Who I’ll be Hanging Out With at GenCon: Indy

This year at GenCon: Indianapolis 2008 I’ll be supporting publisher Abstract Nova Entertainment at Booth #2115. I’ve worked on several of the products we’ll be offering at the booth including Nuomenon, Exquisite Replicas, Aletheia and a novella featured in the Tales of the Seven Dogs Society.

As project manager for Flames Rising, I’ll be attending the Diana Jones Awards, the ENnie Awards, and hanging out with a lot of my friends including author and editor James Lowder. Here are some of the folk who will be there:

Game designer and novelist Ari Marmell who has done work for Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf will be there. The lovely freelancer and novelistJess Hartley will be speaking (potentially) on two panels and will be at the ENnie awards to see whether or not Changeling: the Dreaming has won any awards. Changeling, nominated for several awards, is a storytelling game of beautiful madness. Full-time artist, author and game designer Aaron Acevedo will be splitting his time between the Talisman Studios booth and the art show. Flames Rising is proud to feature Aaron’s work as part of a silent auction to fund the ENnie awards.

In addition to finding Matt Machell hanging around the Play Collective or Chad Underkoffler at the IPR booth, Industry Insider Guest of Honor Matt Forbeck will be signing autographs, presenting on panels, and having fun. I hope to meet Michael A. Stackpole this year and run into Jean Rabe once again.

GenCon typically has about 45,000 people in attendance; this year there will be events commemorating Gary Gygax, the release of 4E for Wizards of the Coast, and much more! If you’re going, please stop by the booth and say “Hello” or set up a time where we can chat. This is a whirlwind event that goes by very quickly and takes a lot of time and energy. If you’ve never had the chance to go, it’s definitely the experience of a lifetime.

This year I will not be speaking on panels due to time and scheduling constraints. I’m already working on next year’s presentation, but I hope to see you this year!

July 28, 2008
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Back from Wizard World Chicago 2008

Donald L Stephens Rosemont Convention Center in IllinoisSaturday I took the trip down to the beautiful Rosemont convention center in Des Plaines, Illinois for the Flames Rising webzine I’m project manager for. I had the opportunity to talk with artists, publishers, vendors and many, different folk excited about the comic book industry. This was my first comic book convention, and I have to say that I was very impressed with how nice everyone was.

I did a full write-up of the con through this article on Flames Rising, “Impressions of Wizard World 2008.” Additionally, I asked a few of the artists I had met to write some guest blog posts on topics related to our universe: first convention appearance, copyright and image rights, etc. If you have something you’d like to know about hiring artists or working with them, feel free to contact me with your questions and I’ll feature them on my blog. The artists I met were very enthusiastic and dedicated to the concept of working within a community; I’m sure that one of them would be happy to answer anything you might want to know.
Sandperson Costume from Wizard World Chicago 2008

My next big convention will be at GenCon Indianapolis where I will be working the Abstract Nova booth. Fortunately, this company is really great to work with and understands that my day job comes first. In my reflections of a gaming industry freelancer, I had talked about some of the positive and negative experiences I’ve had in the industry. My first writing credit in the gaming industry was through this company, and I’m happy to support its efforts to grow.

This week is going to be a bit on the light side for posting: I just had two, really great pieces of news come through the pipe and my deadline for the last novella is looming. With a shorter workweek due to the July 4th holiday, things are extremely busy in my world.

The two that I have in the hopper do continue the discussion about getting published and where to look: thank you to everyone who provided quotes for my upcoming posts. I will get to those posts as soon as I can.

Happy scribing and please, don’t forget to write!

June 29, 2008
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Search Engine Strategies: I’m in New York!

Thanks for staying tuned to my blog, I’m going to have a brief interruption this week primarily because I’ve been attending a work-related conference through Search Engine Strategies: New York. I’m listening to speakers and sitting in on some interesting sessions where buzzwords are floating around and everyone is in a tither over a little something called “universal search.”

So please, bear with me as I return home to my family in Madison, a daunting “to-do” list, and a rather larger “in” box that is
waiting patiently for me at my cool day job. 🙂

Happy scribing!

March 18, 2008
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Writing Conference at UW-Milwaukee March 7 to 9 2008

Billed as the conference where “you CAN succeed as a writer, the Sixth Annual Spring Writer’s Festival at UW-Milwaukee offers a variety of seminars for novices to the craft. I have a vested interest in this conference because my Netconcepts work colleague, Jeff Muendel who writes for a variety of publications including CNet Searchlight and Practical eCommerce, will be presenting. His seminar is one of interest to many authors, it is titled, “A Writer’s Website” and takes place on Sunday, March 9th at 9:30 a.m. Jeff works as an analyst and has a lot of expertise to share — he’s also a fiction author in his own right — so if you’re planning on paying the $269 to go, be sure to stop by and listen to his “must-see” presentation.

Jeff Muendel’s presentation is perfect for any writer, novice or pro. Here’s the synopsis of Jeff’s presentation:

Read More…

February 28, 2008
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Highlights from Previous Seminars: Freelance Writing 101

Digging through the archive of handouts and seminar presentations, I thought I’d post the notes from one of the roundtables I participated in.

What is a freelance writer?

  • An independent contractor “for hire”
  • A savvy business owner
  • Has great “time-management” skills
  • Knows what they are worth
  • Has realistic expectations and goals
  • A qualified individual performing a service
  • An “expert” in their field

How do I promote myself?

    Online

  • Establish your identity
  • Follow-up emails and thank yous
  • Be professional
  • Avoid “flame wars”
  • Distinguish yourself from fans
  • Network through social media
  • Use proper “grammar” (avoid L33t or LOL-speak)
  • Referrals

    Offline

  • Non-Gaming Seminars
  • Business groups
  • Community organizations
  • Conventions
  • “Best” Time to talk to publishers
  • Dos and Donts of what to say
  • Portfolio/Resume or not to Portfolio

How do I find work?

  • Develop your Own criteria
  • What will you accept as payment?
  • What do you want to write?
  • Who do you want to work for?
  • Be realistic based on experience
January 29, 2008
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