From my vary first Con (Penguicon 2013), I met some wonderful new and aspiring authors and began to connect with them. What have I gotten out of it? Well, for one, I now have a modest community of people that I can go to with writing or promotional questions or to ask to read ARC's (advanced reader copies) for me. Secondly, now that I know a few people, I am actually invited to participate in Cons, which is huge because you get yourself and your name in front of...dun, dun, duuuuuun...the public. Okay, so it's usually the geeky public, but it's still the public. Also, in case you weren't aware, if you are on a certain number of panels, etc. at Cons you may get your admission fee refunded or waved! At an average of $30-$60 bucks a pop, that's huge! Thirdly, if you've been keeping up with this blog at all, you will notice quite a number of posts which are what I like to call Awesome Author Interviews. If I didn't have a good rapport with other authors, I wouldn't have much to blog about now would I?
Now sure, I have had a handful of bad experiences with other authors taking advantage of my kind overtures, but that is such a ridiculous minority and so overshadowed by the benefits that I've received that it is almost not worth mentioning.
So take home message: stop trying to compete with your fellow authors and realize that you are all in this together and can each help the other succeed!
Keep Writing and Edit On,
Jen