by Mary Jo
This blog started out as something of a public service announcement, when an organizer of Celebrate Romance asked if we’d be willing to mention their upcoming conference. Since CR is unique in being a conference organized by and for romance readers, and at least four Wenches have attended them, It seemed worth doing. Then I started thinking about conferences in general. More on that below, but first:
“Cebrate Romance is 10 years young this year. We are looking for readers who love their romance novels and want to meet others who share the same passion. The conference will be held in Kansas City, MO this year on March 2-4. We will be meeting at the Sheraton Suites hotel on Country Club Plaza. We have a lot of entertaining activities planned. There is an optional activity on Saturday night that will give you a chance to enjoy some of the best barbecue that Kansas City has to offer. The advanced booktrade offers 
everyone the opportunity to obtain books that they'd had a hard time finding in their home city. Visit our website at http://www.crspring.com/ for more information The website contains the schedule and contact information. “
As I understand it, CR began when avid romance readers from internet groups decided to get together so they could meet in person, talk about books, and generally have a fine time. The fact that they’ve been doing it for ten years proves it’s a success. <G> CR quickly became a destination for authors as word got around that it was a chance to introduce your books to serious readers who would go online and tell THE WORLD if they like your stories. Plus, writers are treated like royalty. What’s not to like? <g> A good time is had by all. Take a look at their site if you think you might be interested, particularly if you’re within driving range of Kansas City. (Incidentally, I’ve been to a couple of conferences in 
KC, and it’s a great town to visit.)
As I said above, CR may be the only reader generated romance conference, but there are plenty of other genre cons out there, and they all have their own nature.
RWA conferences, both regional and national, are attended mostly by writers, both published and aspiring. There is an emphasis on professionalism, and well organized sessions are about aspects of writing and publishing. Generally appointments are available with editors and agents. For the editors and agents, there’s the hope of finding a great new writer, and for the aspiring writers, it’s a chance to meet publishing professionals. And even for multi-publisher authors, there is immense clothing anxiety before the national conference! Since writers 
don’t get out much, many of us worry about what to wear. <g>
A nice feature of RWA national is the literacy signing. Literally HUNDREDS of authors participate, signing books donated by their publishers. Tons of money are raised for literacy, and really, you will never see as many authors and piles of books in one place!
Breaking into publishing is never easy, but good things can happen at RWA conferences. A friend of mine had an interview with her dream Regency editor, who said to send in her manuscript. My friend had a copy of the ms. with her, so she marched down to the hotel mailing room and sent it off to NYC. The editor bought the book, and my friend went on to publish something like 45 Signet 
Regencies before she retired.
Romantic Times conventions have a lot of business-oriented workshops, but at heart, they’re a great big party. <G> All aspects of the business come together—readers, writers, booksellers, aspiring cover models, etc. There are sessions about writing, but also a cover model pageant, a costume ball, maybe a vampire ball. (Some amazing costume makers come.) I remember the year—Ft. Worth, I think—where a couple got married at the convention, and several gorgeous hunk male models pulled their carriage out of the ballroom. <G> RT is unique, and great fun, 
especially for extroverts. http://tinyurl.com/y8utm6
General writer conferences are different since they usually deal with all kinds of writing: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, playwriting, etc. The Pike’s Peak conference (where I’m speaking in April) is one such: http://www.ppwc.net/ppwc07.html#schedule Lots of variety and lots to be learned. It’s also a reminder that romantic fiction is only one small part of the publishing business.
Sff conventions, called cons, have a flavor all their own. Dress is casual in the extreme—in some cases, downright disreputable <g>—but there are also people in fabulous costumes: elves and characters from Star Trek or Lord of the Rings, or 
Xena, Warrior Princess. There are multiple tracks—not just writing, but movies, “filking” (which is sff folk music), media, gaming, etc. Sometimes whole families attend, with kids shooting off to the game room or the manga sessions.
There will usually be a fabulous book room, with sff and related books both old and new, and a dealers’ room with costumes, jewelry, weapons, and other fun stuff. A friend who was raised in the “fandom”—that is, the fan community—assures me that it isn’t actually necessary to read sff to be part of the community. <g> It’s a very tolerant community, and lots of fun.
A new wrinkle in just the last year or two are cons held by authors for their fans. Sherrilyn Kenyon fans sold out October’s K-Con in New Orleans in hours and could have had as many as 100 readers if there was room. (http://www.dailyinquisitor.com/sherrilyn/ ) Suzanne Brockmann had a fan gathering in Atlanta this past summer, timed to tie in with the RWA national conference a few days later. The success of these ventures suggest that there will be more in the future.
One thing I’ve no experience in is mystery conferences, so I asked some mystery writer friends, all of whom have attended genres other than mystery. They are Denise Dietz ( http://www.denisedietz.com), Lillian Stewart Carl (http://lillianstewartcarl.com/) and Annette Mahon (http://annettemahon.com/) and they have lots of years of writing and conference experience.
They say that mystery cons like Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime and Malice 
Domestic are FAN conferences. Since Malice focuses on traditional and cozy mysteries, it tend to have more females. (The Agatha awards presented there for best books are teapots. <G>) Authors attend, of course, but very few wannabees. Mystery conferences usually cost only half as much as romance, because romance gatherings usually include more meals. (Sff cons are even cheaper.)
Mystery cons are, for the most part, *very* laid-back. No dress code (lots of jeans and tees). There is much more "dress up," sequins and makeup at rom cons. Sff is even more laid-back, except for the fabulous costumes.
Mystery cons have an all-night poker game <vbg>. Bouchercon has an annual basketball game.
Annette adds, “Also, mystery cons have auctions, which are a big part of most mystery cons and I've never seen at romance ones. The conference people pick a charity and then the authors donate things, usually having to do with their books. Characters in a future novel are popular. as you know, Deni has offered pet names and I've put up a quilt that can be autographed by favorite authors.”
There are cliques and politics all over. (This is true of all groups, of course!)
So there’s a swift survey of writing conferences, and they are held just about everywhere, should you have the desire to attend. What’s my personal favorite conference? Novelists, Inc. Ninc is a group of authors of popular fiction—one has to have two published novels to qualify for membership. Conferences tend to be small, laidback, and very much we’re-all-writers-together in atmosphere. We share war stories (and even top bestsellers have plenty of them!) and listen to 
experts in interesting things like penjak and criminal techniques, and generally have a good time. It’s the only conference where I don’t go home exhausted!
Note how often I use the word 'fun' in describing these events. It's great to get together with people who share your enthusiasms, and the world is full of groups who demonstrate that.
So what about you folks? Many of you are writers, and all are readers? Have you been to writing conferences? Would you like to? Share!
Mary Jo