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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

BEA 2014 Recap — in tweets (and retweets)!

WEDNESDAY: Arrival in NYC and Book Blogger Con

After a 4am wakeup, I met Sara at the train station!


(Maureen was hilarious.)

And my theme for BEA emerged: Restraint! I ended up with a goal of no more than 20 books total ... which I repeated ad nauseam during the rest of BEA, to hold myself to it.

(Never was a truer tweet posted.)

This was the most worthwhile panel of Book Blogger Con, and it was great to hear from Smart Bitches, one of my favorite blogs!




Afterward, we checked into our apartment (2 blocks from Javits FOR THE WIN), ate dinner, and headed to the Houndstooth Pub for some drinks with other kidlit folks!

THURSDAY: BEA Day One
As a rule, I don't get in the forever long celebrity author signing lines ... but I made an exception for NPH. And his book (Choose Your Own Autobiography) looks hilarious!



Afterward, Sara and I headed to Housing Works Books (pretty much the coolest bookstore/cafe ever) for a Rainbow Rowell reading.
FRIDAY: BEA Day Two




SATURDAY: BEA Day Three
(AKA the day of BookCon ... dun dun dunnnnnnn)


So happy to support a lovely Philly writer friend (and BEA roomie!) I.W. Gregorio as she moderated this excellent panel!

BookCon was INSANE. Total chaos, and most BEA-goers wanted no part of it.

I tried three times to go into the BookCon area to meet authors doing signings, and each time I gave up and battled my way out of the madness. It reminded me of Black Friday sales, or what I imagine Black Friday sales to be, if I ever attempted one.

I also attended a BookCon panel with Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Maggie Stiefvater.

To sum up Saturday.
I ended my four days in NYC with 19 books and a seat on an Amtrak Quiet Car train. Heaven!
Final thoughts:
THE BOOKS AND AUTHORS - I was so happy to focus my BEA time on only getting books I really wanted, with a mix of debut and longtime favorite authors. I loved being able to enthuse to authors how excited I was to read their books ... and my shoulders hurt a lot less. Also, no need to check a rolling suitcase! Woo!

THE PEOPLE - It sounds crazy, but I love waiting in lines at BEA because of all the amazing book lovers you meet and bond with as you sit or stand with each other for up to an hour (and sometimes more, but I kept away from those lines!). Hello, new friends! I also got a chance to speak with super-friendly reps from HarperCollins and Quirk, which is wonderful, because who better to introduce you to great books than the people who help bring them into the world?

BLOGGER CON - As a first-timer but long-time blogger, I honestly didn't learn all that much, but Book Blogger Con did exactly what I wanted it to do — it renewed my enthusiasm for blogging, which honestly has been waning a bit. It inspired a couple new ideas that you'll all be seeing soon enough!

BOOKCON - Though you couldn't pay me to enter the exhibit area, I did enjoy the two smaller panels I was able to attend. But hopefully next year will run more smoothly, because I'm sure I'm not the only BEA-goer who was running scared.

OVERALL - This was my first full, four-day BEA experience, and as a third-year BEA veteran, I definitely subscribed to the less-is-more mantra. It really helped to keep me refreshed and happy and able to enjoy all that BEA has to offer! But next year, I want a lanyard for my nametag, dammit.
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1 comment:

  1. Joanne R. FritzJune 9, 2014 at 4:50 PM

    Wow! What an experience you all had! I attended BEA once and it was so crowded and SO LOUD I kind of felt like yeah, maybe not every year, eh? And I remember the weight of those bags of books killing my shoulders. And my feet. Glad you had fun. Too bad Book Con was so crowded. But YAY for Ilene!

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