by Jason Joyner | Jul 30, 2019 | Blog, Uncategorized
The best times in life take too long to get here and go by too fast.
That’s how it is each year for the annual Realm Makers conference for me. From July 18-20 a few hundred of my friends converged on a chalet-like hotel in St. Louis to celebrate faith, fiction, and fandom at this writing collective.
I’m the grizzled veteran for Realm Makers now, having gone to five of seven conferences. But every time there’s magic when we gather to enjoy old and new friends, sit under fantastic teaching for the craft, lifestyle, and business of writing, see writers pitch to agents and editor, learn from mentors, and celebrate the best in speculative fiction from Christian writers.conference for me. From July 18-20 a few hundred of my friends converged on a chalet-like hotel in St. Louis to celebrate faith, fiction, and fandom at this writing collective.
This year we returned to the same hotel as last year, so veterans had a comfort level with the location. The hallways spilled over with excited writers, from grey-haired folks to teens in the youth track. I love reconnecting with old friends and making new ones the most. I’ve heard a lot of great teaching, and I know there’s plenty for me to learn, but making connections with others who love fiction and faith like I do? That’s priceless.
I’m part of the staff, so I had some volunteer responsibilities. I’ve found writer conferences more enjoyable when I go with the attitude of “how can I serve?” There’s always comparison that a writer battles. When will my book get picked? Then when your book is picked, you see someone else sell more books. Or they win that award. But when I go to see how I can help others, then I get my eyes off my hang-ups and work to bless people.
Speaking of awards: Realm Makers has a unique awards banquet, in that it’s a costume dinner. There are so many creative people! From original characters to steampunk DC villains to a bevy of Doctors who aim their sonic screwdrivers at photographers, there’s always something to gawk at wandering the banquet. My friends went as the Avengers. I thought about going as Fat Thor from Endgame, but I was up for two awards this time, so my vanity got the best of me.![]()
It was very exciting to win the Realm Award for Best Debut Novel. But I cheered harder for my friend Lindsay Franklin, who won Best YA and Book of the Year.![]()
Winning the award was special. Yet I found more rewarding was people coming up to me to say how much they enjoyed Launch. It released right before Realm Makers 2018, so I was able to sell it there. This year I got good feedback from folks. When a grandfather said the first sentence sucked him in, and he was so happy to have a clean, exciting book to pass on to his grandkids—that made my day right there.
Alas, Realm Makers comes and goes too quickly. Before I knew it, my roommates (brothers in arm) had put away the Superfight card game and said goodbye. Now I’m in real life mode, and the days scream by so fast.
Even though the brilliant RM 2019 is in the past, I’m already excited for RM 2020. Atlantic City, are you ready for an invasion of Realmies?
Maybe I’ll see y’all there.
—
Jason Joyner
Author of the YA novel Launch
Available online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and other outlets.www.jasoncjoyner.com
by Jason Joyner | Jun 11, 2019 | Blog
It makes an author’s day when you get to talk to enthusiastic readers. I had the joy of that over this last weekend at the fun Homeschool Idaho Convention. I shared a booth there with my author friend Peter Leavell on June 7-8, and we were in the exhibitor hall for the in-between times for workshops and sessions.
Between parents looking for good reads and teens excited to talk about their favorite books, there was no shortage of literary talk. It was an infusion of much needed fuel for writing. But I was there to sell books overall. I made good contacts and was pleased with how things went. But I learned more about a theory I’ve been mulling.
I managed to tighten up my pitch even more. It wasn’t hard to get conversations started. Yet I still can’t stick to what I’m supposed to be doing: selling my books.
Instead, I really enjoyed having Peter there to talk about his books. He had something come up that kept him out Saturday morning, so I didn’t only have to talk about Launch. I could talk about Peter’s books and point to his strengths if that seemed to connect with the person. I was reading The Story Peddler by Lindsay Franklin in-between busy times. I probably sold a couple copies of her book in the morning! If there were families with younger kids (since my book is YA) I would tell them about my publisher Little Lamb Books and promote books from our other authors. Finally, if I didn’t have a specific book to recommend, I’d point parents to the Realm Makers Bookstore where they sell fantastic stories from Christian writers.
