I went to BookExpo (for those not in the know, the biggest book conference in North America)(aka “BEA”) last week. I’ve been going every year since… oh… 2012? I’m insanely lucky and predictably nerdy, yes. I go for blogging, obvi, but I also manage the digital presence at my nonprofit, so this year I registered through work. I wasn’t sure how the “we’re cutting down on bloggers” direction the show was going would relate to me, an inconsistent small-timer, so I didn’t bother to try registering as press or as a blogger. If you saw me at the show, I was wearing a badge that said “Cecelia, Digital Content Strategist, [nonprofit name], NON-PROFIT.” Pretty VIP (but only on opposite day).
Let me recap: somehow I manage to attend a huge BOOK CONFERENCE every year and hang out with BOOK PEOPLE all day. It’s basically heaven!!!
Here’s what I saw and did, and also there’s a giveaway at the end if you’re into that kind of thing (yay!).
On Wednesday I worked a half-day and then took the bus up to NYC. I checked in to my friend Liza’s hotel room (thanks, dude!) and headed over to Blogbound Con for the evening. I attended Blogbound in July last year and had a fantastic time – it was free, had great programming, and a diverse audience. This time around it seemed a little less fabulous, but I definitely enjoyed the two panels I stayed for (Writing for 3rd Party Outlets & Tackling Problematic Books in Our Current Political Climate). Afterward, a non-blogging friend and I hit up Buvette, a tiny French cafe that I can’t recommend enough. Like, the food KILLED, they had a pop-up menu, and it was adorbs. Also $$$, but I like to splurge on good food once in a (long) while, so. And then I went back to the hotel and crashed, b/c I had to be up v. v. early the next morning.
Thursday morning started SO EARLY I CAN’T EVEN believe it in retrospect. I was out of the hotel room by 6:50am because…. I had a hair appointment! No, really, for real. When I checked out the hotel amenities online I noticed that they had a blow dry bar on site. And I’ve never been to one, but every time I get my hair done for anything (weddings) I request a braid, so I was like, why not? AND CAN I JUST TELL YOU, the braid was a *great* decision. Everyone complimented it and it still looked fabulous late that evening. Solid choices, past me.
I arrived at the Javits (the conference location) a little after 7:30 and lined up for a Maggie Stiefvater autograph ticket (which I got!) for her upcoming standalone All the Crooked Saints. And then I lined up for the show floor, which opened at 9, and met some lovely people and had a tote bag and ARC (advanced review copy) handed to me by an enthusiastic bride as promotion for a book that released today (the book is The People We Hate at the Wedding). When the show floor opened I wandered around a bit and ended up at the Macmillan booth, where the author of said book was hanging out with the Flatiron Books staff and the bride. The bride serenaded me, author Grant Ginder signed my book on the spot, and the whole thing basically made my morning.
And then… it was book after signing after panel after book, all in a big rush until lunch (with Emma & Nicole in the food court). My friend Sajda ended up with a last minute attendee badge, so we spent the rest of the day palling around together and taking ridiculous photos. And then after a healthy dinner at The Little Beet (veggie-friendly fast casual!) Liza and I met Sajda at the Big Honcho Media Stay Golden party, b/c of course. Afterward we headed home and fell into bed after having the same Uber driver on the way to AND from the party. Felix dropped some dating advice on us and we were like… o.O
Friday seemed crazier. Was it crazier in reality? Dunno. BUT. I didn’t really stop at all that day (minus a few fun photo opps). I met Leigh Bardugo and she told me my hair was so cute she wanted to punch it. She also signed a copy of Warbringer (the Wonder Woman YA novel!) for me. For a bit I was a booktubing group’s unofficial photographer. I also snagged Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince with some creative planning and line watching. It… was a lot. At the end of the show I shipped my books via UPS onsite, and then I sat down for like a half minute before heading off to the Fierce Reads author-blogger party. WHICH WAS GREAT. I chatted with Tomi Adeyemi (I added her book to Goodreads!) & Tillie Walden (comic artist I supported on Patreon!), some ladies from Forever Young Adult, and hugged author Emmy Laybourne twice (may have been tipsy by then). Publicist Gina from First Second gave me an amazing MCU fanfic rec. So, a successful party all-around.
AND THEN I TOOK THE BUS HOME.
Whew, I got tired writing that all out! I hope you can tell that it was the most fun. B/c it totes was.
And! To celebrate, I’m currently hosting my first ever Instagram book giveaway! Check it out. To enter you need to like & comment over on insta. Giveaway includes the items shown and ends tomorrow, June 7 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be selected randomly and notified via the ‘gram. Good luck!
2 comments:
Girl how are you going to tell us you got an amazing MCU fic rec AND THEN NOT SHARE IT? I need that in my life!
It sounds like you had a fab time at BEA; I'm just sad I don't live in New York anymore or maybe we could have met up! SOME DAY CECELIA.
@Jenny: You are SO RIGHT. I am going to tweet it to you. And also add it to the post for others' benefit. AND YES, SOMEDAY WE WILL MEET!
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