Pros and Cons

There was a time—and not so long ago, either—when if you were a fan and you wanted to see your favorite author(s), there was only one place to go: Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Convention.

For the first decade of its existence it was the only game in town, and for the next three decades it was still the 900-pound gorilla in the convention room. But the world changes, and that includes the world of science fiction conventions.

Worldcon’s organizers and powers-that-be decided some time back that they didn’t want to be bothered by all the “peripheral” fans—the gamers, the comic book fans, the TV fans (unless it was an Approved TV show like Star Trek or Babylon-5), the anime fans, and so on. So those fans were made to feel somewhat less than welcome, which is to say there was very little attention or programming paid to their special interests—and before long they began looking for other conventions that were more congenial to them.

And they found them.

In quantity.

And suddenly, one day, the Worldcon, which at its all-time largest, the year they showed all the Star Wars movies before they were released on tape, never reached 10,000 attendees, and usually numbered from 5,000 to 7,000, found itself dwarfed by conventions that welcomed everybody and programmed for everybody, that were run by competent professionals rather than by hit-or-(usually)-miss volunteer staffs.

And here we are in 2009. ComicCon drew 120,000 attendees. DragonCon drew 50,000. A-Kon, an anime con, drew 17,000.

And Worldcon, the biggie, the one you absolutely couldn’t miss? If you believe their inflated figures, just under 4,000; I don’t know of anyone who attended and feels there were as many as 3,000.

But whether it was 3,000 or 4,000, that’s just a small corner of a room at the ones I mentioned above.

Okay (I hear you say), so they draw a lot of fans. Good for them. But Worldcon’s where you go for the writers, right?

Well, yes—but that’s not quite as right as it used to be.

We’re in a very poor economy, and publishers are being careful how and where they spend their money. And they tend to spend it where there are the most readers. ComicCon drew more science fiction publishers this year than Worldcon, which would have been unthinkable even five years ago. I have been to the last three DragonCons (where Baen Books is always a presence), and the number of publishers and editors has literally tripled in that short time.

Part of this sea change is simply because certain Worldcon movers and shakers decided years ago that they didn’t want “peripheral” fans taking up space and demanding programming that catered to their special interests. Another major part is the Worldcon’s choice of venues. We can call it “Worldcon” all we want, but the fact remains that most of the publishers, most of the writers, and most of the fans are in the United States. When Worldcon was held in other countries perhaps twice a decade, as it was for the last third of the 20th Century, attendance plummeted as expected, but it had little or no effect on subsequent Worldcons’ attendance. But Worldcon has gone a little overboard lately: next year’s Worldcon (in Australia) will mark the fifth time in eight years that it has been out of the country. Add 2008’s Denver Worldcon, which was not very close to anything when gas was $4.50 a gallon, and it’s easy to see why fans have chosen other conventions.

And as I pointed out, publishers spend their money where it will do the most good, which is to say: where the potential book buyers are. Even the Worldcon committees should have no problem with that logic—and indeed, while a couple of editors went on their own nickel, this year’s Worldcon had no official presence from Eos, Bantam/Spectra, Ballantine/del Rey, Pyr, DAW, Golden Gryphon, Orbit, Subterranean, F&SF, Realms of Fantasy, and a dozen et ceteras.

I think what the Worldcon movers and shakers haven’t yet figured out, or possibly don’t particularly care about, is that if the publishers stop supporting Worldcon and support other conventions instead, their editors will show up at those other cons.

And like it or not, writers will go where the editors are. This is, after all, a business.

And eventually—and it’s clearly happening; all you have to do is look at the attendance figures for the last few Worldcons—the fans will follow the writers.

I hope Worldcon wakes up and smells the coffee. I have been going since 1963, and I’ll continue to go as long as Worldcon exists—but I’m a fan as well as a writer. The part of me that writes for a living has already added DragonCon and ComicCon to my regular schedule.

So if you’re out to meet your favorite writer(s), before you commit to Worldcon or nothing, start checking the web pages of the rival conventions (and don’t forget World Fantasy Con—not huge, but always star-studded.) You just might be pleasantly surprised.