Category: Florida Book Signing

QuestCon Orlando - Report #MichelleSchad #NoaRose

9/17/2022

Normally, I take an author's description of the event and try to give readers the feeling of being there, because I've always wanted to know what it's like, and I'm often distance challenged when it comes to seeing our authors at signings--our authors are spread across the country.
The piece Michelle wrote, however, had so much of her in it, that it just needed to be put up here without any interference from me.
QuestCon Orlando was actually almost a month ago--slow much, Echo?--but better late than never. If you're interested in attending the next QuestCon Orlando, you can check it our here.
Michelle has more signing's coming up, but nothing that's been announced yet. If you'd like to keep up with Michelle's signings, watch her calendar on her page.
Note: Michelle's next book is coming out under her more "smexy" pen name, Noa Rose. An MMF romance, A New Game is set to release October 15.
Check out the view from Michelle Schad's table at the con:

QuestCon Orlando: Report

Michelle Schad's table at QuestCon Orlando. Lots of people rolled the dice for a chance to win a book!

QuestCon Orlando happened August 20, 2022. It was their inaugural convention, held at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Orlando, FL. The advertising for it spread through the local gaming community like wildfire. As it captivated my target audience, I applied to vend thinking, if nothing else, I could start getting my name out there not only as a writer, but as a DM too. Wow, was I pleasantly surprised!

The con was attended by roughly 200 people, all gamers of some flavor, along with their families and significant others. Having attended many gaming cons in the past without vendors, I was not expecting much in the way of sales or even flow through the vendor room. I - and the other vendors in the room - were so wrong!

People flowed through that room in droves, to the point where it was single-file only to pass through the row I was in. There were panels from local gamers and artists, table-top games of all kinds to run, a costume contest, cosplayers, and the very clever use of scavenger hunts by two exhibitors that got people moving through the vendor room like hunter bees for flowers. These people came to have fun, to learn, and to spend money! Wow, did they spend money!

The general consensus from all the vendors I spoke to, was shock at how well everyone was doing sales wise. I sat between an artist and a self-published card game maker. As it was only a 1-day con, that might have made a difference. There was no chance for con-goers to ‘wait until the last day’ when they only sometimes come back. The two scavenger hunts sent people all through the vendor room asking questions, taking pictures, and, yes, spending money.

I set up a sign that read “Roll a Nat20 to win a free book!” which counted for the scavenger hunt and then had people rolling to try to win. Even if they didn’t, a little more than half the time they bought a book anyway. I had four Nat20 winners total that day, but the draw to roll dice was too great to pass up for the casual gamer.

I had discussions with several people that were entranced by the fact that I not only write books, but run a game based on my novel Ashes to Embers. I told anecdotes of my tables, of my gaming and writing career, and had repeat visitors to my table. My vendor neighbor attracted quite a bit of attention with a raffle that kept people effectively trapped at my table (thank you, Lumenvoid!) to chat, shop, look at stickers, or read back flaps.

The staff were all pleasant and helpful. The other vendors were just as excited as I was to see people coming in to spend, chat, and learn. I will gladly return next year to QuestCon which is not something I say lightly about cons.

Michelle's Table from the con--different angle.

Michelle Schad, casually dressed for the con.

About Michelle Schad, pen name, "Noa Rose":

From a young age, there have been voices inside of Michelle’s head. No, not those kinds of voices – or, maybe they are; who really knows? Rather than fear those voices, Michelle wrangled them like wild mustangs on the prairie, make each one bend to her will in its own time. Well, what does that mean?
It means that Michelle has been writing stories of the fantastic, the horrific, and the mysterious for as long as her little fingers have been able to hold a pen and probably longer, but memory only goes back so far. In a world that passes for ‘normal’, she is all of the ‘normal’ things one might expect: mother, wife, keeper of fur-babies. She is also a student of life, meaning if there is something to learn, she will learn it, thus making her a veritable font of only partially useful knowledge.
The whimsy and ChAoS that actually controls the rest of Michelle’s existence has earned her a place in two different arenas so far: Bards and Sages Quarterly and Corrugated Sky Publishing. While wielding the unwieldiness of words is her primary function, she is also an avid crafter, collector of “creepy” ball-jointed dolls, and can run through a Target in under an hour with only two extra items from her intended list. Talent!
You can find more about her on her website at https://tamingchaos.net/