Business Post: On Panels & Paneling (Patreon)

Alright, I saw the poll results and it looks like craft posts are more popular than business posts, while mostly people want more chapters. We're upping (if you haven't noticed) the number of releases for Celestial Cataclysms 2, so you'll get one everyday from Mon-Friday from now on.

In addition, I'll start doing craft posts soon, but coming out of Can*Con, I was struck with a recollection of authors in the past complaining about getting on panels and just paneling in general.

So, I thought I'd comment on the process of getting on panels and maybe even doing panels well.

On Panels

There are generally two types of events that we go to - those geared for fans and those for other professionals (business or craft based). Knowing what your audience is, on a panel (and your convention) will dictate the kind of panel or seminar you're doing.

Basically, conferences have to lean between two extremes - fun and informative. You can be fun and informative (or vice versa), but you do need to know which is the focus of the convention. Fan events generally lean towards fun, peers (professionals) lean toward informative.

Now, the difference between a good panel and a good seminar/lecture/etc. is that a good panel has a question or topic that requires a series of answers. There's no 'set' answer to the question, and having multiple viewpoints aids the event.

A terrible panel would be one where the questions and the topic are so narrow and undisputed that every panelist is nodding their head along to each others answers and saying the equivalent of 'ditto'.

If that's the case, they don't need the other panel members, this should be a seminar.

Mind you, self publishing, writing and craft generally dictates a variety of answers - but a math question like 2+2 has one answer.

So.

When a convention organiser is building a panel and selecting people to be on it, they need a myriad of experiences and viewpoints. This is very important and key to getting yourself approved and/or on panels.

Differentiating the Application (Panelists)

I'm somewhat fortunate, that I've been on dozens (over 50 for sure, possibly over 100) of panels by now. The simple fact is that I've had a variety of experiences and points of differentiation from many other applicants.

I've lived on 3 continents, studied in a different school system, am Chinese-Malaysian, spent 30+ years doing martial arts and have a strong interest in history and cooking, alongside regularly picking up random hobbies. On top of that, I've also written multiple blog posts on business and have a relatively successful career at self-publishing, with writing from short stories to epic fantasies and everything in-between. I now have both trad and selfpub experience, so add working with agents and editors to that list, alongside selling to IP and short stories.

All of that - or a large chunk of it - gets dumped into my application. In a better format, for sure, but added in such a way that it sounds impressive.

Why?

Because it means that when they're looking for panelist, they can go 'Oh! He might add something interesting to this panel'.

Concrete example - I was in Can*Con and we did a panel on History and Historical Fantasy. And while I don't write historical fiction, A Thousand Li draws on Chinese history. So when they built the panel, they had Suyi for Nigerian history, SM Clarke for western (Celtic-ish and Roman history) and me for Chinese history. No surprise, that panel was very well received, since we all could talk about any question from very different points of history and events.

You COULD (and it used to) have 3 people whose entire focus was on, say, English medieval history, between the 11th to 13th century... but that might get a little boring or repetitive. Remember - informative and fun are the goals.

So.

Keep this in mind.

The Application

Past experience (literally) has shown that many panelists fail at getting on panels because they have TERRIBLE applications. This is from having helped author panelists rewrite their applications the next year after they've failed to get in (and then having their applications approved), talking to con organizers (btw, this is a secondary way to get in) and organising the Toronto Indie Author Con and putting together the event myself.

It's worth considering that you are applying for a job here (the job being panelist) and as such, your 'resume' should highlight everything that differentiates you from everyone else. Many conventions have hundreds (World Fantasy recently mentioned they had 800+ applicants for 64 slots).

You must highlight what makes you different.

Here's a few things that might make you different:

Gender (female, trans, etc.). - You have a different experience than others, depending on the topic. Can also be a detriment (though this is reducing)

Race and/or culture - Did you grow up in Europe? Which part? How about South Africa? Are you diaspora?

Upbringing and social class - Did you grow up poor? Or heck, stupidly rich? The two extremes matter. But also, did you have contact or deal with those areas?

