Continued from Part 1:
I can tell you one thing. I’m not used to having a lot of attention. But, for whatever reason, everyone at Pandamoon Publishing was looking forward to seeing Christine and I meet in person for the first time. You see, everyone knows us. We are both members of the inaugural class of authors, aka Alpha Pandas. We've been there from the beginning. In fact, she was signed just before me and was the first Pandamoon author to welcome me into the group.
What I knew about publishing a book in advance of signing with Pandamoon was based largely on many, many rejection letters from major publishing houses—most appeared to be standard form letters. Maybe it wouldn't have been as bad if I could tell that someone actually looked at my manuscript. It would have been worth the expense of printing it out and shipping it off. They never return the MS's. So, it is truly a waste of time multiplied over dozens of instances. But that used to be the way of the publishing world.
The only stellar exception in my publishing experience was a disastrous association with a small publisher called Ash Creek Ink. One Over X, my first novel, was also their first foray into sci-fi. I learned a lot from the two plus years it took to get the book into print, mainly what not to do. That was years before the introduction of eBooks and the explosion of self-publishing that gives all of us viable alternatives to doing things the traditional way. In fact, Jack at Ash Creek and I discussed the future of publishing and even floated a dream of creating a model along the same lines of what Pandamoon has established years later. So, my initial conversation with Zara at Pandamoon was extremely exciting. Here was someone else looking to establish a creative community based on brand building for both the publisher and author while producing the finest fiction possible.
Anyway, since Christine welcomed me to Pandamoon, we’ve been best friends, corresponding through private messages and emails. About a year after being signed, while we waited in the wings and watched the first few books launch, we became the original two publicists. The choice was based largely on our individual experiences and skills in both sales and marketing. Since then, we have assisted others in growing their personal brands while coordinating to expand recognition for our publisher’s brand. And, later on as we grew and added more authors, another Alpha Panda, Alisse Lee Goldenberg, joined us as a third publicist. Alisse is actually the original Alpha, the first author signed.
C and I had been planning our meeting for over two months, arranging our schedules, checking prices for airfare for me and hotel rooms near the venue in Chicago. What was clear from the outset was how expensive this adventure was going to be. Neither of us are rich. But we considered it an investment purposed in establishing contacts and supporting the other authors who decide to join. I spent the better part of my tax refund on the trip.
Another thing C and her hubby, JD, asked me was what I’d like to do while in Cleveland. You see, I was born and raised in Ohio, though nowhere near Cleveland. In many ways, compared to where I grew up, the city may as well be on a different planet, except that the surrounding farmland looks a lot like the rest of the Midwest. So, everything was new to me, including the stadiums and arena where the Indians, Browns and Cavaliers play. Both C and JD are huge Cleveland sports fans. Me, well as a kid I followed the Reds. But I was a Browns fan until the Bengals came along. And does anyone remember the Cincinnati Royals NBA team? Yeah, I thought not.
Other than sports venues, visiting the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame ranked pretty high on the list of suggested attractions. It was never really confirmed that we were going, though. There were a couple of other options floated. But on the way from the Airport we routed through downtown Cleveland and along the lakefront, past the sports venues and arrived at the HOF.
As a Rocker from way back, and a member of a garage band during high school, I’ve always wanted to visit the Hall of Fame. Had things gone a bit differently with fulfilling dreams and such, I might have been inducted. Of course, that would have necessitated connecting with the right group of fellow musicians. And, I might have needed a lot more talent and a little more discipline in learning to play bass guitar. In truth I probably had about as good a chance of making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Akron. In other words, it was a highly remote possibility. But, in the Elgon Universe, anything is possible, right?
Unfortunately, the HOF doesn’t allow photography of the exhibits inside. But the collected memorabilia were fascinating, especially those for my favorite bands. And seeing handwritten lyrics of famous songs and the actual instruments used in performances was amazing.
We did take some pictures outside, though and, though it may appear staged, the picture of me in front of the HOF building that looks like I’m doing an Atlas thing to it was pure coincidence.
C and I had a lot of work to do at her place before heading out to Chicago the next morning. Besides answering messages from headquarters in Austin, we also needed to print some things that we would be using to promote our books. As time was running out, we had to make a few strategic choices. Some of the printing we ordered didn’t turn out the way we hoped. On top of everything, we had to get up early for our trip to Chi-town.
