Recent predatory literary trade show experiences bring us back to the idea of ‘predatory creatives.’ For every author looking to strike it rich with their book, there’s three hucksters making bogus claims about influence, promotion, and audience engagement. Let this be a lesson to you.
Forget all that for a moment – a first-class emergency has come to the streets of Eugene. I heard a loud screeching yesterday morning from the breakfast table and went to the door, thinking someone had run over a possum. No, it’s Rose Marie the Landlord – in full meltdown mode. Her nerves were frayed by the eye-watering neighborhood Christmas displays, and a local Bogan performing carpentry at two o’clock in the morning.
She wasn’t the only one. Captain Crack Sparrow’s corner was the scene of violent menace and automatic gunfire. Now, Eugene PD – reluctant to resolve the noise complaint or porch pirates, or stolen cars – was only too happy to ticket her ancient K-Car for parking too long in the driveway. Guess how a functioning alcoholic with anger issues would respond to that type of provocation?
I consoled her with a cup of tea and returned to the matter at hand. Peace and joy often rely upon tenuous social contracts which, intellectual neighborhood dullards, are only too happy to exploit. So, too, are the hucksters of literary trade shows, only too happy to pluck the starry-eyed author pigeons for tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for some type of emotional validation for their creative enterprise.
Here’s how we got here. A blog post from Jane Friedman reminds us to Think Twice Before Paying to Exhibit at Industry Book Fairs. Digging deeper into this issue, you come to the realization that A) Many authors have tried B) Many authors have failed C) Literary Industry Trade Shows are more about milking small authors, than getting them published. There’s a right way and a wrong way to sell books at live events – you have to decide what will work best for you.
How do you decide what will work best? There’s an old adage I think will help you: The juice must be worth the squeeze. Making fresh orange juice is labor intensive, so you must decide if the delicious juice is worth the work. Literary trade shows serve a valuable purpose for the people for whom the juice *is* worth the squeeze. Just probably not you.
What Else Can I Try?
First and foremost – ignore the Predatory Creatives and Literary Trade Shows. Literary trade shows fall into the ‘predatory creative’ category in that, whatever creativity they have – they’re only applying it toward exploitation. You aren’t going to fix the problem, don’t bother trying.
What you should be asking is: ‘what else can I try?’ Be comforted in the fact that the path to success is non-linear. There are many ways to achievement, so failure is by no means fatal. You can try the Live Event thing if you’re up for it. If not, there are other options:
- Writer Conferences
- Author Advantage Live
- Comic conventions, Craft fairs, Themed events (sci-fi conventions), Mall events, Festivals, and Gaming conventions
Does the idea of all that interaction leaves you feeling depleted and exhausted? There’s an easy solution – Make up an event that works for you! I started GSBCW because that’s an interaction format that works for me and I’m so grateful for it. Keep your interaction system organic and sustainable – don’t push yourself so far out of your comfort zone that you can’t find your way back to default flow.
Rose Marie has no patience or insight on predatory creatives or literary trade shows. In fact, she was still upset when I spoke to her a few hours later.
“At least it wasn’t a shooting,” I advised, closing my door.
My last image of RM that day was her, flipping me a middle finger. In some ways it reminded me of my experiences with literary trade shows and predatory creatives. Sometimes, it’s best to keep your mouth shut.
