Denvention Day 2

Someday I may write a post about how much I dislike wearing badges with my name plastered on them, particularly large badges. I don’t like labels even if the label is only my name. But since the badge gains me entrance to the convention, it is tolerated and even viewed affectionately. Our sales today were even better than yesterday. We’ve no broken even on this convention appearance and we’re looking at all future Worldcons and making calculations. People came by our booth in waves. Sometimes we were so busy that we couldn’t pay proper attention to everyone who was there. Other times we sat with no one there at all. The lulls never lasted for more than 15 minutes though. There was always someone stopping by. I’ve got the pitch down really well now. If someone looks interested, I give them three short sentences and hand them a business card. Most of the time they smile and pocket the card. Sometimes they’d stay and talk for awhile. A few people refused the card. It was all good. I think the most surprising thing was that there were people who had never heard of Schlock Mercenary before, but they bought all the books anyway because it looked interesting.

I talked to so many interesting people today, but it has all become a blur. Several times I realized that I was giving the pitch to someone that I’d already pitched to yesterday, and they’d come back because the pitch worked. Then I’d feel bad because I want to be able to remember everyone. These are all very interesting people, but I’m shoving so much information into my brain all at once that I’m having trouble retaining all of it. I keep getting turned around in the hotel and on the streets. I’ll start walking, sure I’m headed the right way, only to be called back by Howard because I’ve gone in some odd direction. Sometimes I re-orient myself without help, but I always have to stop and sort it out. I’ve always thought my sense of direction was pretty good, but it may just be that I rarely go into completely unfamiliar territory. Howard’s books are not the only ones selling. We’ve sold a dozen copies of Hold Horses. And I’ve had several people say they’re going to come back and buy it later when they’re ready to carry things. I’d take that as a brush off, except that many of them have actually come back and purchased.

We couldn’t have better booth neighbors. On one side we have people selling chocolate honey. This is wonderful because they are offering free samples of yummy food right next to us. Their traffic helps us. We send traffic their way too, because their product truly is wonderful. On the other side we have an empty table. The folks who were supposed to have the space, never showed up. The kind dealer room folks let us have the table for a significantly reduced fee. This means we have twice the table space we were anticipating, which is wonderful. There is space to set out fliers and Howard’s portfolio.

We were at loose ends for dinner until just before the dealer’s room closed. Then we had an influx of friends stop by and we shanghaied them for dinner. I finally got to meet Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson games. He and Howard have been friends for years, but I’ve never had the chance to meet him. With him was his girlfriend Monica Stephens, who I was also delighted to meet. We got to introduce them to our friend Julie Frost and the five of us went in search of food. We found very yummy food indeed.

Now it is late. Tomorrow will be long and filled with fun things. Codex breakfast, followed by working the dealer room, followed by evening parties and visiting. Three more days to go.