Some authors are popular enough to have spawned fan-organised conventions to celebrate they and their works. I’m neither popular enough to have reached that stage nor narcissistic enough to attempt to organise such a convention for myself. But I do have themed launch parties for each book I publish, and the theme for those parties is “convention”.

So a Jonnycon is a book launch party in the style of a SF/F convention. It will have the trappings of a convention – a registration desk, members badges, a (mock) programme guide, and so on, but it’s all tongue-in-cheek. At the end of the day it’s a launch party, albeit hopefully one that is fun for all involved, more so because of the theme¹.

Jonnycon II, the launch party for my third novel, The Sleeping Dragon, was held on Saturday 23rd February 2019. This followed on from Jonnycon I, which was held in November 2015 to launch If Pigs Could Fly.

¹As an aside, I do think the convention theming actually makes the party more accessible for anyone who, like myself, isn’t a natural extrovert. When you find meeting new people just a bit stressful, having everyone wear a badge with their name on it just makes everything that bit easier.