Featured Image is designed by Marilyn Busch (2019). Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 6 August 2019.1
From Thursday, 18th July to Saturday, 20th July, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 2019 Realm Makers Conference
that was held in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a Christian science fiction, fantasy literary event. It was a delight to be one of the 300+ conferees. I do not know of anything else like it in the nation.
As my series The Immortality Wars is based on Christian themes, I thought that it was important for me to participate in it as there is a tremendous amount to learn about the craft, and business, of writing, let alone one that is connected to the Christian realm of publishing speculative fiction. This conference offered writers a look into all the moving parts of this complex matrix of the literary industry.
On the way to T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 17 July 2019.)
Realm Makers was started by founder Becky Minor in 2012, who envisioned a “faith–friendly event where writers could celebrate all things science fiction and fantasy kicked into motion. Online discussions made it clear that Christian writers of speculative fiction didn’t have a place or event where they could really feel at home.” Becky and Scott Minor are the innermost heart and soul of Realm Makers. They are truly blessed and remarkable people.
The first conference was held in the summer of 2013. The 2020 Realm Makers Conference is scheduled to be held in Atlantic City at the Bally’s Hotel, 16th – 18th July.
I left for the 2019 conference on Wednesday the 17th. Arriving at 4:30 in the morning at T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, I took an early American Airlines flight out that stopped in Philadelphia. From there, I took another plane to St. Louis where I stayed at The Comfort Inn, which was .3 of a mile from the conference being held in the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel. Also, room prices were a lot less expensive at The Comfort Inn.
After collecting my luggage in baggage when I arrived in St. Louis, I found the specific area where the Sheraton shuttle stopped. There was no shuttle at that time from The Comfort Inn. The shuttle driver was very kind and took me to where I was staying. Once I checked in and got settled into my room, I checked back with the registration desk with Justin the manager. He was very kind and brought me over in The Comfort Inn shuttle to the Sheraton. Even though no drivers were available, he drove me there anyway, when he didn’t technically need to do so.
This kindness is what I experienced throughout my whole time getting to, while there, and returning from the conference. Everyone I met was personable, friendly and went out of their way to be of help to me. The registration, cleaning and restaurant
The Big Muddy at flood stage. You can see places that are still under water. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 17 July 2019.)
staff at The Comfort Inn and the Sheraton were outstanding in their service.
At one point, I missed the Saturday, conference luncheon due to my meeting one–on–one with editor Genevieve Gavel.2 Please don’t get me wrong, I had a wonderful meeting with Gen; it was far more preferable meeting with her rather than just having a meal instead. Missing her for a meal would not have been a good trade. Besides, I sacrificed 
quite a lot to be at this conference. However, when I arrived at the banquet hall, everyone was gone, the wait staff had two tables left to clean and I was looking at no lunch. I must have seemed pretty glum, though, when Gordon, one of the waiters said to me that everything was all packed up. He looked at me with empathy and said, “I’ll go in the kitchen and ask the chef to fix you something.” He seated me at the last table yet to be cleaned and fully reset. The staff brought me water and tea, and in what seemed a momentary period of time, Gordon set before me one of the finest chicken sandwiches, along with hot vegetables and potatoes, I have ever had the pleasure of eating.
Back to my meeting with Gen. She gave me some invaluable social media information. She suggested that I expand my use of Instagram by employing videos with still shots. For every five Instagram messages, do one video. For example, she recommended that I gather together the banners that I use for book signings and have them displayed in the back of me while I read an excerpt from my series. A possible tagline idea to help market my writing was given: “New classics for your shelf,” or “The new classic.” She was very positive about my work and for that, I was not just glad, I felt my story was being supported by an individual I respected.
During the whole conference, I looked forward to, and dreaded, my appointment with Steve Laube [pronounced “Lobby”]. Steve is a literary agent and president of The Steve Laube Agency, which is located in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm represents 300 clients. He has been involved in the book industry for almost four decades. His reputation is stellar and his contributions to the industry are legendary. He has a very quick wit and a unique and rather droll sense of humor. He had the rare ability to put me at ease while at the same time keeping me on my toes when I was around him.
Thursday & Friday’s conference schedule. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 18 July 2019.)
Conference speakers mentioned him in their talks with us and would state that when they interacted with Steve they did so with high anxiety and apprehension. Every one of them, those who were successful in having him represent them, mentioned how nerve–racking the experience was in pitching their writing to him.
I had made an appointment to meet with him for fifteen minutes, but as the conference went on I became so filled with angst about the thought of seeing him I almost ghosted the appointment.
I prepared hours at home for those mere fifteen minutes of time.
The “Editors & Agents Q&A” session. Steve Laube is seated on the far left in the second tier. Travis Perry is seated second to the right in the front row. MC and author Lauren H. Brandenburg is standing to the far left of the photo. She is introducing the panel to the audience. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 18 July 2019.)
