I co-ordinate the FOGcon Dealers’ Room, and really liked how it turned out this year. Like FOGcon, it’s compact, friendly and accessible – and tempting! It’s only got 20 tables – enough for variety, not so much that it overwhelms. For the first time, we had so much interest that we actually had a waitlist. (So if you’re interested in selling at FOGcon 5 in March 2015, email us early at dealers@fogcon.org – and make sure you have your paperwork!)
We had a nice mix this year: Three regular book-stores selling speculative fiction (Book Universe, Cargo Cult, and Other Change of Hobbit); some specialist booksellers like PM Press, Damnation Books, and the Rejected Quarterly.
As publishing moves to a variety of different options for reader and writers alike, we welcome them all – traditional bookstores, specialist small presses and micro-presses, individuals. So we were pleased to have authors who brought their own books: Stephen Brophy and Lester Milton; Bret Alexander Sweet (who also was showing off some great illustrations produced by young people he’s associated with); SteamPunk authors Emily Thompson and Janice T; and Valerie Estelle Frankel.
We had jewelry from Springtime Creations and Featherweight Finery, costumes from KrakenWhip, and interesting steam-punk creations from SteamyTech.
And we had a chair massage therapist, Keri Denney of Massage Garage.
Aside from the requisite pile of books (I think around 10 this year!) I picked up some ear-rings as a gift, a very cool little clock enclosed in a spherical pendant, and a set of coasters containing functional wooden gears.
KEYAN BOWES 