We left on our road trip before dawn and by the time the sun rose we were already well on our way. C took a nap in the back seat as JD drove and I entertained him (hopefully) with stories. Whether he enjoyed them or not, they kept him awake. We were crossing some new territory for me. Although I lived in Ohio and went to college for a time in Indiana, the Ohio and Indiana turnpikes were new for me, at least until we were approaching Gary, IN. Also, the road across Indiana was largely under construction, delaying us. By the time we arrived in Chicago and followed the GPS instructions to our destination, the McCormick Center, we were already running late.
C attempted to use an express check-in from her cell phone. We opted for valet parking instead of trying to find a parking spot. And a bell hop loaded our luggage and boxes of books onto a cart and wheeled it inside. The express check-in failed to spit out our our magnetic strip room keys, so we had to opt for a clerk to finish the process. Still, within fifteen minutes we were riding an elevator to the 15th floor, on the way to our room.
We quickly unloaded and got ready for the inevitable trip to the convention center floor. C and JD needed to get their passes. I had purchased mine well in advance and had it mailed to me. So, I took what I could carry with me, including the box containing a stand-up banner bearing Pandamoon’s logo.
At first I walked right past the booth. But I knew the number so I turned around and backtracked until I found it. Alisse Lee Goldenberg was there, as was Penni Jones in her light-up skirt. Not only was it Alisse’s idea to attend C2E2, but also she is the original Alpha Panda, as I said before - the first author signed and one of our most prolific authors, having books out in three series and more books in each on the way. Penni is a more recently signed author who writes Grit Lit, which is a genre PM is gaining a reputation for publishing, having previously released A TREE BORN CROOKED by Steph Post and JUGGLING KITTENS by Matt Coleman.
After introductions and hugs, I finished setting up the all of the stuff I’d carried from the room, then, I went back outside to help C and JD carry in the other stuff. But somewhere along the way they sneaked in behind me. And so, after spending a few minutes in search for them, I returned to the booth. C and JD were already there, as was David Valdes Greenwood, the author of REVENGERS who is also an accomplished, award-winning playwright. David had painted his face to represent the Day of the Dead, which in his book is the day the story concludes. Hey, he fit right in with the collection of Cosplayers milling about the event’s main floor.
Throughout the first day of C2E2 the authors split our duties. We were either at the booth or away on the floor, seeing things, making contacts and looking for opportunities to promote our books and brands. We also invited aspiring authors to pitch their book ideas to us at the booth. Some of us sold a few books. Some of us gave away trinkets and even free books to passers-by.
We also began taking pictures with some of Cosplayers whose costumes were amazingly well done – and, from talking with some of them, fairly expensive. Part of Cosplay is becoming the character and using imagination. So, in a way, it felt like we were taking pictures with a Wookie, Mr. Freeze or Moana.
David had planned a dinner for all of us for after the event closed for the evening. As he had a family event to attend in Michigan the following day, this was our only chance for everyone to sit down together. He had found a local pizza place a couple of blocks from the Convention Center and most of us met at the hotel’s lobby and hoofed it there. Alisse and her mother, who were staying at a different hotel, met us there, as did David.
For this Florida boy the weather that night was rather chilly, around 39 degrees. But I had brought my handy University of Illinois hoodie that I’d acquired on a previous road trip, one to visit my daughters in Champaign/Urbana when Amanda, my eldest, was working on her Masters in Theater. I was already looking forward to Saturday morning because Sarah, my youngest, was coming by train up to Chicago with her boyfriend Peter. I hadn’t seen them since Amanda’s graduation, which was a few years back.
Dinner was fun. We had lots of laughs listening to one another’s stories about this and that. I won’t embarrass anyone in particular, but let’s just say that a glass of water was spilled across the table. At one point, everyone was texting on his or her cell phone. Kinda funny in a sad-commentary-on-the-times sorta way.
David had to leave directly from the restaurant to catch a bus. So, as we finished up we said our goodbyes. The only Panda scheduled for the C2E2 event who wasn’t with us that night was Meg Bonney. Something came up at work and delayed her until Saturday morning.
To Be Continued in Part 3