I wrote out outlines. I studied his website. When I arrived at the conference, I talked with as many people as I could to get a read on him. When I met him, I saw a very intense man who was very capable of speaking thoughtfully and to the point. He did not waste words.
The “Editors & Agents Q&A” session that occurred on Thursday (18th July) was my second time seeing him. When I saw him seated at the conference dais, I realized that I had seen him at the optional dinner with the faculty I had just been to earlier. Walking out of the room, I overheard him talking with those also seated at the table with him. I engaged them with a parting quip, which was okay. It wasn’t anything clever, but it was an attempt at dry humor. When I saw him on the dais and then heard him responding to the audience’s questions, I felt foolish to have said anything at all.
At 3:45 on Saturday (20th July) afternoon, I placed my laptop, artist’s proofs of the trilogy, business cards, and related materials on the table before me. I introduced myself to Steve and shared with him the premise of my story and what I had thus far accomplished in getting it out to the public. I decided on the spot not to ask for representation, but I sought his advice about what I had accomplished to date. He looked at the three novels I had brought to show him and picked them up in his hands. he placed them together and showed them to me book spines first.
“Where will you be selling these?” he asked me.
Saturday’s conference schedule. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 18 July 2019.)
I gulped. I think I even forgot my name at that moment. “Book signings, festivals, stores…”
“If you are fortunate enough to have a bookstore sell your books, know that there is a premium on space. Your books most likely will be on a shelf facing customers the way I am holding them here in front of you. Think of the ten–second rule: the covers on these three books are too similar in their design. A potential customer will think that they only represent one book, not three.”
I must have looked pole–axed.
He arrayed the books like they were a card hand, saying, Even if you are given the space to display them this way, they still look like the same book.”
I was stunned. You cannot imagine how many people have seen these books. No one said “Boo!” to me about this aesthetic flaw in marketing them. I thought That’s what I have come here for—an honest, straight–forward professional critique. I actually started to relax. Well, sort of. I was amazed at his insight. He had done me a tremendous favor.
Since last December, I have been working on republishing the first two novels and releasing the third for the first time. The release date to do so was scheduled on my birthday, 18 August 2019. I have been working with Dawn and Steve Porter of Stillwater River Publications, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in getting all three novels ready for this event. We were right down to the wire on making sure everything was ready to send to the printers. A paperback version and another in eBook format will be offered to potential readers.
On my return, Carolyn gave a wonderful idea to address this conundrum by changing the background color of Part II and Part III. Steve had suggested renaming the books, but the names he recommended, while clever and in the spirit of the story’s theme, did not fit. Carolyn’s insight was the answer to what had become a thorny problem.
Travis Perry,3 owner, and founder of Bear Publications was also on the Thursday evening panel. He provided excellent and thoughtful answers to audience members’ questions to the panel. When the session ended, I checked to see if Travis was available for a conversation. After about fifteen minutes passed, I went over and pitched him my story premise. What ensued was a delightful conversation and one in which he challenged the arc of my story over the length of three trilogies. His questions, far from being unnecessarily argumentative, were thought provoking, instead. The ensuing conversations that we had over the remainder of the conference maintained this quality of reflective engagement. I look forward to staying in touch with him and seeing him again at next year’s conference.
I have to state again that throughout this whole trip, I was getting a continual lesson from people I met of their total commitment to exceptional service and being kind to their clients and everyone around them. They made no big deal about it. They just had this grace of service on them that was remarkable to experience. Even the TSA folks at the Providence and St. Louis airports were polite, helpful and patient with me, especially as I had to use five bins to put all the stuff I was carrying with me into while going through airport security screening.
Author and keynote speaker, Brent Weeks, at one of many book signing opportunities for conferees. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 19 July 2019.)
One of the Master of Ceremonies was Lauren H. Brandenburg. She established the tone of the conference by her ability and grace in talking with us, not at us. She was informative, original, funny and uniquely brought her own life experiences into focus with 
what she was sharing with us about the conference.
Keynote speaker (opening and closing speeches), author Brent Weeks,4 and guest of honor, author Terry Brooks,5 were outstanding examples of being with their readers and sincerely enjoying their time with them. They went out of their way to be available for people to approach them. No matter the number of folks they saw, they were humble, easy to talk with, willing to have their picture taken with whoever requested one to be taken, and always had a smile and light banter with all.
Some of the many literary, conference activities offered are listed below:
(1.) pre–conference workshop6
(2.) twelve elective sessions (75 minutes in length),
(3.) four panels (75 minutes in length),
(4.) four continuing sessions (two hours and fifteen minutes each presentation, meeting three times each during the conference),
(5.) a vendor hall,
One of my literary heroes, Terry Brooks, signs one of his books for a fan. I first read Terry’s work in 1977. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 19 July 2019.)
(6.) a book festival, and
(7.) post–conference workshop.
Here I am standing with presenter Dr. Ted Baehr. (Photo by Michael Howell, 20 July 2019.)