Degrees - Have a degree in Chemistry or Physics? Can you talk about that for hard scifi and/or interesting scientific based panels? History, anthropology and archaeology degrees can be a huge benefit, but mention your specialty!

Passions and hobbies - Do you ride? How long? Do you travel - how many countries and any cool ones? Do you do pottery or knitting and have a passion for its history and knowledge? Do you read contracts for fun or are subscribed to historical works for fun?

Awards - obviously.

Markets sold to - have you written for third party IPs? Sold to any of the main short story markets or, heck, ANY markets? What about

Business or real world experience - what's your job or past jobs? Is it fun? Interesting? Can you make it sound or interesting? Were you in the army - which part? A cop? A private investigator? A gravedigger?

Past convention appearances - sometimes, you're just a good panelist because you've done it before (even if you're not special on paper). List the conventions you've done then, and the number of panels.

Volunteer work and/or family situations - might or might not matter (e.g. you coach softball might not help, depending on how you frame it. Same with being a parent).

Understand that every time they add a new person to a panel, they're taking a risk that you are just not good at public speaking, that you might 'hog' the mike or clash (in an unprofessional way) with your panelists. So, past experience is a major factor.

Your application should highlight who you are, what special things you bring to a con and why you'd be more interesting than the next '45 year old, beginner author who has published 2 novels'.

If you've ever gone to a convention, sat on a panel and gone 'damn it, I can talk better about this topic than them'; consider if your application highlighted that fact. If the application never did, then that's something to be fixed, isn't it?

The organizers can't know what you don't tell them, unless they know you.

In-Person Networking

Worth understanding that convention organizers are a smaller group. They often know one another, so if you get a bad reputation at one con, it could potentially haunt you. But more than that, if you make it your job to at least find out who the organiser is and /or program director and introduce yourself, you are now well ahead of 95% of the attendees who have never done that.

Making sure you actually talk to them like people? Another major benefit. Sometimes, that's how you get added to random panels, because they learnt about your interest / experience of it by chatting with you.

The Panel Itself

This is getting really long, so I'm going to go through this quickly because there are a ton of recommendations out there. But some quick thoughts:

try to be succinct in your answers. Try not to ramble.

if you are uncomfortable at public speaking but still want to do it, consider joining Toastmasters to get practice in. Especially the table topics events, which requires you to think and speak fast.

There's nothing wrong with going 'ditto' if someone has covered everything you wanted to say. If they covered 90%, either be very short and clear of the added 10% or just let it go. There's ALWAYS more questions.

Do NOT get on your high horse or argue (vehemently) with your panelists. You can state a firm objection, and say something like, "I don't want to further derail this panel, so let's continue this portion of the argument after in the bar / lobby / etc. after the panel". Your moderator will be sooo grateful, and most likely the audience.

You don't have to be the class clown (I rarely crack jokes on panels because that's not me. Matt on the other hand...), but you should at least be entertaining with the info. So 'fun' stories or bits can be good.

Don't keep bringing it back to your book. 2 to 3 times max during the panel itself. Even in the history panel, I might reference something I drew upon for my book, but I would not specifically say 'oh, you can see this in x part of the book'.

If you can, prep. Get the questions from the moderator beforehand. Even 10-15 minutes before will allow you to organise your thoughts.

Remember who the big players are. If you're on a panel with Matt Dinniman, Brandon Sanderson and George R. R. Martin for some reason, you talk when you are given the opportunity, be quick and incisive and then step back. The audience is NOT there for you, but if you play your cards right, they might remember you (in a good way).

Okay, that's about all I can think of quickly. If you have questions, drop them below. Happy to answer. But yeah, panels can be fun, if they're panels on the craft or 'fun' panels, you'll sell books.

Business panels - unless you have business oriented books - do not sell fiction books. They can be good to get your feet wet, and establish yourself as a good speaker, but it won't do anything for your book sales on any appreciable level.

Craft post next week...