Hi, it's late Saturday night and I Have Opinions, so you're gonna get 'em.

Appearances and events are status symbols. Who gets invited to them, who panels with whom, who moderates what, it's all telegraphing a level of prestige.

It's saying "we think this author is relevant enough to put in front of an audience of people who can afford to be here."

But if the festival or your publisher isn't paying for you to go, then that limits author attendees to those who can pay their own way.

Which means author guests are limited to those who are either already relatively high-profile (enough to have the show or their pub pay their way) or those with the cash to get there and thus elevate their profile.

If you feel like you see a lot of the same folks, that's why.

With so many festivals going all-digital for their panels, and so many new digital shows popping up, there's absolutely no reason to not be reaching out to debuts, sophomore novelists, international authors, people who aren't getting media coverage.

I understand the need for big names in order to draw viewers, but there shouldn't be a "your marketing budget must have been THIS big" cap on your panelists. Now, more than ever, we have as close to a level playing field as we'll ever get.

"Do you have the resources and ability to do a Zoom panel" is still a barrier, but it's a hell of a lot lower than "can you afford to pay your own way if we or your publisher will not." I am *begging* organizers to make the most of that.

Especially when it comes to panels on marginalized identities. It's 2020. It's 2020. It's *2020.* Putting garden-variety straight cis able-bodied white people on those panels was already a bad look. Now that we're all in lockdown, you really can't say "no one was available."

Anyway we're all figuring stuff out right now and I know everyone's scrambling, but this is a real opportunity to put a spotlight on authors who are trying to build their audiences, *especially* marginalized authors. I'd hate for it to go to waste.