Writer Mom Life Episode 15: Jesikah Sundin and Attending Conferences/Conventions

Jesikah Sundin is a multi-award winning sci-fi/fantasy writer mom of three nerdlets and devoted wife to a gamer geek. She got her start in writing thanks to friends in the traditional publishing world, and followed their lead, publishing slowly and focusing on in-person events. Then she discovered that indies usually do things a little differently! Daphne talks to Jesikah talk about some of the other ways she defines success besides financial (though that’s always nice if you can get it!)

Jesikah shares her experience:

• writing and researching her hard sci-fi trilogy
• balancing homeschooling with writing
• going to the “office” to write
• eventing on weekends
• splitting the household and childcare with her husband
• getting her books on bookstore shelves (hint: awards help a lot!)
• receiving feedback from readers on the impact her work has on them

(Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that at no cost to you, we get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

Jesikah’s links:

The first book in her series, Legacy just came out in audiobook!
Her second book Elements and book 2.5 Transitions.
Her website

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J. R.’s tips and links:

• Conferences and conventions can be a great resource for indie authors, especially Writer Moms, as you can cram in a lot of learning and networking in one weekend!

  If you’ve decided to go on and get yourself out there, during this episode’s tips, I give my top advice for rockin’ it, both at conferences (geared more toward the craft) and conventions (generally more focused on pop culture, but with more opportunity for one-on-one chats!).

  We talk more about the differences between a conference and a convention in the episode itself, so be sure to give it a listen. For a breakdown of the tips (as well as a few I didn’t get to cover in the episode), check out this blog post of mine, which is still the best summary of all the essentials you’ll need to be fully prepared.

  If you’re wondering how to find conferences and conventions in your area, I highly suggest checking out your local libraries, book stores, and city event websites for your local happenings. Also, follow your favorite authors and check their list of events on their website. That will give you some ideas for events to Google, which will get you to that event’s home website so you can get all the details and see if it might be coming close to you in the future.

  Also, if you are a genre writer, you can find the organization dedicated to your genre, the Romance Writers of America, for example, or the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and check out their websites. Often they’ll have a list of related events to their genre as well, and you can see what’s going on near you!

  And remember to have fun!! I know you will!