InConJunction XVIII
InConJunction XVIII was held over the 4th of July weekend at the Marriot in Indianapolis. This year there was a special pre-session writers' workshop with the "Kris and Dean Show" (Kristen Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith). This was an intensive presentation on the ins and outs of the publishing business. The sessions on Thursday concentrated on the mechanics of writing saleable commercial fiction, while the sessions on Friday concentrated on the business side of a writing career, including dealing with agents, sales figures to know, and the basics of living on a writer's budget.
The Friday session overlapped the setup and first few sessions of the convention itself, so I had the enjoyable experience of hurrying to help unload dealers' stuff, then running to the workshop, then running back to help in the dealers' room, as well as getting my art checked into the Art Show.
The con suite was good as always, with a generous supply of snackies and pop. There were a few parties on Friday evening, but they were pretty disappointing, unfortunately. There was a Babylon 5 party and a couple of publicity parties for other conventions.
On Saturday I spent most of my time helping in the dealers' room, although I did get out for two panels by Vincent DiFate on art and the business of art. I also checked on my art, and discovered that one of my pieces had actually sold.
Immediately after the dealers' room closed for the evening, it was time for the art auction. Although I didn't have any pieces on it, I always enjoy seeing what things go for. However this year people weren't spending that much and there were very few bidding wars, none particularly heated. This matched what I saw in the dealers' room.
There was only one party that evening, so after supper I spent the time before bedtime working on a novel.
On Sunday there wasn't that much activity, other than getting my art checked out of the art show and helping in the dealers' room. Then it came time to pack up everything, say final good-byes, and head back home.
Copyright 2012 by Leigh Kimmel
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Last updated October 21, 2012.