The first day of the convention included a number of interesting panels related to writing, including how to find your voice as a writer, and fanfic. There was also a panel on the “steampunk” literary genre that featured Sluggy Freelance writer/artist Pete Abrams. (Amusingly, Abrams had been put on the panel so he could learn about steampunk from the other panelists—but he was the only panelist to show up for the first half hour!)
Later this evening I had the chance to sit down with Abrams for an 18-minute interview focusing on how he has been making a living for ten years by giving content away for free, and whether newspapers could learn from his example in the current paywall-centric era. It was a very interesting talk, and I will post a full transcript as soon as I have the time to sit down and transcribe it—though this may not be for a few days. I may also post this interview to my podcast, The Biblio File.
Tomorrow, I will be covering panels including “The Decline of the Written Empire” about the effect of e-books and other new media on print, and “iPads for Light Days” about the iPad.
