Going to do my best at a writing version of this lovely advice.
I believe the writing equivalent to craft shows and conventions is submitting to magazines and anthologies and contests, looking into ghostwriting and freelance writing, starting your own magazine, etc.
It's about looking into multiple revenue streams and taking full advantage of everything you can. A daunting task for those who just want to write book and get paid, but it's part of the writer world to submit to places in between books and hope for that extra money. It also gets your name in more places, so if someone sees the magazine or anthology or random website looking for stories and loves it they will hunt you down.
As for networking, it does require finding the right spaces so you can meet those right people. You need to get your stuff out there, where it can be seen, and that's part of why people try to game the algorithm on social media. Because that's often how you get seen.
That and finding relevant communities and trying to take part.
Most writing communities focus on sharing links to places open for submission, giving critiques, and generally helping each other out. Some even create lists of books to be released, or just released, and help hype you up. Which is awesome! If...if you can get on them, wherein lies new problems.
There are a bunch of these writing websites but most are dens of angry cats. This one is a nice place though (not a fan of the karma system to post, but I understand its existence).
The only avenue I know of, from experience, is submitting to magazines, anthologies and contest. So I will offer my advice on those.
There are websites dedicated to helping writers find places that pay for words. I love this one, personally, and haven't used but hear good things about this one.
Submit, submit, submit is the idea. A lot of contests have entry fees, but submission fees are rare.
Lots of magazine accept submissions, so check out your favorites and see if they're looking.
Remember to read submission guidelines, always check out a magazine's content to see if your stuff fits the themes, and learn how to write a cover letter (there are templates online, easy to find and understand).
Get into the habit of writing summaries. I hate them. They are the bane of my existence. But they are paramount to publishing and submitting.
Get used to rejection. It's going to happen. A lot. These places are fickle and it is not a slight on your ability. Remember that. Rejection doesn't mean you're a bad writer, it means you didn't meet their requirements or mesh with what they're looking for.
Don't take them personally.
