Tagged: bea 2015
My New York Trip Day #6: Last Day of Book Expo America 2015
As pretty much everyone who writes on the topic of Book Expo will inform you, the last day of the expo is the craziest. There are the most people with the most books and they’re all there to get as many books signed as possible. Line ups are crazy and it’s a little disorganized but things usually work out okay in the end.
I know this because I went to go get a book by Scott Westerfeld signed and ended up in line for almost an hour. That wasn’t all that bad because who should be behind me but Kellie Sheridan, the co-founder of Patchwork Press and author of Mortality, a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Talking to her was awesome while waiting for Scott Westerfeld (who was, in the brief time we met, incredibly nice).
The only other book I stood in line for was Fairest by Marissa Meyer. It was a good thing I showed up early to get in line because apparently they were limiting the line to 100 people or something. It wasn’t one of the ticketed signings but I think a lot of people really wanted the book so I’m glad I ended up getting it. Marissa Meyer is one of those authors I never expected to stumble across but have absolutely loved her books in the Cinder series. Reading Fairest will be a nice little treat while waiting for her next full length book.
I wanted to meet up with two people but only actually met up with one, which was fine. I can’t talk much about who I met and what we discussed because so far it’s just in the works but I think it’s something a lot of book reviewers like me could benefit from in the future.
On this last day I didn’t really stick around long because I’d seen pretty much everything I wanted to see and talked to almost everyone I wanted to talk to. I had a great time at the Expo and would recommend it to anyone who has wanted to go in the past. The bloggers conference isn’t really worth your time but the main expo definitely is.
My New York Trip Day #5: Book Expo America 2015
Since I scouted out the convention centre instead of going to the blogger social after the Bloggers Conference I sort of knew where I was going this morning. I didn’t have to hurry in to register right away because the exhibit hall wasn’t officially open until 9:00 and I was already registered from the Bloggers Conference. So I came in around 8:30 and accidentally stumbled onto a galley drop over at Scott Westerfeld’s publisher for his new collaborative work, Zero. I wasn’t expecting it but I enjoy Westerfeld’s work so I’m actually quite eager to get started on it.
Again I was very selective about only picking books I have the full intention of reviewing but there are just so many books out there. Even if you’re as selective as I am, you’ll end up with 20+ books. Part of the reason is because there are so many YA galley drops and signings. The publishers know their audience for the Expo and they aren’t stupid; they do cater quite a bit to the blogging community.
The only thing I really planned on seeing today was the Tor/Forge panel because John Scalzi was moderating/interrogating for it. I discovered some amazing new authors like Seth Dickinson and Ilana C. Myer from the panel. John Scalzi really is a great interviewer because he makes things funny without making them seem contrived or forced. I was up front so I noticed poor Ilana Myer was shaking she was so nervous at first but Scalzi put her at ease and pretty soon her personality was shining through. The real star of the panel seemed to be Seth Dickinson, whose book The Traitor Baru Cormorant sounds amazing. He was hilarious and it’s clear that he’s really thought the political aspect of his world through. When I learned that he and Ilana Myer were signing I actually stood in line for autographs and got books from both of them. In the process I learned that this was poor Ilana’s first panel! Sticking her in front of a full audience at Book Expo America of all places was an interesting decision on Tor/Forge’s part but John Scalzi luckily made her right at home.
After the panel everyone crowded around the authors so I went off to explore the expo more. By the time I came back John Scalzi was finishing up with a group so I awkwardly asked him for a picture, which is above. He was really cool about it and I was so excited I could barely form a proper sentence. So thanks for the awesome picture, John Scalzi! It really made my day to meet one of my favourite authors/bloggers.
So that was my second day at the expo and my fifth day in New York. So far, things have been amazing and I’m not looking forward to going home.
One Week Until Book Expo America!
Even just thinking about BEA right now ensures I can’t sit still like a normal adult human being. I’m so excited to see New York and the convention that I’ve already started packing. It’s only Wednesday and I don’t leave until Sunday but I’m just ridiculously excited. So I wanted to talk a little bit about my plans for this week-long trip.
