A Fan-Operated Science Fiction and Fantasy Literary and Filk Convention in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area

Small Press Roundtable

The Small Press Roundtable is an opportunity for writers, readers, and small publishers to connect. The event is open to small publishers attending FenCon who meet the following criteria:

• They must be actively publishing, or have their debut work(s) planned for publication in the next six months. Publication can be either print or online.
• Publishers must not be vanity or subsidy operations. This means that the author is not charged any fees, nor are they required to buy copies of their work.
• Authors must be paid something for their work. (Does not have to be SFWA minimum.)
• Publishers must be open to submissions now or plan to be within the next six months.
• Publishers should have a FenCon membership.
• This event is not for those who are already on programming at FenCon on behalf of their publishers. Our goal is to give some exposure to small presses and micro-publishers who otherwise wouldn't meet our criteria for a programming slot. Thank you for your understanding.
• The event is for publishers to connect with both readers and writers interested in submitting. If you are the author of a small press book, please see our program participant guidelines.

Last year’s response was overwhelming. In order to give as many publishers as possible equal time and to allow for questions from the audience, we’re going to try a different format this year.

• Publishers must sign up in advance. This is to help us schedule an appropriately-sized room and to assist us in making sure all participants have an opportunity to make a presentation. Due to time constraints we may have to limit the number of participants. Please sign up early. Sign-ups will open later this summer.
• One slot per publisher, and one representative per publisher may present. (If you have multiple imprints, this still applies.)
• Be prepared to give an “elevator pitch” of a minute or two. Depending on time constraints and the number of participants me may be able to extend the time.
• Bring plenty of promotional materials! Also consider bringing hard copies of your submission guidelines for prospective authors.
• We plan to use the first half of the time for publishers to introduce themselves (hence the need for an “elevator pitch”). During the second half we’ll open the floor to questions from the audience.

Last updated 27 September 2011