World Fantasy Convention

The 2009 World Fantasy Convention recently concluded in San Jose, California, and we were there. Well, Shaun and Sam weren’t, but a dedicated team from the AISFP family did attend, and here you will find a wealth of information from the convention:

Jonathan Scheiffer, author and podcaster, attended World Fantasy with digital recorder in hand. He recorded six outstanding interviews there, so click on the name below to listen.

Eddie Schneider, literary agent with Jabberwocky Literary Agency
Tim Akers, author of Heart of Veridon
Jill Roberts, Editing Manager of Tachyon Publications
Joshua Bilmes, Founder of Jabberwocky Literary Agence
Peter V. Brett, author of Desert Spear
Jon Sprunk, author of Shadow’s Son

Sandra Wickham attended the convention all the way from her home in Canada. Below is a recount of her experience as a newly published author. If you want to become a professional in the science fiction and fantasy publishing industry, this is a convention you must attend, and Sandra explains why.

My second year attending the World Fantasy Convention proved a completely different experience for me.

This time I went with the confidence of having my first short story coming out, which made all the difference. This confidence led me to discover the phenomena of the Con party and the joy of beginning to gather a tribe of fellow writers.

Last year, I found out about the World Fantasy Convention by listening to AISFP. At the time I went to convention in Calgary, I was struggling to write a sword and sorcery style fantasy novel. As a newbie to this convention, I had no idea that when you meet someone there, the first few questions out of their mouth are, “Are you a writer?”, “What do you write?” and “What are you working on?” I was caught completely off guard the first few times and mumbled my way through a barely coherent explanation of my work in progress. As the convention went on, I avoided the questions as much as possible since I didn’t have a good answer and was embarrassed about it.

This year, I was excited to tell people about my short story coming out in the Evolve anthology. The high “cool factor” of this anthology helped boost my confidence in talking about it. It’s edited by Nancy Kilpatrick, Edge Publishing is doing limited sign editions (every other signed the same sheet in the book) and Tanya Huff and Kelly Armstrong grace the table of contents. It was a great conversation piece, not that I needed it. Writers are a fabulous bunch of people and as soon as they hear you have something published, they congratulate you, they are genuinely curious about it and they want to hear what else you are working on. I even did a reading of my story at the Edge Publishing party and had many of the new people I’d met come to hear it. As I introduced myself I shared with everyone how the year before was my first time attending, and to be standing in front of them reading my story one year later was incredible. Since the year before, I finished a new urban fantasy novel I’m really excited about. This time when I was asked, “What are you working on?” I was prepared and confidently divulged my elevator pitch.

Last year, I looked in awe at the writers who were there with the intention of meeting agents and publishers, and going to the parties to mingle with them. I kept to myself, meeting a few people here and there, but I definitely didn’t take full advantage of the social aspects of the convention.

This year, I put myself out there, met tons of great people, and discovered there is a whole other world at the convention after the sun goes down. It was exhilarating to talk to so many other people from various aspects of the industry. I’ve heard people talk about “their tribe” and now I understand. I met a great bunch of writers, just like me, just starting out in their careers. They’re full of enthusiasm, and are supportive and amazing people. If I hadn’t been confident enough to meet them, I would have missed out on some great friendships.

I highly recommend to anyone interested in a career writing fantasy, science fiction or horror to attend this convention. If you do attend, go to panels, the book signing, browse the art show and dealer’s room, but most importantly be sure that you venture out of your room at every opportunity. Find out where the parties are, and go prepared to answer those questions: “Do you write?”, “What do you write?”, and “What are you working on?” Be confident and outgoing, even if you have to fake it. As someone said to me, you know you, and you know you’re worth meeting, right? The future members of your tribe are out there, waiting to welcome you in.

Want more WFC coverage? Here’s what more of the pros had to say:

John Picacio:

Back home from the Great White North, where this year’s World Fantasy Convention unfolded in Calgary. I’m bushed. A few hours of sleep, and then it’s back to work. Some photo highlights. . . READ MORE

Blake Charlton:

My second WFC. The first was Austin 2006, right after I signed with Tor. This year WFC felt different–not only in the physical details of city, hotel, programming, but also in the spirit of the convention. . . READ MORE

Scott Edelman:

I did something a little bit obsessive this evening. OK, a lot obsessive. . . .READ MORE

You:

Well, do you have a World Fantasy Experience. We want to hear it!

The World Fantasy Awards:

• Lifetime Achievement: Ellen Asher & Jane Yolen
• Best Novel (tie): The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow) & Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin; Knopf)
• Best Novella: “If Angels Fight”, Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
• Best Short Story: “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss”, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
• Best Anthology: Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, Ekaterina Sedia, ed. (Senses Five Press)
• Best Collection: The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial)
• Best Artist: Shaun Tan
• Special Award – Professional: Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (for Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House)
• Special Award – Non-Professional: Michael Walsh (for Howard Waldrop collections from Old Earth Books)

The judges for 2009 were: Jenny Blackford, Peter Heck, Ellen Klages, Chris Roberson & Delia Sherman.