So, I've made it no secret that every year I look forward to participating in the biggest convention in Toronto catering to fans of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Anime, and Gaming. That con is FanExpo. Every year I post live from the con, sharing my pictures and experiences. This year started out as no exception. My forms were all filled out, I had email confirmation that I was a guest, everything was good to go. I and my other author friends waited with baited breath for our confirmed names to show up on the website. One by one, we appeared. We knew we would have our badges and our tables. Everything was good to go! An Tran and I began getting our volunteers and making our plans.
August 15, I got a Facebook message from An. Virtually every single author had been taken down from the FanExpo website. At first we thought that maybe a tech problem had caused the site to crash and they had gone to an archived version. Emails, tweets, and calls went either unanswered, or were met with assurances that everything was okay and we were all fine and still guests. We proceeded as if this were the case. Our schedules were set, and we were all ready to proceed.
On my end, I arranged childcare, both paid and with grandparents agreeing to spend time with the triplets. Pandamoon Publishing, my publisher for The Kingdom Thief, worked a back-breaking schedule to get the edits done on my novel so I would have an exclusive edition done early for my fans at the convention. I then ordered two boxes of the book and paid to have it shipped to me, expedited. This is all perfectly normal prep work for a convention. I, and other authors like me are happy to do it. It means us being ready to meet our readers. It means us being at our best and at our most prepared.
Now, nine days after the website's apparent "glitch", the indie writers who were all making their preparations, who were all acting in good faith that we were guests, were given a very rude awakening. We were told that the Authors' Alley would no longer be in existence. After several years of being located under the down escalator at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the person responsible for guest coordination- James Armstrong, is telling us that they are no longer permitted to have those tables there. Rather than move us elsewhere, he cut us loose. Now, he didn't do this when it looked like it was actually done, nine days ago. He did this today. This is basically a week before the convention was scheduled to start. I have learned that some authors involved with the Horror Writers' Association are still guests, due to the fact that the Association paid for a booth. (Money talks). People like me, the amazing Jen Frankel, the awesome Julianne Snow (who also runs Siren's Call), and Stephen Pearl were all left out in the cold. I could go on for ages listing authors who have been screwed out of this opportunity. This convention has always been our biggest and best chance to chat with thousands of readers and fans. It has always been our safe place to let out our inner geek and cosplay, have fun, and let our fan flag fly. We have now been denied this opportunity.
A few of us have been told that we can pay for a table to be in Artists' Alley. These tables cost us around $530.00. This doesn't include parking, extra badges for volunteers, food, and money spent in support of other members of the community. Most authors are not writing their books for the money. For many of us, this is beyond cost prohibitive. If we'd been told even a week ago, given some sort of notice, maybe, some of us could have found a way to come up with the funds. I am lucky enough to have a writing partner and someone else willing to share the cost of the table with me. Most people are not in my situation. Now, most people who have already taken the time off of their day jobs are out of their chance to make money off of their art and take part of this. Most authors I know and admire are completely screwed. This is a damaging blow to a community that I am a proud member of. This is an intense example of elitism and goes against everything I have always believed this convention stood for.
This is dirty pool FanExpo. You tell us now? Why did it take so long? Why do we place so low on the totem pole here? We are at a point where we can't order our parking passes to save money. We are no longer guests at our tables. We have none of the benefits that we had been promised as guests. Last year, we were also told virtually a week before the con. Then we were told that it was because the Metro Toronto Convention Centre changed the available dates on them and they were scrambling. But everyone who wasn't an author magically knew.
It says something when companies like Marvel and DC are no longer on the website. When Rue Morgue has seemingly abandoned ship. When awesomely accomplished companies like Avatar Press is no longer there. Maybe it's a time for FanExpo to reevaluate how they run things and how they treat people. Last year, after everything, they sent me my confirmation email, but never put me on the website. My badge was a half-assed piece of paper scribbled on in sharpie while every other author got something proper and printed. The year before, they pulled the same crap with An. It had become a joke. "Who's getting screwed out of a badge this year?" But this should not be how you treat people! This should be easy. Treat your guests with respect. It shouldn't matter if you're a writer like Alisse Lee Goldenberg, An Tran, Kelly Armstrong, Karen Dales, or some big time actor like Norman Reedus or Gillian Anderson. We are all people. We all deserve proper care and a kind voice. Neither of which we have been getting.
All I know is that I will swallow this bitter pill this year, but next year, I'll see you at DragonCon in Atlanta with a smile on my face, and a song in my heart. At least in my conversations with them, I'm treated as if I'm a human being with feelings and a budget.
My dear friend Jen summed it up best in this picture:
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