Denvention Day 1
I started the day feeling optimistic. That optimism was upheld. From the moment the dealer’s room opened, we had a steady stream of traffic. I never got to sit still for longer than 15 minutes all day long. It was exhilarating and exhausting. Many people had never heard of us, I gave them a quick pitch and a card with our URL on it. Some people had come straight to us to make sure they got the merchandise they wanted. This was wise because if sales continue as brisk as they were today, then we’re going to start running out of some of the merchandise before the weekend is over. Several friends stopped by to say hello and to chat for awhile. I was glad to see them all, but we were often too busy to chat for very long. Most satisfactory to me personally were the few people who stopped by particularly to see me, either to talk about my book or my blog. It was wonderful evidence that I’m adding something to the world. This is wonderful to offset the thousands of people who looked right past me both on the dealer floor and at parties later. Our sales were very good. This convention appearance is now half paid for. I suspect that the most enthusiastic fans have already stopped by and done their purchasing. Sales for the rest of the con will probably be much slower, but If we can only bring in a quarter of today’s sales for the next four days, we’ll still break even. But breaking even is not the point of this convention. Mostly we’re here to meet people and talk to them. We’ve done some of that already. Howard and I both got a chance to speak briefly with Lois Bujold. Howard also got to shake hands with Larry Niven and Elizabeth Moon. Then we had a marvelous dinner with Phil and Kaja Foglio, and Mark and Alice who help out with the Girl Genius booth. So now I am tired, happy, and my feet are killing me (no heels tomorrow.) Four days to go.