Key Takeaways from StoryCon 2026!

Hello everyone! Before we get into today's blog post, I just wanted to share that, thanks to our February sales of The Little Red Fergie, the amazing folks who donated to the cause, and illustrator and author donated royalties, we were able to send $187 to the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City this week, in addition to the books, stickers, and bookmarks we were able to donate earlier in the month. Thank you so much to everyone who supported this promotion, and for all of you who gave extra! You're helping us make a difference for these kids, even if it's a small one. 
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Now for the subject of today's blog post: My key takeaways from attending StoryCon last weekend. 

Writing about this has honestly been a lot more of a challenge than I thought it would be, because I learned so many amazing little tidbits of information that are all... well, not super related to one another in a way that would make for a tidy blog post. So bear with me; this one is going to be a bit messy. I also won't be sharing everything I learned from this conference, as that would take much more than just one blog post, but I highly recommend that if you're interested in learning a wide variety of information related to writing that you check out the event next year.

Now, without further adieu, here are the key things I took away from this conference to improve my writing and publishing practices.

1. Content creation doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be consistent, and it has to be you. This was very helpful to hear from some panelists that manage social media marketing and content creation for their livelihood. I've definitely improved with my content creation over the years, but attending this panel really changed the way I think about making stuff for my marketing. Things I will be considering and trying to implement as I move forward with this year (and into the future):

• ​Whatever you're already doing, make it consistent. Find ways to include your audience in things you're already doing for your book. Start there, and you can increase your consistency and quality as you go.
• Have a logo (and a background, if you can) that can go on all of your stuff.
• Have interviews with the people you're already talking to about your books (or theirs) and share that as content for viewers and readers to enjoy.

2. Building dramatic tension in your story. The speaker for this presentation framed building dramatic tension in a simple yet beautiful way that I've never thought about before. He said, "Tell your readers what should be (in world building, dialogue, situation, etc), and then build tension by having what actually is not match that." He went into ways to incorporate this at a scene level or at a whole plot level, and I am so excited for when I can get drafting my next novel to be that much more intentional about the tension I put on the page.

3. Little ways to build your following and be more visible. 

• Run some kind of ads on your book on Amazon. The algorithm will make it so much harder to find if there is no ad for it.
• Have a short story or chapter that readers can read for FREE if they're signed up for your email list. This is one I've known about for a long time now, but I still have not incorporated it! Thankfully, I have a plan for how to make it so.
• Run a Meta ad for your newsletter signup. I thought this was a very cool idea!
• Push sales through your author website. Market to schools and bookstores directly.

4. Ways to run an effective Kickstarter... because you guessed it... I'll be running a Kickstarter for the Bound Trilogy Grand Finale Launch very soon! Stay tuned for more information about goodies you can get through this Kickstarter. (If you're not signed up for my email list, now might be a good time to sign up!)

• Pair the launch of your Kickstarter with an event where you're out and talking with people to help you spread the word.
• Be "that guy." Contact everyone you can about your Kickstarter. (The lady presenting said, "You wouldn't be upset if they were doing it to you..." and that really resonated with me! The worst thing that can happen is people can't back the project or feel a little irked about me asking. The best thing that can happen is they help support a project I'm so crazy passionate about creating!)
• The rest of what I learned about Kickstarter was kind of already something I figured out when I launched Bound, though it was still lovely to have a refresher. 

There are my major takeaways! Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful rest of your week!