By Carrie Vaughn
One of my favorite things to do as a science fiction and fantasy author is go to conventions.
Most aspiring SF&F writers, me included, are told that conventions are good places to network. Whatever “networking” means. I think for the people giving this advice, it means learning about the publishing industry, what’s happening in the community, what the trends are, what people are talking about, and so on. You’re supposed to meet people: other writers, editors, agents, readers, reviewers. This is supposed to, potentially, get you new opportunities.
As a terrible introvert, making myself talk to people I don’t know is really difficult. I’d end up going to a publisher party at Worldcon and spend the whole time in a corner commiserating with the other introverted aspiring writers. Some of these folks ended up becoming some of my best friends.
It turns out that’s what networking looks like, at least for me. Because those writers I hung out with at those conventions twenty years ago, when we were all uncertain and overwhelmed? They’re now editors at major publications, bestselling and award winning authors, producers of TV shows, and on and on. These days we’re still uncertain and overwhelmed, but at least we have friends around us who know what it’s like. Conventions are where we all get together.
Case study: I met Daniel Abraham at MileHi Con in Denver (https://milehicon.org/) in 1998. A couple years later, his first Wild Cards story appeared in Deuces Down (make sure you check out the reissue of Deuces Down that came out in 2021, with new connecting material by me! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250227201/deucesdown), and I asked him how that came about—so much easier asking a friend something like this, than a total stranger! He suggested I come to Bubonicon, Albuquerque’s science fiction convention, (https://www.bubonicon.com/) to meet George, Melinda, and the whole NM Wild Cards gang. So I did. That was 2003, I think. I asked if they were looking for new Wild Cards writers. They said yes—turns out, the consortium was gearing up for a whole-new series, starting with Inside Straight. Would I like to pitch characters for it? Yes, I would.
As they say, the rest is history. Turns out, networking works. But for me, it’s always been about making friends first.
I don’t get back to Bubonicon every year, but I was there this past August, as the convention’s co-Guest of Honor, which was a massive amount of fun.
And I got to catch up with these folks: Gail Gerstner Miller, George R.R. Martin, and Melinda S. Snodgrass. It’s been twenty years, guys!
