Events: BEA & BookCon 2018 Recap & Giveaway!

Crushed on by kelly, on July 11, 2018, in Events, Feature, Giveaways / 33 Comments

Events: BEA & BookCon 2018 Recap & Giveaway!

Attending BEA & BookCon is one of the most exciting book events I am able to attend. There is just something about these two events that make such an amazing experience. If you are ever able to attend, I definitely recommend it.

Seeing old friends and making new ones in lines was the absolute best. Well maybe scoring some of my most anticipated reads and getting to meet so many authors was the best part! I had a blast using Instagram stories to keep you all in the moment with me! Even though you might have missed this event you can follow me on Instagram and check out my story highlights for the few that I saved (under events). Also, you can follow me in anticipation for future event coverage (and probably some book mail)!

I sincerely apologize for this coming so late, but directly after this con, I went to another con…a fandom con for Supernatural. It was amazing, but I was so busy on all the work I missed that non-scheduled blogging took a tiny bit of a backseat.

So if you would like to know more about out my personal experience keep on reading. Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win some swag & an ARC or two!

 

NYC – Wednesday 5/30/18:

I took a mid-day train from Philadelphia to NYC and I read Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir on my journey. Which was no light reading…damn that book! Anyways…once I arrived I met up with my roomies, dropped off my luggage and we all went to Union Square. What was in Union Square you ask? Well bookstores of course! First we went to Books of Wonder and to no one’s surprise I bought like 6 signed books! Then over to The Strand and I literally could spend a whole day there. I think I bought 4 books, but I wanted to buy like everything! Once I finally got myself out of the bookstore we stopped in at Forbidden Planet comic book store. Finally, we ended our Union Square trip spending time at the massive Barnes and Noble (since I was staying with 4 B&N employees this was not in the least bit shocking).

TIP: If you are going anywhere that isn’t your home city for a signing event, try to make time to do some sightseeing! Some of the folks I stayed with went to a Broadway show, one knew they had to go to Milk Bar for some crack pie, and of course for me…I always look for the used book store to find those missing OOP books for my collection!

 

Book Expo America – Thursday 5/31/18:

Nothing like arriving at 6:30am with an empty suitcase, two soy chai tea lattes, and not enough sleep, in order to grab some of those precious ticketed signing chances! I would say there were probably at least 100+ people ahead of us. Honestly leaving at 6am might be the earliest I can do. I am not a morning person, and with my RA, sleep is precious to keeping my body on the show floor for hours. Walking into Javits was just emotional…and I am not even the authors who are being highlighted, but seeing a massive banner for Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera’s What If It’s Us was a beautiful sight. I literally teared up. For a minute it really felt like being queer is normal, and queer books can sell and it was just a really beautiful moment.

I started on the show floor and immediately lost my schedule out of my pocket in the mad crush of people…so good thing I had just sent a photo of it to Christy to let her know my very outrageous agenda! First thing we had to do was get to the TOR booth to grab those Victoria Schwab in booth tickets for the afternoon signing of Vicious…which was a success (also got my City of Ghosts arc signed too!). The rest of the days was lots of line standing and ARC grabbing! I also stood in line for over an hour to meet Ellie Kemper because me & my partner are huge fans of hers, and then I was so disappointed because it was only a sampler of her book…but I still got to meet her!

Highlights: Lauren Oliver knowing my name and then apologizing for personalizing my ARC, because she knew my name and didn’t bother to ask if I wanted it personalized. Now it is a story that I will never forget, and Eunice was so funny, she was like is there anyone you don’t know or who doesn’t know you? Real talk – I have been a small fry blogger for 6 years, only recently have I started to feel like people know me, so it still feels new and exciting. Another major highlight, FINALLY meeting Julie Kagawa for the first time since I started reading her books like 8 years ago! I told her as much and she was unbelievably kind to listen to my blubbering.

TIP: I personally like my ARCs to not be personalized because (sometimes) I give them away for #signedbooksundays or on the blog or to my friends, but the publishers want the authors to personalize the books in hopes less will end up on ebay. PLEASE don’t buy arcs on ebay. For me finished copies are the books that get personalized.

