2
0 Omnibus Bundles
1 Southern Saudade
1 Create Your Way To Freedom
2 Zines
1 Zine Bundle
1 Ultimate Bundle
Total: 635.00
Fixed Expenses:
Badge: 0.00 (included in booth fee)
Booth Fee - 372.27
Parking - 25.00
Hotel - 0.00
Other - 0.00
Total - 397.27
Grand Total Profit - 237.73
