NASFIC recap

[feuervogel]

Thursday: After I eventually made it out there (after waking up sick *again*), I made it to a panel I was interested in (How to Schmooze). Mary Robinette Kowal is a really good panelist! And she seems like a very fun person; I'm sad to have missed her book launch thing. It was Friday night. Then I walked through the dealers hall and chatted with Sam of BullSpec and some other people until it was time to meet people for the Broad Universe meet-up. We went to the Flying Saucer.

Friday: Woke up sick again, decided it was time to go to the hospital, so I didn't make it at all. The fabulous skogkatt read my story for me in the Broad Universe reading while I was in the ER. Thank you!

Saturday: Still in hospital, but I gave Ben my badge and asked him to go for me. He went to the panel I was most interested in (using the past in SF), which had Joe Haldeman on it, and he took notes. It looked like it was interesting.

Sunday: I went in to the con after picking up my stuff from W&G's, then I hung out with Julia and Natania, went to a panel (which was kinda boring, sadly), then talked over Starbucks drinks. Lee Martindale joined us at one point.

I'm mostly sad about missing the partiesmeet and greets, because it sounds like a fun way to meet people and stuff. I have no idea how to manage that sort of thing at a con as huge as D*C, but I'll be trying it this year. Maybe Natania can help...

But! Natania mentioned she was going to Gaylaxicon next year, and Julia was thinking about it, so I might go and share a room with them.

And Julia is interested in/planning to go to WisCon, and I might be able to share a room with her and a friend of hers. That would get the cost down from "horrifying" to "manageable," because the largest expense outside of airfare to Madison is the $150/night hotel room for 4-5 nights.

WorldCon has a similar problem, and I'd *like* to go, but a) it's right before D*C, b) it's in RENO, and c) it'll cost me like $1300 to go, which just ... no. If I can get at least two roommates, I'm good. They'll be announcing the 2012 location during this year's WorldCon, which is D*C weekend.)

I wonder how askance the IRS would look at convention travel as a business expense for a writer. (Hey, it's networking, y'all. And WorldCon has writing workshops. And lots of Real Published Writers and editors and the like. Networking, yo.)

Comments

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

If one or both of you (or anyone else reading this, for that matter) was interested in joining us at any of the cons here in Michigan we're happy to share a room to cut down on expenses. Penguicon is the scifi + open source software con we went to this year at the end of April (and I'd like to go again next year, but Steuard might not be able to join me). ConClave is in October every year (and we need to decide very soon if we're going this year), and ConFusion is in late January.

If it helps tempt you, Tom Smith is a local so he's at pretty much every con here :-)

Also, I've been meaning to mention to you that I was very amused to spot your name on Jim C. Hines's LJ after I saw him at Penguicon this year. He's a Lansing local, apparently, since it's nearly impossible to buy a NON-autographed copy of his books in Lansing.

[feuervogel]

I'll keep that in mind. I think after D*C, I'm con-ned out for the year, because there might be a trip to Boston in October, and I need to get more pharmacy CE (since I totally flaked on the date of one back in March), and the state pharmacy association meeting is in late October, then it gets into holiday travel and shit. (And Michigan in January for a cold-natured Southerner? Ha. haha.)

I've never actually read any of Jim's books. I might pick up the princess books sometime when my to-read stack isn't so terrifying, because I dig self-rescuing princesses.

[warpig1979.livejournal.com]

I've written off some slightly questionable travel expenses before. But then I've never been audited.

[feuervogel]

Convention travel for an SF writer really ought to count (under, uh, promotional expenses, maybe?). I googled it a few weeks ago, but I don't seem to have bookmarked the page, and now I can't put together the right search term to find it again. :P

[kurai-seraphim.livejournal.com]

You can only write off travel and promotional expenses if you establish yourself (freelance writer Conni) as a separate financial entity from yourself (freelance pharmacist Conni). You can't use any write offs related to your writer status to offset anything from your main income.

Given writers who freelance usually make relatively little income compared to their main job, the benefits of itemizing your trips is almost nonexistent. If you start making serious book money, then you consult an accountant and ask them to be completely on the level with you. I spoke with a few writers last weekend and they said that while you could try for it, it's not likely going to end well if you catch an audit. Most of them were very conservative about their writer write-offs as you can't really afford the government crashing down on you when you're living primarily on royalties.

Interesting side note: people who win the lottery can write off their failure tickets as expenses towards their lottery winnings (but not towards their day job). This is the same thing as that.

[feuervogel]

Hm. That whole first paragraph I pretty much knew. I can say that my writing expenses (even without travel) are about -$350 right now (mostly web hosting.)

This is the only thing I've found that discusses it (that's more recent than 2003), and they say you can count mileage traveled to conferences (& conventions?); no mention of air fare. Printing & postage for manuscripts and submissions, yes; the new dress for the award ceremony, no. You can also write off dues of professional organizations (I found that elsewhere).

But I don't want the IRS breathing down my neck, either. I think it's pretty irrelevant for this year anyway, because I don't have enough income to report. I'll keep records in advance for next year, especially if I get into this anthology (which may have a Big Name in it, as a draw, so maybe copies will move.)

How do people manage to go into business in this country?

[skogkatt.livejournal.com]

It's nigh certain 2012 is going to be in Chicago as that's the only bid for that year's WorldCon. I have no idea how expensive that'll be, though. I do know, thanks to people googling for numbers on smartphones at the OA meetup on Saturday night, that Chicago has historically had large WorldCon attendance turnout.

Anyway, I've got to sit down and work out my travel schedule for the next year. Then we can start trying to match up plans for room sharing, etc. Because yes, getting costs down as low as possible is a very good thing.

[feuervogel]

Chicago is a much more interesting place than Reno, and probably cheaper to get to. I checked Delta for airfare to Reno, and it's like $300-400 round trip. But if the date overlaps D*C '12, it's not gonna happen. (I got my priorities ;) )

[Hm, it's only a 4.5-hour drive from San Jose, which is cheaper to get to, but that would involve car rental, which is $325 for 5 days plus gas, so that negates any cost savings in airfare. Bleh. Ugh, WorldCon, why so remote?]

Yay, travel planning! I'm looking at WisCon, ReaderCon, and Dragon*Con (maybe WorldCon, but I'm skeptical I can afford the $900-1300 it'd cost me) plus some localish cons like ConCarolinas and StellarCon, maybe RavenCon. Those are super cheap! (They're all an hour or two by car, and the hotels are almost cheap enough to afford by myself.)

I ought to open up a google spreadsheet for it.

[warpig1979.livejournal.com]

It's weird that they would pick Reno over Vegas, unless I guess it's cheaper to get convention space there. If you're going to have your con in a godawful Nevada gambling town, Vegas is better for the attendees in every way - cheaper to get to, more and cheaper places to stay.

[feuervogel]

I'm betting it's cheaper to get space in Reno. But, god, it's in the middle of frickin NOWHERE.

My google spreadsheet for 2011 con travel is terrifying.

[anacoluthon.livejournal.com]

Reno is really pretty, though! But considering that I flew there and then drove an hour and a have to the *real* middle of nowhere (good old Fallon, NV), it doesn't seem all that remote. They like to call it something like "the biggest little town" or something dumb like that, but there are good coffee shops and some decent restaurants.