Haul: Broken Things – Lauren Oliver, Shadow of the Fox – Julie Kagawa, The Girl King – Mimi Yu, The Art of Losing – Lizzy Mason, City of Ghosts – Victoria Schwab, The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon, A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer, Girls of Paper and Fire – Natasha Ngan, Seafire – Natalie C. Parker, Sadie – Courtney Summers

Finished Copies: Furyborn – Claire Legrand, The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding – Alexandra Bracken, Vicious – V.E. Schwab

 

Book Expo America – Friday 6/1/18:

We did not feel the need to get there super early for any of the ticketed authors today, so we slept in a tad later! It’s great when you are planning ahead and know these things! At 9am I was already in the signing line for Becky & Adam, which wasn’t ticketed, something that shocked me TBH. I was 12th in line for this 11am signing. It was awful to watch them come and cut the line at 11am since there was only a limited number but all the people waiting in the back having their dreams crushed.

TIP: If you know something is a MUST HAVE, don’t be afraid to skip everything else. Sometimes, lining up 2 hours in advance is what it takes for the MUST HAVES.

After that I was able to get a whole lot of the arcs I really wanted! I was an autographing signing line diva! I got to see Tahereh Mafi, Scott Westerfeld, Kerri Manscalo, Ngozi Ukazu, April Genevieve Tucholke, Marie Lu, Laini Taylor, and the last, but not least, ARC & signing of the day, The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout! Longtime fan of the Lux series and I am over the moon excited for Luc’s book! So it was a damn good day with more excitement to come!

Today was a great day on the show floor and it continued out in the city! Other than our failure getting a lift from the convention center to our hotel…pretty much everything was awesome.

Of course the best highlight of the day came at night! It was the Fierce Reads Cocktail Party. Having a small intimate yet fun atmosphere to hang out with authors is like my bestest dreams come true. Like Alex London making me laugh hysterically. Hanging with the queen Leigh Bardugo. Having a drink with Kami Garcia. Chatting with the MCPG publicity team. It was a privilege to be invited again this year and it is always my favorite part of the whole week. I can’t even thank Fierce Reads enough.

Haul: What If It’s Us – Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera A Very Large Expanse of Sea – Tahereh Mafi, Impostors – Scott Westerfeld, Escaping from Houdini – Kerri Manscalo, Check, Please! – Ngozi Ukazu, The Boneless Mercies – April Genevieve Tucholke, Wildcard – Marie Lu, Muse of Nightmares – Laini Taylor, The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein – Kiersten White, The Wicked King – Holly Black, Mirage – Somaiya Daud, Darius the Great is Not Okay – Adib Khorram, Rule – Ellen Goodlett, Black Wings Beating – Alex London

 

BookCon – Saturday 6/2/18:

As is tradition for the last 4 years I spent most of my BookCon day standing in lines and getting books signed. This year it went by in a haze. I had tickets for Naomi Novik and Mariko Tamaki & Brooklyn Allen. I was also an on-site rep for Fox & Wit and I was talking to people in lines and giving out character cards with shop discounts on them, so it was a fun way to break the line waiting monotony.

TIP: In the morning make sure to check what authors still have tickets available, and you can add some signings to your day! I added Samuel Miller! Which was good because I had a back title of his with me to get signed and I knew I wanted to buy his recent release for me & Christy.

Another great moment I was standing around waiting for Julian Winters to be signing Running with Lions at the Interlude Press/Duet Books booth. I got to watch them all freak out just a bit when Adam Silvera & Becky Albertalli walked onto the show floor. Needless to say it was really fun seeing Julian and Becky wearing the same Simon t-shirt, and just the beautiful admiration in the air. Oh and of course I got my signed book too! (see insta pic below!)

One of the things I loved is that there are so many small bookish vendors with such great gear. I absolutely recommend Jordanené! Their shirts are so soft and hip and relevant! I got the Geekerella inspired tank for my bestie, Christy! I also bought an enamel pin because it was a must own! Seriously, I was in love with their stuff and if I could’ve bought it all, I would have! (see insta pic below!)

I also discovered one of the big sponsors Ampersand when I heard music playing so I headed over to the booth, and I got there just as Samuel Miller was finished playing…but I got a t-shirt and I really think this new reading app is going to make digital reading more fun!

Oh and I had a run in with a REAPER! So scary!

 

BookCon – Sunday 6/3/18:

I pretty much spent the entire day in the autographing lines. For the second BookCon in a row I had signing tickets for Rainbow Rowell and Laini Taylor! I was a tad pissed off because you are told ahead of time which authors you have to make a book purchase to be in their line (as well as getting a ticket!), and other signing rules like book limits etc… well Rainbow’s rules stated that no purchase was necessary but they changed that so a lot of people were very unhappy. BookCon needs to get these things right ahead of time so people can be prepared.

