by Jay Wilburn

AuthorCon 2022

I don’t typically write summaries of every convention I go to these days, but I think AuthorCon was something significant that warrants taking notice. Something different happened here and as AuthorCon 2023 is a go, there is a lot of potential for where this convention may go in the future.

AuthorCon was put on as part of the Scares That Care charity organization effort. Even though it was technically a first year event, it had an organization with a track record of success behind it. Still, they had no idea how it would turn out. Since Scares is working for a greater cause, there is a different feel to its weekends. Something bigger than ourselves is going on, creating a different spirit. NecroCasticon collected several testimonials of what Scares That Care means that you can hear here. You can learn more about their mission here.

This was my first convention in two-and-a-half years. I’m a kidney transplant patient and with my immune-suppression meds, I had to take the pandemic more seriously than a lot of others. I had a heart attack in January of 2022. I was still in recovery from that leading into the convention. With all my health stuff, I very much felt like I was on borrowed time. This convention was special to me before it even started. I didn’t care if I sold a single book. I wanted to see my friends again. But then I sold a ton of books.

A Big Weekend for Everyone

A lot of people did well here with sales. There were a number of factors. I hadn’t been anywhere for a while, so some readers were picking up everything I’d published since my last public appearance. Lots of people hadn’t been anywhere in a while. Authors and readers alike were itching for books. There were a few authors who grew an audience during the pandemic and this was their first convention appearance. The Books of Horror Facebook group latched onto AuthorCon and showed up in numbers. They were rabid readers buying piles of books. Some of them came to the convention with lists from readers who couldn’t make it and bought piles of books for them too. I had more than one person come to my table and say, “Give me everything with zombies in it.” It was a big weekend.

I sold more books here than any convention prior. I sold more than any convention prior by more than double. If I don’t sell a single book at any convention for the rest of the year, this will still be my best sales year for conventions just from this one convention. It may not be like that for me in future years, but that’s still amazing.

S.A. Cosby and I are old friends going back to readings we did together before he had novels out. His career eclipses mine and is soaring into the stratosphere at this point. I couldn’t be happier for him. His talent demands that level of success. While we are on entirely different levels of success, he voiced a sentiment I was experiencing at AuthorCon too. His success largely came in the vacuum of the pandemic. He knew books were selling, but he didn’t know how he was landing with his audience. All of us knew how big he was, but he hadn’t seen it firsthand for himself yet. This event brought him in contact with all those fans. On a smaller scale, I was in a similar place. With Twitch and other platforms, I knew I was building an audience. I knew books were selling, but sitting in my office day after day, I had no gage on what my audience was. I’m still surprised when anyone knows who I am. Though my audience is splintered across multiple platforms, they showed up enough for me to see I’ve made a little progress.

There were a ton of people who this was their first convention ever, authors and attendees. That added a certain air to the event. These new writers were hungry for knowledge. They asked questions at the table, at the panels, and out in the hotel as we interacted.

There were multiple generations there and a lot of talent. Thomas F. Monteleon, F Paul Wilson, and Chet Williamson were there. The room was full of serious readers and they knew who these men were. Brian Keene, John Urbancik, Mary SanGiovanni, Bob Ford, and Wrath James White were there with fans who appreciated them. Jeff Strand, Jonathan Janz, Josh Malerman, CV Hunt, and the like were there. Then, Wile E Young, Wes Southard, Stephen Kozeniewski, Kristopher Triana, Thomas R Clark and other authors of a newer generation who have been doing this long enough to make a mark were on hand. Then, the new guard of S.A. Cosby, Daniel Volpe, Carver Pike, Aron Beauregard, Candace Nola, Jeremy Megargee, Kristopher Rufty, and many more were there. These are writers who I look across their catalog of work and there is not a bad book to be found. I’ve written some bad books. I’ve written some really bad books. These authors are putting out works that blow me away from their debut to their latest releases. I’m in awe of the talent from all these unofficial generations of writers. There was an electricity in the room that was hard to quantify as a result of this collection of talent.

I did not name everyone. Not by far. The exclusion of names is not meant as a slight to anyone. The room was full of hundreds of others that belonged on this list too.

The panels, readings, and every other event were well attended. Every single one.

Moderating the Horror

I came in to set up on Thursday. I was a little shellshocked and awkward. This used to be old hat to me, but getting set up to sell at a convention was a rusty habit for me after all this time. Others started filtering in. Old friends, new friends I had only known online, and new friends I was meeting here for the first time started showing up. Everyone was happy to see each other.

I’ve been through a lot. Everyone has. Brian Keene had a similar path of multiple hits to his life and health leading right up to the convention. We’ve known each other as colleagues and friends for a while. I think we bonded a bit over our bout of hardships and how they’ve impacted our lives in oddly similar ways. I think this weekend meant a lot to both of us for various reasons. We both needed it badly.

