Welcome, dear ones, to this edition of Peekaboo’s Corner. Grab a drink, a chair, a fancy hat, and let’s get started.
This week, we will be discussion romance conventions.
What is this tom-foolery, you might be asking yourself? Have you heard of Comic-Con? That great big gathering where hundreds of thousands of people gather to revel in their shared love of nerdery and wonder?
These are sort of like that, only on a much smaller scale. Also, it’s for romance fans. Nerds also welcome. (And get this: COSTUMES also welcome. I’m dying.)
RT Booklovers Convention
The biggest one is RT, which is the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. This actually starts TODAY, so sorry I didn’t get you the news sooner, but start saving your pennies for next year because you’re going to want to go. Basically everything your romance-loving heart could possibly want will be at this convention. Nearly every big name romance author (INCLUDING NORA ROBERTS, Y’ALL) will be in attendance, speaking on panels, signing books, generally milling about. There will be panels about all manner of subjects, raucous parties, delicious food - it’s heaven, people. It moves around the country every year too. Six days of frivolity, giddiness, and more free books than you can reasonably expect to carry home in the spare suitcase you brought. Last year it was in Atlanta, this year it’s in Reno, next year… who knows? I’d love if it came somewhere close so I could go without shelling out for air fair, but MN is one of those states that is not by a whole lot of other things, so we’ll see.
Website
KissCon
As far as I can tell, so far these KissCons, put on by Avon publishing, are one day affairs, usually hosted at libraries, bookstores, and other similar venues. A couple of hours long, they will feature some great authors, discuss different topics pertaining to romance publishing, writing, etc, usually there’s snackies, some door prizes, that’s that.
BUT.
Avon just announced that in April of 2019, they will be doing a WEEKEND convention. THREE DAYS. IN CHICAGO, which is drivable from where I live. You bet your ass I am going to be there. So far they have been incredibly sparse on details, but I just signed up for the mailing list (which you too can do here ) so we can squee about it as soon as more becomes apparent.
Website
RWA
This one is geared less towards readers and more towards writers. RWA, or the Romance Writers of America, puts on an annual conference every year. This year it’s going to be in Denver, near the end of July. There will still be massive amounts of free swag, book signings, plenty of authors, and good food to be had, but it’s also got great panels and classes on the craft of writing. They also announce the RITA awards every year, which are like the Oscars for romance novels. I would adore going to this as well, because even though I don’t publish my work, I definitely write romances as a hobby, and would love to fall deeper down that writing rabbit hole.
Website
Tell me, dear readers, have you been to any of these?
Would you like to go? What would be the part you’d like to go to most?
Tell me in the comments below, and start saving those pennies. If you go, I will most definitely sit with you!
Maybe someday they'll have RT Con in Chicago, which we could drive to. <3 Keep hope alive!
ReplyDeleteAlso, check out what Avon KissCon's site says about tickets to VIP events.
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The (free!) public event features a moderated, interactive panel, speed-fire questions (for both the authors and the audience), bookstore gift card prizes, a dedicated question and answer session, and a book signing (books are available for purchase on-site).
Tickets to Avon Books’ KissCon VIP events are $36 per person, and include:
• An exclusive Avon KissCon swag bag, filled with gifts and goodies, and a surprise free book for each attendee.
•One signed paperback from one of our participating authors
• Wine tastings, where legal by State law
•Sweet treats and fun nibbles
•Unparalleled author interaction in a private setting.
•Interactive author event.
•Hosted Book Signing on-site.
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Uh, totally worth shelling out the extra bit of money and getting the VIP access, right? WE ARE GOING TO THIS IN CHICAGO.
For the RWA convention, they also have concurrent events running: Librarian Day and Blogger Day. You can get a blogger discounted registration that includes the full conference + blogger day, or a blogger day only reg. Of course for us, it would be traveling so far we'd want to go to the whole conference.
Here's the link to info on Blogger Day: https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=2207
Sadly it looks like in 2019 they'll be in New York, 2020 is in San Francisco, and 2021 will be in Nashville, so they're not coming anywhere near Minnesota anytime soon. *resigned sigh*
Unfortunately, this years' RT is the last one. RT announced that they are closing. But there is Bookcon next year in NOLA.
DeleteI've been to two RT Conventions - Los Angeles & Las Vegas. The LA one was the first convention I went to and I didn't know anything about it. I only went to the Giant Book Sale and didn't know anything AT ALL about the whole thing. On the good side, I met A LOT of my favorite romance authors! The Las Vegas one was different. I went for the weekend event and was able to join after parties! Also FREE BOOKS! And met my favorite authors!
ReplyDeleteI am attending the Historical Romance Retreat in September! This will be the first convention that I will be attending for all the days! So exciting! I have to plan for costumes!
I have also been to non-romance conventions/bookish events like: Yallwest - I've been twice, and LA Times Book Festival.
I also went to the Barbara Vey reader Event, it think this was Co-hosted by the California RWA Chapter... anyway, I sat at Sarah MacLean's table! OMG! So fun!
Ahh! SOMEDAY I want to go to the Historical Romance Retreat. :) That's a log of bookish fun - I'm so jealous!
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