TIP: Be prepared to buy a book for a signing lines…and for rules to change. Honestly, I tried to fight this but just bought a book anyway because I had 6 Rainbow books with me. I lugged these tomes all the way here, I was getting them signed. Oh yeah there was a book limit but I just nicely asked the people in line near me to add them to their piles if they didn’t have the max limit!

For Laini Taylor I was buzzing in line, because Eunice made custom funko pops for Lazlo & Sarai! So it was all excitement…until all the front of line passes kept coming & coming and it felt like we would never get up to see Laini, but of course we did! It was awesome!

I really didn’t take many pics on Sunday at all, which sucks because I use my pics to help me remember what I did! But we left early and I hopped on a train home and was so tired for work on Monday.

 

My ARC Haul:

The End:

Overall Book Expo and BookCon 2018 went pretty smoothly. As usual for me I focused on ARCs for Book Expo and for Signed Books at BookCon. This is always been my plan and it works pretty well for me. Mainly because I am able to attend both events. I know this isn’t a luxury everyone can accomplish. Be prepared because BookCon is way more packed and there are less ARCs for the taking, however there are great deals on print books, and many many are signed.

Best Advice: Plan ahead, check schedules, twitter, publishers, and make lots and lots of lists of priorities and multiple options of times and things going on, that way if you miss an ARC drop, line is full, etc, you have somewhere else to go! HAVE FUN! Talk to people in lines, swap instagrams/twitter…make bookish friends!

 

Giveaway:

Win a swag pack including these ARCs (Check, Please; A Blade So Black; Sadie) & Finished Copies (Furyborn; The Astonishing Color of After; Just Fly Away) and more! US only sorry!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy #signedbooksundays! I was so excited to get a signed copy of Running with Lions by @wintersjulian at BookCon! Julian was so kind and so excited to be there it made the whole experience just wonderful. Just read that dedication page!! My heart! ? Ps. I was wearing a tshirt with a rainbow pineapple for the first day of Pride! ? Today’s theme is easy, PERSONALIZED, so show off something! Join in the fun and post a signed anything, be creative with the themes and use the hashtag! @diamondxgirl & I pick a new winner each month just for participation! ? #runningwithlions #duetbooks #julianwinters #interludepress #lgbtbooks #pride #readwithpride #signedbook #libros #bookphotography #instabook #bookphotochallenge #bookstagram #instabook #yacontemporary #amreading #bookblogger #booklover #bookworm #booknerd #bookish #bookcollector #yalit #ireadya #igreads #yabooks #owlcratesociety #signedbooks #bookcrushin

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33 responses to “Events: BEA & BookCon 2018 Recap & Giveaway!

  1. Rachel

    After begging and pleading, my husband has agreed to go to BEA/Book Con in 2020 after we save up?

  2. Tammy V

    I’ve been to a small one here in Pickerington that B & N put on. It was fun and very intimate. Met a lot of authors and got some books.

  3. This was great. Your tips are really helpful. I’m hoping to attend next year, so I’ll keep your tips in mind.

  4. Jenn Benando

    One of these years I’ll get to BEA. It sounds amazing. I’ve been to Austin Book fest and ApollyCon.l and this year I’m headed to Readers on the River.

  5. Danielle Hammelef

    Thank you for sharing! I love your trips to the book stores–I’d be there too and my budget would be history (or herstory as I prefer). I’ve never gone to an event like this, but would love to attend. I attend author events as much as I can (not to many YA/middle grade authors come close by my area).

    • Yeah I had to restrain myself at the bookstore, because damn books can be really expensive when you want to buy like 10 of them! LOL I hope more events come your way!

  6. DEBORAH AGUILAR

    Loved reading about your adventure. Seems like you had an amazing time!

  7. Audrey Stewart

    I have never been to a book festival. I was on staff at a book lunch that had authors and I met Anne Rule, the true crime writer who has since passed away.

    • I love small author events too because it can be so much more intimate and you can connect. At these events, its turn and burn…no time to say hi.

  8. Emelie Voss

    Loved reading about your experience 🙂 Hopefully some day I will attend, but until then I will just live vicariously through you!

  9. holdenj

    I have never been to a big book festival. I enjoyed your account of BEA and Bookcon–maybe someday!

  10. I’ve never been to a book festival. I might melt into a puddle at the sight of all the books! I’d love to take my daughter to one someday — but would have no idea where to even start.

  11. I’ve been to my state’s book festival 3 times (and volunteered there twice). But I wish I could go to BEA/BookCon or even ALA…so I can hang out with books & booklovers.? (It’s hard finding locals super passionate about reading.)