“The Power of Friendship and Networking” panel took place on the Sci-Fi Literature track on Friday at 10:00 AM in Hyatt Embassy AB. The panel was moderated by Marisa Wolf, with speakers Michael J Allen, Chris. A. Jackson, Gini Koch, William Joseph Roberts, and Melissa Olthoff.

The upbeat and energetic panel emphasized the importance of starting conversations, because you never know who you’ll meet and where that might take you, as well as never doing anything to burn a bridge.

Wolf started off asking the other panelists how networking helped their career. For Olthoff, she hadn’t started off with author aspirations. A friend asked her to critique a short story he had written. Through that process, he recommended she try out NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). That started her journey to becoming a successful Sci-Fi and Fantasy author.

For Jackson, at his first Dragon Con, he met an author who got him a pitch with a small press. He went from indie author to small press, which led to lots of other relationships and opportunities, each one a link in a chain that’s become his career. At cons, author events, wherever you are, ask people questions, ask what they do, you never know where those questions might take you, what relationships you might develop.

Koch attended a con in Biloxi, MS in 2022. She had arrived at the airport expecting a driver, but the driver didn’t show. She didn’t know where to go, but she saw a woman in the airport who was clearly dressed for a con, and asked for help. Later at the con, Koch ran into the woman (J.B. Garner) again at the con. Garner was selling her books, and Koch wanted to buy her first, but Garner recommended she buy one of the others instead, because she didn’t think her first was that good. An aside Koch added was to never tell a potential reader not to buy one of your books.

Koch read the book and loved it, staying up late reading because she couldn’t put it down, even though she had early panels the next day. The two connected more and eventually Koch introduced Garner to her small press. Garner was in the panel audience, and was a panelist herself on the next Sci-Fi Literature panel, “So You Want to Be an Editor.”

Meanwhile, Roberts was at LibertyCon doing a mead making panel. After the panel he went up to ConSuite to sample his mead, and ran into Steven Jackson also sampling the mead. He congratulated Roberts on its quality. They developed a friendship that led to Roberts writing in the Car Warriors Autoduel series licensed by Steve Jackson games, and Roberts noted they are like family now.

After sharing their stories, the discussion turned more to advice about networking. Jackson recommended to always be kind, because you never know who you’re talking to, and how that might help or hurt you down the road.

Koch recommended that if you get any good piece of advice from a panel, buy one of that author’s books. Read it. That’s both an opportunity to pay that author back, but also creates opportunities for connection. If you loved the book you can reach out to them and start a conversation. And you can leave a positive review, which helps.

However, Olthoff noted not to pretend to love an author’s books when you don’t mean it. It’s very easy for authors to realize you’re being disingenuous. If their books aren’t for you, maybe you know a friend that will love them. She also suggested to reach out to your local library to request the author’s book to added to the library system. Additionally, you may find other points of connection with that author that helps you develop a friendship.

Someone from the audience asked for suggestions on good cons to attend to connect with other authors. They recommended smaller cons, or writers conferences where the crowds are smaller and the panelists aren’t as busy. Those give more time for people to connect.

As for people who struggle with networking, small cons and writer’s conferences provide more opportunities to practice. The more you do it, the better you’ll become. And practice at home beforehand. Practice your pitches so that when it comes time to give it, you don’t stutter or stumble, it comes naturally. And if you’re nervous, have a friend with you who can hopefully step in for a moment to help carry things along while you settle your thoughts to re-engage.

Most importantly, seek to form genuine connections. People know when you’re not being genuine with them.