GottaCon is an annual broad-spectrum gaming convention held the first weekend of February at Pearkes Arena in Victoria, British Columbia.
As already mentioned, I was the Special Events Coordinator for GottaCon 2012. Part of my role as Special Events Coordinator was to moderate the discussion panels.
The third discussion panel was So You Wanna Write… It was held on February 4, 2012. Seated on the panel were Joanna Gaskell-webseries (Standard Action), Rob Hunt-film (Phasefirefilms), Karl Johanson-sci-fi, (Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine), Steve Saunders-comics (Media Gauntlet profile) and Eric Seaton-tabletop RPGs (Crosstime Games of BC).
The panel outline read: With today’s “new media”, it has become increasingly easier to become a content creator. However, sometimes you don’t always know where to start. If you’ve ever wanted to write a comic, film, webseries, science fiction, or RPG, this panel will explore the hows in creating and distributing your content, and how to get your foot into the industry.
Left to right: Joanna Gaskell, Rob Hunt, Steve Saunders, Julia 'Jules' Sherred, Karl Johanson, Eric Seaton. Photo by Karl Johanson
Some of the topics we explored during this panel include: Why the panelists chose the field they did; How they got started; Dos and don’ts in their respective fields; How to get started and self-publishing tools; How to distribute your content and ways to get the foot in the door. After the panel was over, there was a brief Q&A.
Also, Steve swears.
The panel, including Q&A, is just under 1 hour and 32 minutes. The file size is 83.7 MB. The file type is mp3, 128 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo.
You can download the panel here (right click, save as).
Alternatively, you can stream it below.
Podcast: Play in new window
Free Tools:
Editing and Creating Software
- Storyboard (Open Source Novel Writing Software) – http://www.novelist.ch/joomla/
- OpenOffice (Microsoft Office Alternative) - http://www.openoffice.org/
- Google Docs (Microsoft Office Alternative) – https://docs.google.com/
- GIMP (Adobe Photoshop Alternative) – http://www.gimp.org/
- Audacity (Cross-Platform Sound Editor) – http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
- Scribus (Adobe InDesign Alternative) – http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus
- Avidemux (Adobe Premiere Pro Alternative) – http://avidemux.berlios.de/
- Wax (Adobe After Effects Alternative) – http://www.debugmode.com/wax/
- Comic Life (Basic Comic Creator) – http://comiclife.com/
Distribution Tools
- Lulu (Self-Publishing POD) – http://lulu.com
- Createspace (Self-Publishing POD) – https://www.createspace.com/
- Bandcamp (Audio Distribution) – http://bandcamp.com
- WordPress (Free Blogging Platform With Domain Mapping) – http://wordpress.com
- Blogger (Free Blogging Platform With Domain Mapping) – http://blogger.com
- YouTube (Video Hosting) – http://youtube.com
- Blip.TV (Webseries Hosting) – http://blip.tv/
- Dropbox (File Sharing) – http://dropbox.com
Fundraising Tools
- Indiegogo (Kickstarter Alternative) – http://indiegogo.com
Book Recommendation
I hope you enjoy!
And if you haven’t yet, listen to/ download the first discussion panel, Making a Player Character That is More Than Just Statistics here and the second discussion panel, Evolution Of Social Gaming here.
