The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#224) -- Choosing Cons

You attend a lot of conventions. How do you determine which ones you attend and don't attend?

Fandom Fest 2012 (Louisville, KY).

It all comes down to money, most of the time. A lot of writers attend cons for their fun aspect and the meet-up aspect, but for me attending a con is a business decision. As such, I have to factor in how the con will build my business as a writer. It goes beyond just making money by selling books at a table though, and includes:

1. How much immediate money can I make off book sales?
2. How many publishers I need to network with will be attending as well?
3. Is the convention covering my hotel and travel?
4. Will the convention get me into a new market of readers I haven't previously met?
5. How much will my incidentals, such as food and gas, cost for the trip?

These are off-set occasionally by the also important questions such as:

1. Will this con enable me to see old friends I haven't seen in far too long?
2. Am I willing to take a loss on this one to build good will with a new convention?
3. Have I hit this convenient con too often recently so that I'm "old hat" and need to take a year or two off to have fresh stuff to present?
4. Will Sylvester McCoy or Sophie Aldred be there? (No, seriously. Will they?)