First off, I plan to finish off the week as I normally do: with some reviews, a discussion and hopefully a Game of Thrones recap once I get all settled into the hotel in New York. Then things start to get a little crazy.
For the whole week I’m in New York, virtually none of my posts will be book related. I’ll be doing daily recaps of what I’ve done as a tourist and/or as a book blogger. So you’ll be able to see what extreme exhaustion does to a human being because my flight is definitely a red-eye flight as well as see what extreme excitement does to ones’ writing ability. It should be an interesting journey, both for me and hopefully you, my readers. I’m going to take lots of pictures (as usual) and will be posting the best ones here on The Mad Reviewer. I’ve got big plans for myself and I can’t wait to actually carry out those plans!
So that’s the scoop on what’s happening in the next little while. See some of you at BEA in just under a week!
More Book Expo America Preparation
So this week I got two main things regarding BEA accomplished:
1. This isn’t a very good picture but I think it conveys the idea well enough: I now have business cards! Thanks to VistaPrint as well as Diantha Jones’ awesome logo she designed for me, I now look like I know what I’m doing when I encounter other bloggers, publishers, authors and editors at the book expo. I ordered these on a Sunday night and they came Wednesday afternoon in the post, which is amazing for Canada Post. (Canada Post kinda sucks at getting parcels places on time and intact.) I got 500 business cards for $24.31, which includes shipping. The actual price for the cards was $9.99 so even though the shipping was more expensive, I still can’t really complain.
2. I ordered American money at the local Credit Union and was shocked to see that the government has actually decided to add some colour to the bills. They aren’t all just that same shade of green! You Americans may laugh at other countries’ “monopoly money” but at least we can tell what bills we have in our wallets without checking each one. And now you can too! This actually kind of shocked me and another thing I found odd when I was counting the bills was that newly printed American money smells like sweaty socks. I don’t know why but it just does. And I also learned that I prefer sweaty socks to the sickeningly sweet maple syrup smell Canadian bills give off that makes me want to barf. Yes, the new plastic Canadian money smells really, really bad to me.
So what do you guys think of the business card?
Who’s Coming to Book Expo America 2015?
It’s official: I’ve booked my hotel and my plane ticket so I am going to attend BEA in New York on May 27-29. I’ll actually be arriving a little before the conference on a Monday and leaving on a Monday at the crack of dawn but the main reason I’m coming is for the conference. I’m so lucky that the hotel I’m staying at is just 0.4 miles from the Javits Center where the conference takes place. So here’s what my schedule looks like:
May 25: Arrive and get my bearings, maybe go for a walk in the downtown area. Try to find Central Park (which is apparently fairly close to my hotel).
May 26: Metropolitan Museum, here I come! Plus maybe a little shopping.
May 27: BEA Bloggers’ Conference pretty much all day.
May 28: Regular Book Expo America, probably mostly wandering around and trying to get my bearings. The only panel I really want to see is the Tor panel where John Scalzi’s speaking.
May 29: Continue with Book Expo America on the last day. I have nothing planned for this day at the conference right now but I’m sure that will change once I find out about more of the events.
May 30: Do the tourist thing: I’m hoping to see the Empire State Building and/or the Statue of Liberty. Maybe hit up another museum on Museum Mile.
May 31: (Hopefully) go see a taping of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Tickets aren’t available quite yet but I’ve bookmarked the site and am eagerly awaiting the announcement for when tickets are available for that particular day. I know they go fast but I’m really hoping to get one.
June 1: Leave in the middle of the night for home.
Is anyone interested in meeting up with me at the conference? I’d love to meet my fellow readers as well as authors and other bloggers.
And if you’re not coming to Book Expo America, don’t worry! I’ll be posting daily articles about my experiences at the conference and at the end will probably provide a tips for next year article even though it’s in Chicago and not New York for 2016. I’m just so excited for BEA 2015 and the closer the date gets, the more excited I become and the more time seems to slow down.
So who would like to meet up at the conference?