Austin Author Affair and more...

So I was in Austin this weekend. I was expecting warm weather. What happened? Did someone piss off mother nature?
Okay, so I would like to address something first hand, before jumping into this blog post. 

Putting on an event is hard. Putting on a con is even harder. What's the difference? One is a one day signing with an after party. The other is a multi-day event consisting of panels, mini-events, parties, mass signing and after parties. Neither are easy to put on so before jumping to any conclusions, look at the facts. Look at the success of the cons and look to see how long the cons have been going. The truth is in the facts. Don't rely on fantasy, get the facts. Cons, not events, please know I'm referencing the cons here.

This weekend I had a fantastic time in Austin. Aside from mother nature's wrath regarding the weather (my prayers are to everyone affected), we had a great time! We sold books, we met new readers and got reacquainted with old ones. All in all, we all had a fantastic time! Even the karaoke was amazing! I had no idea some of you could sing the way you do! I'm absolutely impressed and feel I need to take voice lessons. HA!












Then something happened. Rather then dwelling or allowing the drama to consume us, retaliating with something in return, or posting pictures of the event, we laughed it off...at first.
Once the event was over and the authors began to break down their tables, the issue at hand was addressed.
When someone...another con director...decided to play "bully" and post something on Facebook about OUR event, stating blatant lies and calling people out by name, yeah that's pretty low; especially for someone targeting cons much smaller than hers. Shame on you. Yeah, you. You know who you are.
When this same person lied about the event in Vegas, she seemed to gain the attention she wanted. Tell the same lie again, in regards to the same person...well it didn't work out so well in your favor this time, did it?
I personally enjoyed the backlash you received. I did not enjoy it from a sadistic point of view, but I enjoyed the fact you fell on your face this time and it backfired. You know why? When pulling a stunt like you did...TWICE...you are not only hurting the authors who choose to go to your cons, you're also hurting the readers. I can also tell you the authors you hurt, some of them were at your con the weekend before. I can tell you exactly how they felt as well.
"I will never, ever, go to one of her cons ever again!"
"I cannot believe she did this again! I mean, first Vegas and now Austin? Why? What did we ever do to her?"
"What the hell does she have against [not saying names here] anyway? Why does she have to take it out on us?"
"Wow, so someone took those pictures right behind my table? Nice to see she is trying to make it look like [I] did this." <== yes, this actually happened.

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So to you, who did this...you know who you are. You did this with what gain in mind? To hurt us or to hurt another con director? In the end, it doesn't even matter because you hurt ALL of us.
And like my author friends above, trust me, you will NEVER see me at one of your cons. Ever. The only way I would EVER come is if someone took it over from you and did not pull the stunts you pull and offers everyone a fair chance. Not that this will happen anytime soon because once we are wounded, we are gun shy with trust. That's something you'll need to earn back. And as long as you continue running your con the way you're running it, it'll not happen anytime soon, if ever.

Consider my words or ignore them, that's your choice. Just remember, you reap what you sow.