My Tips for a Big Author Event

I recently attended YA Midwest with 50+ other authors and hundreds of readers. The day could not have been better! Here are some things I hope might help other new authors:

1. Double-check the details

Before I left, my publicist sent me a one-page sheet with great instructions: what day and time to live, address and phone number of hotel, details of where to arrive at the event and where to check in, which panels I’d be on and with whom, a full schedule of the day…but as it turns out, not everyone was so lucky. One author’s publicist wasn’t as thorough and forgot to mention that the conference was at a different location than the hotel we were booked at. The author walked down from her room ten minutes before the panel and asked the front desk to help her find the room on her itinerary. No such room existed in the building! In a panic, she had to get a rideshare to the high school hosting the event, nearly thirty minutes away, and as a result, she was late to the panel. I’m extremely thankful for my publicist!

2. Don’t stress about making connections

I really couldn’t get over how kind everyone was, from Karen McManus being so gracious as I told her about being inspired to change genres after reading she’d done the same before One of Us Is Lying to Patricia Park being so skilled at small talk (I marveled while answering her questions at lunch), from Sayantani DasGupta making sure my voice was heard on a panel to Melissa Albert connecting me with another Indiana author. Authors–or at least every single author I interacted with at YA Midwest–are so kind.

3. Don’t mention your birthday unless you want them to sing

Sayantani heard me say it was my birthday during the signing, so she ran off to tell the director, and before I know it, a gift bag and balloons are coming my way and everyone is singing me “Happy Birthday”! I turned bright red, but I have to admit: I love the waterbottle, stickers, and t-shirt Anderson’s Bookshop gave me as a gift.

4. Find ways to re-energize

My brain woke me up at 3am on Friday before I traveled and on Saturday before the event. I wasn’t nervous, but the anticipation definitely weighed on me. After lunch, I could feel my energy draining from the fatigue of being “on” all day in front of people. I went out to my car, rolled down the window, and laid in silence for thirty minutes, and it was glorious. I highly recommend decompressing and recharging when possible.

5. Don’t expect everyone to know everyone…or anyone!

I thought lunch might be awkward if everyone knew each other and had their friends they wanted to sit by. While some authors clearly knew each other, I was happy to see most sat down and introduced themselves to everyone. I didn’t stand out at all! It did get awkward when it was clear we didn’t have enough chairs in the room for everyone to sit down. This is when we were all incredibly impressed by Melissa Albert’s collapsable stool that she broke out. Topics of conversation included where everyone was from and which chairs were best for avoiding neck and shoulder pain.