ConFusion 2019 Schedule

As much for my benefit as for yours, here’s my panel schedule for ConFusion 2019, which happens next weekend, January 18-20th, in Dearborn, MI.

Cultivating a Fanbase as a Publisher

Friday 4:00 PM Erie
Just as fans follow specific authors or magazines, with the proliferation of small presses, we’re increasingly seeing publishing houses develop followings of their own. Apex Publishing, Subterranean Press, World Weaver Press, Small Beer Press and many others have distinct voices and aesthetics which distinguish them in the marketplace. Some, such as Ugly Duckling Presse and Restless Books, offer annual subscriptions to their catalogs. Are readers following publishers as they follow authors, and what are publishers doing to cultivate fan bases?
A. Carina Spears (M), Pablo Defendini, Yanni Kuznia, Michael J. DeLuca, Joe R. Lansdale

Escapism, Coming Back, and Beyond

Friday 5:00 PM Allen Park
Fans of SFF can get pretty prickly about their escapist pleasures. In the era of #metoo, #ownvoices and bot-fueled reactionary troll backlash, it’s time to unpack that. What do we get by escaping the real world into fiction for a little while? How does it feel coming back? How else can fiction help us weather and overcome the hardships of the real world, and how can it hurt?
Michael J. DeLuca (M), Eric Anderson, Sandee Rodriguez, Andrea Johnson, Jessi Cole Jackson

Reading: Michael J. DeLuca, Clif Flynt, John Wiswell

Saturday 1:00 PM Rotunda

New Trends in Post-Collapse Fiction

Saturday 5:00 PM Dearborn
The prospect of a world where the march of social and technological progress has drastically reversed course seems a lot closer than it used to be. What has changed in the way we imagine post-collapse futures? How do post-collapse futures of the past and present exist in conversation with the social and political worlds in which they were written?
Marissa Lingen (M), Andrea Johnson, Michael J. DeLuca, Petra Kuppers, Anaea Lay

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