The opening and closing keynote addresses, given by Brent Weeks, were powerful, mature and straight forward in his message to the conferees. His closing address was far from being Pollyannaish. Instead, it was challenging and realistically based on the present–day human condition. Complementing this reality check—remember he is mainly addressing authors and writers—was his statement to us “to be bold; be courageous; write what makes you cry & laugh. Understand that we have a duty to love those around us.”
I took the Continuing Session on “Screenwriting” presented by Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide® and Chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission®. His mission as listed in the conference program “is to redeem the values of mass media by influencing the entertainment industry and by informing and equipping the general public of the impact the media has on its audiences” (14). The accompanying book (2011) that Ted used for this continuing session was his own, How to Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul).7 The book in itself was worth the trip to St. Louis. This session surprised me because of the philosophical, artistic, literary, practical and commercial depth of the material presented to its participants.
Photo by A. Keith Carreiro (7 August 2019).
Some of the many points Ted made are as follows:
♦ 60 percent of films are independent.
♦ The average price to make a movie is about $106 million dollars; it makes over 100 million, two–and–a–half times negative cost over. Theater and distributor involved take a huge percentage.
♦ Marketing costs average $50 million. $100 million is barely cracking the money.
♦ Average movie in Hollywood take 13 years to make.
♦ Science fiction & fantasy most popular.
♦ The more intelligent you are, the more you are persuaded by the media.
♦ 1200 advocacy groups in Hollywood lobbying it.
From the moment Ted started his presentation I could see that he was tough–minded yet compassionate, disciplined, humorous and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the industry.
One major takeaway: All of the writers and authors I had the opportunity and privilege to speak with were encouraging and supportive of one another. People genuinely wanted to hear what their colleagues were writing about and how they were doing in meeting the challenges and opportunities they faced.
The generosity of everyone I met was truly inspiring. I think that one of the main lessons I learned from this experience was to carry the same sense of hospitality and kindness in my own literary walk. After all, the world sure is in need of such inspiration.
Returning home at sunset: a look at East Providence & Providence. (Photo by A. Keith Carreiro, 21 July 2019.)
Footnotes:
1Marilyn is an extremely talented and gifted New England based publicist, graphic designer and journalist, who runs her own consulting business, Camp Busch Communications. The featured image at the head of this post was designed by Marilyn for the 2019 Realm Makers Conference program. It was a quarter–page ad that appeared on page 32 of the program.
2Here’s Gen’s Facebook page link: Genevieve Gavel
3“Travis Perry was born in Montana and raised in that state. The Crystal Portal, published in 2011, was his first novel. He also contributed to the short story collections Stories From a Soldiers Heart, Aquasynthesis, Aquasynthesis Again, Avenir Eclectia Volume 1, Colony Zero, No Revolution Too Big, Medieval Mars, and Avatars of Web Surfer. As a publisher and owner of Bear Publications he has produced a number of short story collections, including most recently Mythic Orbits 2016. An Army Reserve officer who deployed for the Gulf War and later to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa, his writing reflects his lifelong interest in science fiction and fantasy, his strong Christian beliefs, and his knowledge of modern warfare.”
4Information about Brent Weeks can be found at the following listed links:
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?112288
5Author Terry Brooks is one of my favorite writers, so much so, I used to read his Shannara books to my children starting when they were very young.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Brooks
https://www.goodreads.com/series/43574-shannara-chronological-order
6The pre–conference workshop was given by Robert Liparulo who gave a six–hour session on Thursday entitled, “Writing, Selling, & Marketing A Series”.
Friday’s schedule alone had the following elective sessions: “Technically Speaking” with Ronnie Kendig, “Writing & Christian Worldview” with Morgan Busse, Ninja Editing with Patrick Carr, “Do You Need an Agent” with Steve Laube, “Cinderella 2.0” with C. J. Redwine, “25 Publishing Trends” with Alyssa Roat.
“Screenwriting” with Ted Baehr; “Writing Life” with Wayne Thomas Bateson, “Indie Publishing” with Julie Hall, and a teen track, Hero’s Journey” with Bryan Davis.
Saturday’s schedule for panels had the following presentations: “Grittier than PG-13 Writing and the Christian Author”, and “Crowdfunding”.
The two–hour, Sunday post–conference workshop, “How to Launch Your Book,” was presented by Jill Williamson.
7Ted Baehr also “has written, edited and contributed to 37 books including … Frodo & Harry: Understanding Visual Media & Its Impact on Our Lives. In the ’80s, he was president of the organization that produced The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe for CBS-TV, boasting 37 million viewers and winning an Emmy Award.”
Baehr, Ted. How to Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul). WND Books, 2011.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. As the sole author of the first trilogy, the Penitent, in my series The Immortality Wars, and as the sole proprietor of Copper Beech Press, I have a material connection to these books, as well as to the publishing press, I have just listed. Other than my previously stated novels and publishing press, I have no material connection to the brands, products or services that I have mentioned here. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
© 8 August 2019 by A. Keith Carreiro
For information about my series, The Immortality Wars, please go to my home page: https://immortalitywars.com/