Greetings, my fellow horror and fiction enthusiasts! I’m sorry I’ve been behind on hanging out with you here but launching a new website and associated online presence has been time-consuming. I am happy to announce that my travel, food, Disney, and cruising site, Brent’s Crossroads, has officially launched. Feel free to find me at the crossroads and join the ride at www.brentscrossroads.com.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach this subject. This year, I set up at four conventions to peddle my wares, and it was a mixed bag. I did very well at some of them but not so well at others. It made me wonder if the con game is worth the time, money, and effort. So, I came up with some hypothetical numbers to illustrate how setting up at a convention breaks down.

First is the table space. Three of the cons I attended had a table cost of $250, and the last was $40. Two were two-day cons, one was a three-day con, and the last was a one-day con. If you sell books for $10, you have to move twenty-five books to break even on only the table. Second is that two of the cons were out of town, so now you have travel, lodging, and food costs to include.

I will give random numbers for the last three costs to prove a point. Two hotel nights may cost $400, gas $100, food $50, and other odd and ends $25. This adds another $575 to the table costs. The price to attend the con is now $825. The books you have to sell to break even are now up to eighty-two if selling at $10 a book. That can be a tall order.

But wait, do you get all $10 out of a book when you sell it?

No, you do not. When you purchase stock, you pay the at-cost price for each book. For instance, a $10 book may cost you $3.25 a copy. When you sell that book, your profit is only $6.75, not the full $10. The $825 break even is now 122 books. Being able to sell that many books during a convention is a dream. I sold a lot of books during the cons, but I still lost a little money on the endeavors.

Do I think the cons are worth the time and money? It depends on what your goal is for the con. Are you there only to make money? Are you there to network with other writers? Are you there to meet and greet with some possible new readers? The answer is really a bit of all three. You can’t expect to feel successful at the convention by only focusing on one agenda item.

So, I didn’t break even, but was it worth the time, money, and effort?

Yes.

The chance to meet new readers should be a goal for any writer. You hope that by new people meeting you and taking a chance on one of your books, you’ll have a new fan who will buy your backlist and pick up anything new you release. I had to change how I thought about the cons and started considering them an investment. Hopefully, a little bit of cash spent now can grow and be fruitful in the future.

When you attend a convention, be sure to stop by and check out somebody new. Don’t bulk at the price. You can invest in a writer and get a sweet autograph, too! Take a chance on that indie author you haven’t heard of, and maybe you’ll find your new favorite writer. I’ll still be doing some conventions, and I hope to see you out there!

Well, I must return to the next book and a short story I’m working on!

Later,

Brent