It cemented my hypothesis: rising waters lift all boats. At least for me, I don’t like to focus on just myself. That’s boring. But if I can talk about good books, I’m elated. If I can see any of the authors from Little Lamb do well, it indirectly helps me because it helps my publisher. The Realm Makers Bookstore has made it their mission to get the word out about great speculative fiction. If more people are aware of these stories and are looking, it helps all of us.
I think the author community in general is very supportive because we love good stories and want to see more of them. The Christian speculative fiction may be even more so because we love the fact that God is glorified in fantasy or sci-fi, so we’re doubly rooting for things. If we get the word out on great stories like Peter’s or Lindsay’s, then people will remember there’s a variety to look for out there.
I may not be a gorilla marketer, only looking out for myself. But I will do what I can to lift the waters and see all the ships around me rise. It makes marketing much more enjoyable for me, and I think it gives me credibility that I’m not just about myself. We’re all in this journey, and I can’t wait to see how this genre grows in the future.
by Jason Joyner | Aug 27, 2015 | Blog, Uncategorized
Now that the glow from Realm Makers is wearing off, it’s time for the rubber to hit the road. The inspiration of RM has me fired up with goals and dreams. I have to get them implemented.
A primary goal is to edit and revise the first draft of my YA story so it can be submitted. And writers just LOVE editing.
Some actually do. I like it when I get into making a story better, but it can be a slog as well.
One of the best decisions I’ve done with my writing is to work with freelance editors. On an early draft of my suspense, my heroine wasn’t likable. Thanks to Becky Miller, I was able to turn my main character around.
Then I worked with Ben Wolf after a couple of revisions of the full novel. This is where the nightmares set in.
See, Ben would see all the spots where I was telling something, instead of SHOWING what happened. Early in the book, he’d explain in his comments. As it went along, the code became:
Get Physical.
I’ve had a couple dreams where I see red over the manuscript, and the continual admonition to “get physical.” And it’s a great code to remind me to not be lazy and just tell the reader something.
Of course there’s time for telling. I’m not going to show you every breath a character takes. But we writers need to be ever vigilant on letting bad habits slip in.
That’s my encouragement to my writer friends, especially those Realm Makers Alumni who are hard at work on their WIPs. Keep going. Remember what Robert Liparulo said.
And get physical.
by Jason Joyner | Aug 13, 2015 | Blog, Uncategorized
Realm Makers is an amazing opportunity.
I just got back from St. Louis for the 3 day speculative fiction conference. In just three years, the staff has produced a high quality gathering that was informative, yet it was so welcoming and encouraging. As far as I can tell, there’s been universal praise for it from writers coming back ready to tackle the writing world.
If you look for posts from other attendees, you’ll see them rave about the fun, the great books and authors, the study of craft, and being fired up to keep writing.
I can say “ditto” to all of those, but Realm Makers stood out to me for a different reason.
They were the quiet moments.
Like meeting my new friend Herbert. He’s not a writer. He’s a homeless Vietnam veteran who I met on the train after arrival. We got caught in a downpour together, and we ended up sharing pizza and prayers the first night. I could’ve caught a group going to dinner if I’d gone right to the dorm. Instead, I had a cool moment with a guy in need, and with God.
I may seem outgoing in the crowds there, but I’m also kinda reserved. I don’t like to impose on people. But when I goofed and was waiting for the shuttle to get to my first pitch appointment, I had to be bold. Because I timed things badly and was waiting for the shuttle during its down time. No shuttle to take me 15 minutes away with 5 minutes to go (after I’d waited 20 minutes).
That’s when Pam came in.
She was a random lady getting into her car when a crazed author flagged her down and asked for a ride to the conference center a mile away. God bless Pam, as she didn’t hesitate, and I made it on time.
Probably a good thing I wasn’t dressed for the costume dinner.
I met so many cool people during the conference, or got reacquainted with friends I’d met before. But one time stood out. My roommate Josh Smith had his van, and was very kind to run us back and forth (he wasn’t there for the last story). We got time to share heart to heart, especially when talking about ministry we each did back home.
God is good, and He works through pizza, hitchhiking, and simple talks among brothers.
And Realm Makers rocks. I’m sure many others have their quiet moments as well. Anyone want to share?
Not quite the same image Pam saw.
