Jonathon Mast: Author

More Types than One

So I worked at a comic shop for a number of years during college. I saw thousands of different people with thousands of different interests. One of the more curious types of people I saw, though, were those who would only read one type of comic.

We had one guy that would read anything that had Spider-Man in it. Anything. And absolutely nothing else. I never really got that. I mean, you like Spider-Man? Cool. So do I! But there are so many different kinds of stories out there. Why grab just that one kind?

And that’s been my way of reading. I rarely read the same genre two books in a row. I’ll almost always stay in speculative fiction, but I bounce around a lot. Hard science fiction. Cozy fantasy. Hard-boiled detective. Some classic science fiction. Maybe a western. You get the idea.

Con Kernels

All right. It’s been a week since con. I’ve had the chance to unwind a little bit and recover. Time for a debrief! What did we learn? What do we need to learn yet? Here’s some hard-won wisdom!

Practice load-in and load-out, or at least have a good idea of how it’s going to work. Load-in at the con was through a loading dock. Only so many vehicles could get in at a time. We had a good cart that we brought. Nearly everything we brought fit on that cart in one trip, meaning we were in and out of the loading dock so fast! We had planned ahead. My wife made sure everything fit on that cart, and it helped us get set up quickly.

CON WEEKEND!

For the first time in history, Dawnsbrook Press appeared at a con! We were at Cincinnati Comic Expo, and yes, we had a blast!

As we talked with other vendors and friends, the question has come up repeatedly… “How did you do?”

Um… ask us in a week?

We need to run a lot of numbers yet compared with costs. I can say that we didn’t do awesome. It also wasn’t a disaster. So… yay? Next week I plan to write up a full debrief of how we did and what that means for the future.

I’m not nervous. YOU’RE nervous.

I’m not hyperventilating.

Yet.

One week from today, I’ll be tabling at a fairly major con, selling my own books. We’ll have Madelyn of the Sky available. Come visit us at Cincy Comic Expo!

And the questions are swirling:

Did we order too many books?

What if we sell out?

Is anyone going to pay attention to us?

If too many people pay attention to us, will I get the chance to check out other tables?

Have we worked the pitch enough?

Are we going to look ridiculous?

Are the covers good enough?

And I have to remind myself: My wife and I figured out the expenses. No, it wouldn’t be good if we didn’t sell any books, but it’ll be okay. And, likely, we’ll sell books. I’ve worked this same con before for a friend. I’ve learned how to sell. I’ve seen that so many people show up eager to support artists, and a fair amount of those who show up specifically want books! I’ve seen that our target audience seems to enjoy this con.

So yeah. It’ll be fine.

But what if—

And shut up shut up shut up little voice in my head. Even if you’re right, you’re not helpful.

The best thing to do is run the pitch again. Practice it.

We’ve got all the materials we need. The books are here. Our banners are ready to go. The card reader is activated. The covers are on point.

We’ve got this.

Yep. It’s all good. I can’t wait.

And honestly, I can’t wait. I love this con, I love the people, and it’s going to be so much fun. These are things I know.

Now I just need to convince that little voice that it’ll be fun!

Seasoning Your Writing

Books need to taste different from one another.

Now, I’m not talking literally. Please take your ereader out of your mouth. It’s not sanitary. If, like me, you love used books, please also prevent yourself from ingesting the pages. You don’t know where they’ve been.

What I mean is that books need to feel different as you read them. If each book has the exact same style of prose, they’re going to blend into each other. If you’ve read a fair amount, you know this for a fact.