Several authors found themselves together and chatting in one of the rooms late that first unofficial night. It was everyone on one level, breaking into smaller conversations, but not defined cliques. There was a certain decompression as everyone sort of absorbed the fact that we all made it. I went to bed much earlier than most. I swear these get-togethers before and after everything are everything to me.

My first panel was the Splatterpunk panel. It included everyone present who had been nominated or won a Splatterpunk Award. That made for a big dais and an hour-and-a-half panel. Wrath James White was held up by airflight difficulties plaguing the country, so I stepped in to moderate. It was a good discussion with a group of authors I highly respect. The future of extreme horror is strong and in good hands.

I grabbed breakfast with D Alexander Ward of Bleeding Edge books a couple different days. Our tradition of deep conversations at Scares events continued. I sat down with Daniel Volpe and Aron Beauregard another day. They pointed me to Books of Horror, who happened to be right next to me at the convention. Joining that group was a game changer for my social media experience. There were countless other conversations as personally and professionally productive as these.

I ended up moderating the zombie panel as well. It was a good conversation from a range of experience represented on the panel. I was impressed again. Sales followed.

I got the opportunity to do a reading with John Urbancik, the man I consider to be the greatest short story writer of all time. It went very well in terms of the readings and the discussion that followed. John and I may be doing some things in the future as a result.

The panels and readers were so stacked that I was tempted to abandon my table all weekend to join in the audience. But I kept selling books.

So What Was It?

What made this special? It had all the elements that are familiar to other conventions. I sold a lot more, but it was more than that for me. Several of the older generation writers said it had the feel of the old World Horror Conventions. That requires a bit of explanation. These guys are taking about the World Horror Conventions from around the turn of the century. I hope that phrasing doesn’t make anyone feel old or insulted. That convention has since evolved and split into other things. There is a risk of nostalgia shading the past here, but what these veteran authors are referring to is a sense of belonging that transcends all the other unpleasantness going on in the world and sometimes in the industry itself. That definitely happened even when the turmoil of horror publishing rising and falling continued on without us.

There was something more though. A meeting that followed the convention included listing off what worked and what didn’t. It wasn’t just me. Other writers who attend many conventions mentioned this was different too. Other conventions are fun, some have solid sales, there is a community/comradery atmosphere at a couple others I’ve attended and look forward to again. This was on a different level. It felt powerful but ephemeral, like it might be difficult to capture again. Put a pin in that and we’ll come back to it.

There was a new guard bringing in new energy. New readers adopted this convention, new writers and aspiring writers chose this as their entry onto the scene in a big way, and the Books of Horror group are setting the standard for horror reading and fandom now. Their combined influence expressed through their activity at this convention cannot be overstated.

There will be another AuthorCon in 2023. If even a fraction of the people who could not attend this year but want to attend next year actually come, it will be huge. The vast majority of attendees this year are interested in coming back. I’m setting an alarm for the moment tables go on sale so I can get mine before they are all gone. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Scares That Care

Maybe it is that they really do care. The people who run these shows are fans too at their core. And they are caring people. I expressed some of this in a post on Facebook, but will do my best to articulate it here too.

I’ve been to a lot of conventions over the years. Scares That Care always puts on a great event. AuthorCon might be the best I’ve been to on a bunch of levels. If I don’t sell a single book at the event in 2023, I still want to be a part of what this convention represents.

The X factor for me might be the level of care for me as an individual. As I’m sitting back at home typing this a week later, I’m full of emotion. Scares takes care of all its vendors, guests, and attendees as best it can. All this while raising money for families in need. I was in a very vulnerable place coming to this convention. I have kidney, heart, and brain issues. It’s been a rough year. It’s been a rough few years when you factor in the pandemic. Everyone running this event was busy, but they weren’t too busy to check on me. They weren’t too busy to assure my wife that they were looking out for me.

I had a great weekend. I paced myself carefully. I was also surrounded by Scares That Care family that had my back so I could attend this best of all convention experiences even in my vulnerable state. I needed this. I know I’m not the only one dealing with disabilities. I’m not the only one living on borrowed time.

The day after I returned from AuthorCon 2022, I went in for testing to see how bad my brain issues really are. It’s a scary time, but I went in on a win because Scares gave me the best weekend. It does not appear I have early onset dementia, so that’s good. The running theory is that I have temporal lobe damage, maybe from ongoing micro seizure activity, maybe from past damage with everything else I have going. More testing is to come. It greatly impacts my memory and cognitive function, so memories like AuthorCon weekend are important to me.

I’m facing a lot of challenges and had some close calls medically this year, but I’m not having a bad year. I got to go to AuthorCon this year. I was a small part of helping families in need which means a lot because I know what it’s like to need someone to have your back when you’re vulnerable. That was huge for me. I’m grateful for this. For this, I will rise up and be thankful. And I hope to see you at future AuthorCons.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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