How to successfully network at author conferences

Before the Conference

Maximize your conference experience by planning ahead. A few simple steps can elevate your experience and ensure you get the most out of attending. Ideally, you want to stay in the same hotel as the conference is being held. You will become a familiar face to others as you walk from and to your room, and can easily access the conference.

Check the website for the speaker list. Identify which talks and panels you want to attend. All of them can seem appealing; however, narrow down which topics would be the most beneficial for the current stage of your author business. Download any available presentation packs to read in advance.

Decide where you’ll be keeping track of the notes you’ll take during the conference. You could use your smartphone or a notebook. Be sure to list all the topics you’re interested in attending and schedule them into your smartphone or jot them down in your conference notebook.

Reach out to your friends and ask if they will be attending. This is a good opportunity to reconnect with them. An added benefit of this is expanding your network, when they include their friends.

A good way to meet more authors writing in your genre is to attend a meet and greet session. Check if your conference has a place to reach out to other authors, such as their website, Facebook group, or Google sheet. If it doesn’t, you can set up your own meetup event. An easy place to have it would be at the conference bar where people naturally congregate. It also provides a chance to meet additional people.

Let your friends know what day you’ll be having your casual meetup and invite them to share it with their connections. Send an email to people you’re interested in meeting with an invite with the time, date, and place and let them know they’re welcome to bring a friend.

Prepare business cards with your genre and contact details to hand out to authors in your genre. The people you meet will be certain to hang on to them if you provide something of value, such as cross-promotional opportunities. Include a QR code they can scan if they choose not to take the card.