I just wrote up some thoughts on a way to figure out precisely which cons you should attend and have a good time regardless of their reputation or type. It got too long so I made a post out of it on my site. Hope it helps.

It isn’t a complete list, but it’s definitely a place where you can start asking the right questions.

I’ve been wondering about this for a while. I’d always heard that cons can be good to attend for aspiring writers, but never could figure out what I should be looking for.

Looks like World Fantasy Con is really close by for me. Awesome!

http://mbarker.livejournal.com/119961.html

And to follow up on what AJWM said (and I’m pretty sure that the guys will cover this in more detail next week), when you meet an editor at a con it’s not about pitching your book to them. It’s about you showing them you’re… normal, or at least, not crazy, which goes a LONG way in this business. That you’re a professional. I will spare you the stories from the slush pile, but if you ever want a bit of entertainment and education on what not to do, go to Twitter and search for the terms #pubtip, slush (without the #) and slush realization, and of course the infamous #queryfail. Professional behavior though will give the editor the feeling that they could work with you–or might lead to other connections that might lead you to meeting the *right* editor for the book you’ll be finishing next year.

Why am I still up? I’m going to let it rest, and I’m sure the guys will have more details on this kind of thing next week or the next, whenever they get to what should you do at these cons.

Also–a list (in progress) of conferences specifically focused on writing for children and young adults on my blog here: http://www.stacylwhitman.com/2009/07/28/writing-excuses-conferences-and-conventions-for-childrensya. Oh–looks like it was already in the comments as a pingback. Oh well.

Howard continues to utter this word periodically. And it is reminiscent of the recollections of Four Yorkshiremen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

Just in case there was anybody that had not gotten the reference.

Coming up in September is a repeat of the same weekend workshop I attended in June. It’s a two-day crash-course look at the entire life of freelance fiction writing, top to bottom and back again.

http://deanwesleysmith.com/index.php/2009/07/26/fiction-career-workshop/

Wish I’d done something like it ten years ago. Terrific!

Of the three cons I attended so far in 2009 I think I liked Balticon best. Some really great panels and interesting speakers. Met some fabulous authors I adore, although sadly no editor friends were made.

Do others here have a few positive reviews of cons to share? I’m definitely in the con market.

And then we find out later in the episode that a particular scar on Ben’s collarbone just happens to be from being hit with a dead otter.

I’m going to listen to the podcast first, but I have a feeling from the writeup that you guys didn’t touch on conferences for children’s books (I hope I’m wrong!), and I will come back and give you guys a list of a few good conferences to look out for if you’re interested in writing for children and young adults.

If you can get that novel (or short fiction piece) in shape to send out within a reasonable time (month? two?) of meeting that editor, it certainly doesn’t hurt to remind them of that in your cover letter. (Well, assuming you didn’t do anything to horribly embarrass yourself, that is.) It may not help — your work still has to stand on its own — but at the margin it might make the difference between a form rejection and a personal one.

(Of course, there are always exceptions, your mileage may vary, yadda, yadda, yadda.)

- Alastair

And they lived happily ever after.

Seriously, though, I never thought about a convention before. I’ve been to a conference, but never a convention. It would be difficult for me to attend any of them, though, not so much because of money but because of time. Maybe I should try one, but which one? I eagerly await the next podcast.

i’ve never been to a convention, but i’ve been to a conference. they’ve got one up here (near where i live) every October. the SIWC, or the Surrey International Writers Conference (http://www.siwc.com), occurs over one weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), and it’s full of little panels or workshops, meetings with agents and editors, and lunches and dinners where you can talk freely to authors and agents. it’s about the cost of one of my English lit classes, so it feels like a weekend-long class.

sure, it’s in Canada, but i do recommend it if you live on or near the Pacific coast.

i didn’t go last year because the workshops didn’t sound interesting, but this year looks like fun.

Cat, of course.

Our doughty protagonist takes out a mewling kitten and swings it by the tail. Immediately a swarm of editors descend upon him, shrieking their demands that he let the helpless creature go; our protagonist lets go the kitten’s tail, and the hapless beast goes flying out over the crowd.

Unfortunately for our protagonist, he finds that he is unable to get the attention of an editor after this (he tries the cat-swinging trick once more, and this time invites the wrath of PETA down upon him); his reputation as a cat-swinger ensures that his books will never see the light of day.

The kitten, on the other hand, lands on top of a nine-year-old girl whose love for it is instant and complete; she takes it home and the kitten lives happily ever after. Well, until it dies.