Thoughts from 20Books Vegas 2022
Last month, I flew to Las Vegas to attend 20Books Vegas 2022. The event is the largest indie author conference, inviting people from all over the world to learn, collaborate, and network.
The event is enormous; 1,800 authors attended in person with another 950+ virtual attendees. This was my first in-person writing conference (the Better-faster writing event I attended in July was a 4-day, single-track workshop).
Not only was it my first time to a live 20Books event, it was my first visit to Las Vegas, too.
The Best of 20Books Vegas 2022
Writers are awesome people
The one person I knew attending 20Books Vegas 2022 was someone I’d only met online. She was one of my first ARC reviewers and lives in Florida, about as far from the Seattle area as possible.
But it didn’t matter that I knew no one—every single writer I met was friendly. It was astonishing.
I met writers from all over the world. Writers working on fiction, nonfiction, kid fiction. Traditionally published writers dipping their toe into the indie publishing pool. Writers who had 100+ books published, and writers who hadn’t yet written “The End” on their first novel.
Amazing Vendor Access
Nearly every vendor I use was among the 54 vendors present at the trade show on Monday. Vendors also attended the conference or taught sessions, so I got to meet several more throughout the week.
I had great chats with the folks behind Google’s AI narration (some cool new functionality coming in 2023!), and the founder of Reedsy, which is one of my favorite writing resources.
Dave Chesson presented one talk I attended. He’s the powerhouse behind Kindlepreneur, a site dedicated to writing, publishing, and marketing books. He’s also behind several apps, including Publisher Rocket (which I use) and Atticus (which I’ve been eyeing).
One tool he showed was his Book Description Generator. While it won’t write your book description for you, it does handle all the crazy html formatting.
Paste your description into the generator, then format your text using a few simple buttons. When you like how it looks, hit the “Generate My Code” button and it will pop out the html you need for your book description on Amazon.
But not just Amazon.
There are also tabs for Barnes and Noble and Kobo, so you can get the correct html for their platforms too! This handy, FREE tool will probably save me more than an hour whenever I upload a new book or a preorder.
Expect High-Quality Content
With 190 presentations, there is something for everyone. Talks ranged from mindset to craft to business to marketing.
There was so much great content I had a major case of FOMO (fear of missing out) when I attended one session, then heard people’s opinions on a competing session I’d also considered.
Luckily, they recorded nearly all the sessions. Conference attendees (virtual and in-person) had access to these live or nearly live, but the organization puts many of them up on their YouTube channel too! They’ve already posted 14 of the sessions, with more to come around mid-December.
Tips for Getting the most out of a 20Books Vegas Conference
Attend with a Goal
With 190 sessions to attend at 20Books Vegas 2022, it was easy to get overwhelmed. One way of combating conference overwhelm is to attend with a specific goal.
My primary conference goal for this year was to learn more about direct sales, so I prioritized those sessions. Not only did I learn a ton, the conference content empowered me so much that I created my shop! Right now, I only have digital products for sale, but I’ll be adding print and signed books in the coming weeks.
Get involved
As an introvert, the idea of holing up in my hotel room was highly attractive. To combat my shyness and social anxiety, I made myself attend the sessions in person. And you know what? Some of the best conversations I had were with the people seated near me while waiting for a talk to start.
To make sure I took advantage of networking opportunities, I bought a ticket for the Fantasy Author Party. Plus, I attended many of the early-morning or after-hours meetups. Most meetups revolved around a theme and were open to anyone attending the conference.
Leave the Strip
For a Vegas first-timer, the strip quickly overwhelmed me. Luckily, I got invited to an off-strip dinner by one attendee and went with a group to the Fremont Street Experience on another night. I had a great time at both.
Bring Comfortable Shoes
I was absolutely unprepared for how much walking I’d do. The casinos are enormous, so a Vegas block is huge. For example, from the Bally’s Las Vegas hotel lobby, it was over a half-mile to walk through Bally’s into Paris and out onto the strip. To cross the strip at street level and watch the Bellagio Fountains (which I could see from my room!) was over three-quarters of a mile.
I brought workout gear with me, but I never touched it because I got 15,000 – 20,000 steps each day just attending the conference and eating dinner.
My Thoughts on Vegas and 20Books Vegas
First, let me get this out of the way.
I am not a Vegas person.
The excess and consumption culture shocked me.
Listen, they don’t call it Sin City for nothing.
Most of the casinos allow smoking, which I find super gross and triggered my asthma. Worse, the conference casino and hotel are being rebranded from Bally’s to Horseshoe, and the casino was under construction while we were there. Their work included ripping up carpets, moving slot machines, and putting down new carpet, which made the air even more dirty.
Since several of the scenes in Charcoal and Smoke take place in Vegas, I walked the strip to take pictures of specific locations. Nothing in the main part of the strip made me uneasy, but near the ends, the temperature and vibe change. I wouldn’t walk off the strip at night, or walk alone.
Vegas is expensive. The Seattle area is not cheap, but wow.
A fast-food breakfast sandwich and a drip coffee cost me $17 before tip. No sides, no fancy coffee.
I was fine with the expensive lunches and dinners, but $17 for a meal that doesn’t even include table service (or coffee refills) was astonishing.
Conference critique
As far as the conference went, there were a few issues. The crew at Bally’s were constantly available, which was good because the mics were regularly an issue. Many of the live streams didn’t work on the first and second days, so the virtual attendees couldn’t ask questions.
During the question-and-answer period following presentations, attendees often chattered with each other, making it hard to hear and concentrate. But the room’s moderator only said something in one session I attended.
My biggest critique of the event was the lack of diversity in the presenters. The high-powered author’s panel at the start of the conference was all women, but they were all white, blonde women. There was diversity in the attendees, but I would have liked to see more people of color, disabled people, and a wider rage of ages presenting.
I can’t wait for 20Books Vegas 2023
Negatives aside, the 20Books Vegas 2022 conference was excellent. In my opinion, it would be valuable to any writer at any stage of their writing journey. If you’ve been tempted to attend, you should. Even if you’re shy and know no one, you will get invaluable information and meet great people at the conference.
Craig has scheduled 20 Books Vegas 2023 for November 6-10. Registration will open in January. I’ll be signing up right away, so let me know if you decide to go. I fully expect 2023 will be easier—I have a better idea of what to pack and what to expect, and I’d be happy to share more tips with you.
Have you attended a 20Books live event?