Today I am so pleased to welcome Macy Blake to Joyfully Jay. Macy has come to chat with us as part of the Coastal Magic Convention Blog Tour. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

 

How To Succeed at Events, Without Really Trying!

Hey everyone! Macy Blake here. Just home from GayRomLit in Albuquerque, and I’m gearing up for next year’s Coastal Magic Convention. I have a lot of readers who are worried about attending their first event, so I put together a quick list of tips I’ve learned after attending a ton of these over the past few years.

  1. You don’t have to do everything. This is the one it took me the longest to figure out, so I’m putting it first. When you’re at your first event (or your twenty-first), it’s super easy to get caught up in the excitement and try to do ALL THE THINGS. Most of us can’t handle that much packed into a day, though, so don’t be afraid to pick and choose. I usually pick one “must do” in the morning and another for the afternoon. Anything I fit in between is a bonus. Make sure you take time to take care of yourself so the event is awesome for you.
  2. Authors are (generally speaking) pretty introverted. Think about it… we spend all day in front of a computer, lost in our head, making things up. And then we go out and have to *gulp* talk to real people? As scary as it is for you, believe me, it’s just that scary and more for us. But keep in mind that we came to the event so we *want* to meet readers…except we’re introverted so we’re not going to go up to you and be like “Do you like me?” Take a minute and come up to us. We’ll be so thankful you did!
  3. Go see authors you’ve never heard of. My absolute favorite thing about attending events is finding new books to read. I have a feeling you’re right there with me. Check out the list of panels and go see one that looks good– even if you don’t know any of the authors. I bet at least one of them will have you grabbing your phone and adding a book to your wishlist.
  4. You’re going to bring home books. I know this seems obvious but… books are heavy. And you’re going to want to pick up a few extras, and you might win a few, too. Make sure you have a way to get them home. I tend to pack an extra bag in my bag when I go to events so I have something to put all my loot in when I’m heading home. And trust me, between books and swag, you’re going to want some extra space.

Those are just a few quick tips and tricks that work for me. Are you an event attendee? Do you have any tricks you’d like to share? Or if you haven’t, what questions do you have? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll pick a random commenter to receive any ebook from my backlist! (Closes Oct 31, 2019).

And here are some pictures from my recent trip to GRL!

 

 

 

 


Bio

Macy Blake believes in unicorns and fairies, in moonbeams and stardust, and that happily ever after comes in all colors of the rainbow. When she’s not busy at the day job, she loses herself in paranormal romance, living vicariously through her favorite sexy fictional heroes. These days you can often find her pounding away at the keyboard, trying to capture the magic of her own worlds. You can find her on the internet in the following places. She loves to say hi, so feel free to join the conversation!

Moonlighter Group http://bit.ly/MacysMoonlighters
Newsletter Signup http://bit.ly/MacyBlakeNews
Bookbub http://bit.ly/MacyBookBub
Facebook Page http://bit.ly/MacyFBPage
Instagram http://bit.ly/InstaMacy

Giveaway

Macy has brought a choice of backlist book for one lucky reader. Just leave a comment below to enter. The contest closes on October 31 at 11:59 pm ET.


  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to any Joyfully Jay email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize. In order to facilitate prize distribution, the winner name’s and email may be provided to a third party awarding the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format and U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.