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1. Be prepared to find that your favorite writer is disappointing in person.

2. Some of the people you will meet will become important in the field, one way or another. You will not be able to predict who, so don't try to screen them.

I would never have predicted that Charlie Brown would become editor/publisher of the leading news journal for the sf field. Nor would I have predicted that Andy Porter would become editor/publisher of the second-runner.

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Yup, those are good 'uns. Add to that the author of books you assumed were total crap written to grab a buck is sincere, nice, and thinks their world is unique and they very work hard at it.

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Yes!

And they also have loyal, dedicated fans.

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Lordly, I worked for Charlie and I still wouldn't have figured him for the owner/editor of Locus if I'd just met him running around Con.

Such a lovely man, with a slight troll exterior. I learned so much from listening to him just lecture about the field.

Zhaneel

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If I ever go to one in the future, I'll try to remember those things. ^^' Though some of it seems to be common sense...

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How strange to see the principles I operated on for my first couple of Worldcons written out in bullet points. :)

To me, the first cons are always reconaissance or an anthropological assignment. You have to learn the lingo, grok the culture and intuit the rules of engagement before you can successfully join the stream of people already in the culture.

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You are a whole lot smarter than I was.

But then I had two things against me: one, a writer I won't name went on and on about those bar deals during a conv. back in 1977, giving me a totally erroneous idea of how things worked. I had been to cons during the early seventies, but stopped during grad school as I never had any time off, so I got out of the swing of things until the mid eighties.

Two, I am a comptele and total social dork. So put one and two together and I assumed that I was being shut out and everyone else was off in secret conferences getting the goodies, my expectations crashed my already wild mood swings even further, and yadda yadda. (And of course that meant I was a complete pain in the tuckus to be around. Now I have slowly learned to be just a minor pain in the tuckus to be around. There's hope!)

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I have been to a few cons and I am not a writer, not connected to the publishing world. I went to panels called (something like) what do editors want. Or what was the worst mss, or things along that line. Always fascinating, sometimes funny.

As Sartorius said, take notes. Read them.

And have fun. There is always a lot of fun things to do that don't involve selling yourself or your book.

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Huh. See, I had the opposite advice, which broke down to: "You're a nobody. Why would anyone want to talk to you? You're lucky to even be in the same room as these people. Good nobodies are seen but not heard! And by the way, if you stick your foot in your mouth, you'll be remembered and branded forever!" (Or alternately, "You want to talk to these people even though you're a nobody? Fine. Volunteer to serve drinks or pick up trash at their parties. They like a willing, cheerful servant!").

So equipped with fear and wariness, I went to conventions and did a lot of listening. The advice wasn't perfect (for Heaven's sake, people aren't that mean, usually!), but it had a salutory side effect.

By my second Worldcon I'd hooked into the "chat with anyone who seems cheerful and interesting" line that msagara mentions in her post about cons... because you never know who's going to remember you, or who's going to be where next year, so don't let any of it bother you when you're choosing conversation partners. That year I sat on the bed with about twelve other people in the SFWA suite and chatted about military SF and trends in the industry and the way books eat you for breakfast when you need to do something else and it was wonderful... just wonderful.

I am looking forward to this year. :)

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I would also ad that you should chat with editors or other writers as if they are people you are interested in getting to know rather than tools to further your career.

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Yes! And fellow writers as well. One can learn a lot about what mistakes to avoid and what strategies to try just by chatting with other writers.

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Totally. For example, I submit Ellen Datlow. She's one of the top editors in the game and too often people only talk biz with her and never discover how charming she is. When blackholly and I attended a session of the Garden State Horror Writers (never again, mind you) that she was invited to, she seemed far happier that we were there and mainly chatted with us the whole time; the other horror writers never even approached her.

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O lord, sorry about my asinine comment agreeing with you--and then going right on about networking.

Friends, yes. That's the real worth of a con, the friends!

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No need to apologize - you were right both times :)

(Though I still have yet to attend a WorldCon)

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Good advice all around!

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*deep breath*

Hey Sherwood. Was pointed here by Making Light. Good to "see" you around. I remember your name from Critters and from "Mom & Dad on the Home Front" (one of my favs by you).

You probably don't remember me: Dawn (Castner) Burnell. *shrug*

Anyhow, I've added you to my friends list and wouldn't mind "meeting" you at WorldCon if you've got time. I'm going to be there Thrusday night through Tuesday morning. I'll also be stalking John Scalzi of Whatever (who was so kind as to post his con panel list) and trying for the kaffeklatch with Ellen Datlow. And hanging out with Jay Lake & Frank Wu. So, if you plan on being at any of those, I'd love to see you.

Dawn/Zhaneel

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Welcome! Alas, I cannot afford to travel to Worldcon this year...so I will be looking forward to everyone's con reports!

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Ah well. Another con perhaps.

Zhaneel

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I've occasionally thought about teaching a 'networking for writers' class. (I used to train salespeople.) It's the 'be cool' part that's so hard for people who believe with all their hearts that their entire future success and happiness depends on this one introduction right here.

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Oh lord yes--or who think that that tired "Do send it to me in NY, okay?" constitutes a promise to publish.

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