They took my first three paragraphs, yanked out one sentence, told me that was the hook, squeezed a couple more paragraphs together, yanked that down past the hook, and effectively said “There’s your intro.” It all felt incredibly useful. I may bring bagels next time as a thank-you.
Moe Lane
PS: My schedule’s been wacky today, but that’s OK. Things are going along as per the schedule. Also: right now I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth it to get a bare-bones book vendor table at the conventions that I go to. Might be, might not be. It all depends on how long I can man that table and whether I’ll make my money back if I do.
It’s not entirely about the ROI for that one convention. There’s a knock on effect that’s hard to quantify, but it requires repetition of effort to really get some traction. You’ll need to hit at least three cons that are attended by the same people before they’ll decide you’re serious, and start taking you seriously in turn. At least, that’s been my experience selling software. YMMV.
BUT – you’re absolutely correct that it’s critical to man the table at all times that the show is open. Get the wife, get the kids, get a patron, but never leave the table without a smiling face that genuinely gives a shit about your work. And fwiw, I think you might be surprised at the response to a bat signal along those lines.
Those are good points.