May 26 – the 5th Annual Johnny Heller Splendiferous Workshop. This takes place at Baruch College at Lexington and 25th in NYC. It’s all day event. I feed you breakfast and lunch and tons of useful information. Follow me on FaceBook, Twitter and go to johnnyheller.com to register. (Registration isn’t open yet!). Every year we feature top-flight coaches and we chat about topics of interest to audiobook narrators at all levels of experience. I can only tell you that so far, I have Karen Commins coming in to discuss Evernote and I know Scott Brick, PJ Ochlan and I will be there. The rest is, like Trump’s impeachment, unfolding. Stay Tuned! But this is a pretty cool event if I do say so myself.
In terms of what you should wear and do, most of the events are business casual.
For the Audies, you want to do better than you did at Prom. You don’t have to wear a tux, but you do not want to wear cargo shorts – even your good ones. As I recall, lots of ladies had Suzanne Freeman do their makeup for them last year. If you enjoy looking like you are going to a big-time award ceremony, this is for you! This is not the time to hand our resumes and push your website. Don’t. Just meet, greet and enjoy.
As for my Business Workshop with Scott, that’s a great way to meet a whole lot of publishers and participate in a lively Q&A. You can schmooze with them at the pub afterwards.
My workshop in May is a learning event. Some attendees will get one-on-one coaching (it’s a lotto thing) and everyone will have a wonderful time. (They have so far!)
The APAC social is just that. And it’s a great way to meet fellow narrators and publishers in a relaxed environment.
I suggest that you can hand out business cards at the socials and at APAC for sure. Don’t hand out mugs and promotional crap to people who need their hands free to hold drinks. In fact, unless you are handing out new cars, don’t hand out anything save your card. More important than giving out your cards is getting a card from the publishers/producers/coaches you want to meet. I suggest you research the publishers/producers you say you want to meet so you know what kinds of books they put out. Remember that they are people just like you. They may be gregarious or nervous. They know you want to work with them. But try to be someone who solves their problems -not causes new ones. By all means, have a website with audiobook samples marked by genre and easy to find. Give them your time and respect but be respectful of their time too.
I promise you that this group – this audiobook community – is full of the best people. Just be yourself. Arm your face with a smile and prepare to enjoy yourself.
Oh! And if you happen to be a complete jerkwad, you might want to hold off on sharing that. Everyone will find out eventually so wait it out and hope for the best.
Some personal notes:
I have a NYC Audiobook Workshop coming up at Edge Studio. We start January 23 and meet every Thursday night 6:30pm-9:30pm.
Go to www.edgestudio.com for more information and to register.
I want to wish all of you the happiest of holidays and I hope that in these divisive times, you will all count your blessings and share your love. Be of good cheer.
