A few of us Scribe Hivers are going to be at UtopiaCon in Nashville later this month, June 21-22. Please join us there!!
This is, literally, my first rodeo as an author and I’m a little bit panicked.
I’ve been to cons in my far distant youth, but the culture has shifted. They used to be fringe, nerd, guy-heavy affairs. It was a lot of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Doctor Who, but before any of those things were re-imagined and cool. No David Tennant, no Peter Jackson bringing us the perfect Sam, no hot Aragorn or Legolas. Also, cosplay is a thing now, when it used to be “going in costume.” (My favorite was someone covered in spongy balls and carrying a shepherd’s crook with a self-identifying tag: Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herder. If you get this, you’re my people.)
Being a teenage girl at those old-time cons guaranteed the experience of being outnumbered, challenged, and relegated to side-character status. To be sure, the women and girls who dressed sexy got lots of nerdboi attention, but they weren’t the core audience. They were part of the decor. If I wore anything like an I’d rather be fighting the Empireor I grok Spock button, I had to be ready to defend my fandom by answering whatever quiz some fanboy would throw at me: How many times have you seen Empire? The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or Stranger in a Strange Land: which one is better and why?
I recall being careful about what I wore. I wanted to be cute and comfortable, but not so cute I’d attract too much attention from weird and creepy old men. To be fair, just showing up as a female person attracted too much of that attention.
And there have been shifts in what’s popular–there were very few fairies (fae, faeries, or folk) wandering around when I was a con goer in the last millennia. This year’s UtopiaCon is at its heart a fairy con. And it was a series of books, the infamous ACOTAR books (A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas) that have driven this shift.
You know who read ACOTAR first and in greater numbers? Who reads more? Buys the most books? Drives the publishing industry? Has expanded what qualifies as fantasy? Has carved out a whole new genre called Romantasy? Women.
UtopiaCon is going to be a femme-heavy event; and I can’t wait.
As an author and a life-long fantasy reader, I’m going to be meeting peers, potential readers, and like-minded fangirls. I’m equal parts anxiety-riddled and excited.
Will I feel safer, at home, or overwhelmed? Or all three? I bet all these at once, plus more. I get to learn about fantasy writing and publishing from industry-leading authors and genre specialists. I’ll be able to talk to the most dedicated readers and fans about what they like and don’t like, what they’re looking for, and what they’ll spend their book dollars on.
To get ready, I’m ordering swag like bookmarks and little friendship bracelets. I have books ready to sign. I’m struggling to figure out which passage from my first novel I’m going to read aloud. And because I know fangirls are supportive and collaborative, I’m confident they’ll encourage me and give me book recommendations rather than challenge me to a trivia duel before they’ll step out of my path.
It’s going to be amazing!
~ Jill Jenkins