Philcon 2006

Greetings,

My name is Robert D. Lambert. I am a writer in the Philadelphia Area, and I recently attended Philcon 2006, sponsored by The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. I attended various panels while there, panels which included information on everything from getting published to how to network. I recorded the panels on my digital recorder, and have uploaded the files onto this site for educational purposes. Please note that I am making no money from this, nor was I hired to record these events for any outside agency. I am merely sharing my notes online for writers such as myself, who wish to further their craft. I have also posted the descriptions of the panels with their recordings, as well as the names of the panelists who so graciously donated their time to help aspiring authors to further their dreams. Enjoy!

Instruction:  Click the hyperlink on each title to download the .wav file of the panel's discussion.

Literary

Fri 7:00 PM in Salon 1—Off To A Bad Start: (69)

How NOT to get published.

Barbara Campbell (mod), A. C. Crispin, Peter Prellwitz

Fri 8:00 PM in Seminar A—Writing as a Hobby versus Writing for a Living (55)

What are the differences when your writing pays the rent?

Michael Swanwick (mod), Barbara Campbell, Rob Balder, Richard E. Dansky, David Louis Edelman

Fri 9:00 PM in Seminar A—Earning a Living by Giving It Away (73)

Free give aways tend to get attention. But is it worth it? What kind of free samples do you want to give away and how?

John Scalzi (mod), Rob Balder

Fri 10:00 PM in Seminar A—The Economics of Online Publishing (133)

Is it possible to make money publishing online? Will online publishing some day overtake print publishers?

A. C. Crispin (mod), Jon Kilgannon, Rob Balder

Sat 11:00 AM in Salon 1—Write with emotion--Damn It! (45)

The need for passion in fiction. Is this a technique that can be learned?

Tom Purdom (mod), Judith Berman, Eric Kotani, Elaine Corvidae

Sat 3:00 PM in Salon 1—Websites For Writers (145)

What a writer needs to do to set up a website: domain names, site hosting and design or hiring a professional.

Joshua Bilmes (mod), Robert Jeschonek, Nathan Lilly, Sally Wiener Grotta, John Scalzi

 Sat 4:00 PM in Salon 1—Bad Writing Habits and How to Avoid Them (156)

Everything from sloppy proof reading to finding excuses not to write and how to avoid them.

Peter J. Heck (mod), Joshua Palmatier, Jonathan Maberry, Ty Drago

Sat 6:00 PM in Salon 9—The Rising Body Count (122)

Why is there a trend towards killing off main characters in science fiction literature?

Stephanie Burke (mod), Jay Smith, Salley-Rouge Pax, Jo Blu Pax, Gayle Surrette

Sat 7:00 PM in Salon 1—A Diva Muse, a Fear Monger, and a Time Trap Walk Into a Bar.... (188)

Sounds like a bad joke, huh? Let's find the punch line, together, and talk about what happens to the writer when the Diva Muse gets her way, how many chances Fear Monger consumes, and what gets caught up in the Time Trap. Simple, painless steps you can take will put these anti-Crafticians in their place and get you, the writer, back in charge and—dare I say it—writing your best stuff yet! And still have time for family, friends, and the writer's life.

Stuart Jaffe (mod), Jenna Black

Sun 11:00 AM in Salon 1—Networking (108)

How the new writer should go about meeting editors and agents.

John Passarella (mod), Joshua Palmatier, Hildy Silverman, Gary Frank

Sun 12:00 PM in Parlor B—Promoting Your Work (just) short of a Tattoo on Your Forehead (191)

Is nothing sacred anymore? Well, as far as advertising goes, nothing ever was! As a result, many of us are burned-out on ad after ad after ad--they're everywhere. Let's put on our thinking caps, which is all us Advertising/Marketing types do anyway, and come up with ways to target, er, reach your audience. BYOP=Bring Your Own Promo items. We'll discuss what works, what doesn't, and why.

Hildy Silverman (mod), Joshua Bilmes, M. Jane Letty, Nathan Lilly, A. C. Crispin

Sun 1:00 PM in Salon 1—Avoiding Publishing Scams (76)

Warning signs. What to ask and what to look out for.

A. C. Crispin (mod), Diane Turnshek, Joshua Bilmes, Scott Edelman

Sun 2:00 PM in Logans 1—Religions Created For Fantasy or Science Fiction (131)

The religions that authors create as part of the plot or setting.

Judith Moffett (mod), Joshua Palmatier, James Morrow, Elaine Corvidae

Source: Philcon2006

Recordings by: Robert D. Lambert

Presented by: Charles J Batschelet

© 2007 Charles J Batschelet. All rights reserved.    Hosted by 1&1 Internet.