June 6, 1999

Sent off another reminder to Steve Jackson that I still have not received the playtest comments yet. When will they come? If I don't get them today, I won't be able to get to them. I hate having a big rewrite project hanging over my head like this before I'm due to leave for Clarion.

A Rather Long-Winded Rant

There was a conversation on the Rumormill about meeting big-time pros at science fiction conventions. Most people were talking about how they would love to be able to do it, but that they got tongue-tied when meeting up with editors and the like.

One thing that I am good at is con-hopping. One advantage of being ridiculously extroverted is that I can carry on an enjoyable conversation with almost anyone. Talking to big-name pros and editors is no problem for me.

My secret? I talk to everyone, big name or not. While I enjoy schmoozing, I do it mainly because I enjoy people. If you are schmoozing only to find stepping stones to further your career, I guarantee that you will shoot yourself in the foot. Sooner or later, you will snub someone who you should not have, and they will remember.

Just because someone has a name you do not recognize, that does not mean that they are not worth talking to. Everyone is interesting, provided that you can find the subject about which a person is most passionate. If you only talk to other writers and folks in the publishing industry, you miss out on a lot of great life stories that can inspire your fiction.

Sometimes there is even serendipitous side benefit to be socially egalitarian. I frequently strike up conversations with the lonely wallflower at a party that everyone else is ignoring. I cannot tell you how many times that the wallflower has turned out to be the spouse or good friend of one of the big name pros everyone else has been crowding around. A true story: once, when it came time to go to dinner, the big name pro shook off all the sycophants that had been crowding him, and gathered his publisher, his spouse -- and me. Why did I get invited to tag along? Because the spouse wanted someone to talk to, and I was the only person who had bothered to start a conversation with her. Simply being nice got me the opportunity to chat with one of my favorite authors and an editor that I respect for a couple hours.

Because I have no professional credits, I present myself as a person first and a writer second. It's a strategy that has worked well for me. I find that people remember and like Hilary the person. When it comes time to submit stories to an editor that I have met at a con, I can always mention that I enjoyed the conversation that we had at ______. But that comes later.

To summarize: enjoy the people, and the networking will come.

Hmm