BEA 2013 Coverage - Day 3 (Neil Gaiman!)

What: Book Expo America
Where: Jacob Javits Center, NYC
When: Saturday, June 1, 2013.


On the last day of BEA, I was very anxious to go see Neil Gaiman speak, but honestly, I never thought I'd be able to get in.   So Maria from Serpentine Library and I decided as soon as we got to BEA we would take one look around the floor for any drops and then go to the room where Neil was speaking.  We managed to get seats and I was able to sneak up front for a photo or two...or three.  Neil talks like he writes, thoughfully and lyrically.  And really, everything he says is so prolific it's like poetry.  The accent doesn't hurt either.

On why he feels Fiction is dangerous: "Fiction lets you into other people's heads.  It let's you have empathy.  The world doesn't have to be like the one you live in and that's very dangerous."

His worst fear: "That no one will tell me if it's a dud."  To which his editor replied, "I will."

Proudest of: "My kids.  And they baffle me."

On if he still feels doubt: "Yes.  It hasn't been 30 years of sucess.  Not everything works.  I'm arrogant and have self doubt."

On Ocean at the End of the Lane: "It's not a Fantasy at all.  It's about memories...I started writing a short story then it was a novellette.  Then I kept writing and it was a novella."  When he handed it in to his editor he included a note, "I think I've written a novel.  I hope you don't mind."  He felt writing this story was like driving at night with one headlight out in a thick fog.  He could only see a little bit ahead.  It's an organic story.  It's a story about stories. 

On writing: "You learn to write the one you're on.  Each book is it's own discovery."

After the Gaiman excitment, it was a pretty quiet day.  Yes it was still full of signings and long lines, but there weren't as many people on the floor.  It had a much more laid back vibe than previous days.

Mary Higgins Clark.  I snapped the picture when I was on another line.

I was told this book is about "Mommy issues." So I had to get it.

I enjoyed Saturday because I discovered authors that I may not have heard of.  Afterwards, Kate, Maria and I went out for lunch back on our home turf because we were too exhausted to stay in the city and explore.  Plus, we had plans to go to Chinatown the next day so we needed to rest up. 

Hope you enjoyed my BEA wrap up!  I'm looking forward to next year. 

BEA 2013 Coverage - Day 1

What: Book Expo America

Where: Jacob Javits Center, NYC

When: Thursday, May 30, 2013.

Kendare Blake!  Kendare Blake!  That's all I was thinking as I headed into the Javitz on Thursday morning. Sure I passed by some of the bigger booths and although I was right near the book drops, I just couldn't get to them. Yeah, people still jostle you and grab 3 books and before you know it, they are all gone. Oh well. It's just a book.

This blurry photo captures the book drop frenzy perfectly.

Anyway, I loved Anna Dressed in Blood so I really wanted Antigoddess. I gushed a little bit about the book when I met her and told her I adored Cas. She said he would love that because he's that kind of guy.

Then I headed over to the line for 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil who is soooo extremely nice.  Fangirled *again* and headed over to Kami Garcia's signing. 

I'm really looking forward to her solo effort, Unbreakable. She saw my nametag and said she wanted to use the word "midnight" in her title, but it didn't work.

Isn't her ring awesome?  I complimented her on it and she told me that she had it made and it is from her book.  How?  Well, we all have to read it to find out!
 

 I picked up Doon by Carey Corp (l) and Lori Langdon (r) which is a re-telling of Brigadoon.

Although I missed the autographed lithographs of the new Harry Potter cover, I snapped this picture of artist Kazu Kibuishi.  Some people are upset that they are changing the cover, but I feel that this series is so many things to so many people that everyone has their own vision anyway.  Also, there are already different cover versions for HP. 

Here are a few more pictures of signings I went to. 

These two staff members were trying to get me to do naughty things, which I thought was hysterical.

Veronica Roth signed posters to give out. 

Then I hung out with my cohort Karen from For What It's Worth as she waited on line for Eloisa James to sign.

Karen gets her book signed.

I love to get all my books by Jeri Smith-Ready signed.

Because Kate had kindly invited me as her "Plus 1" we headed over to the Penguin Bird Bash. There were fun punch drinks, organic and vegetarian hotdogs, desserts, AWESOME music and authors, other bloggers and a special appearance by "The" Penguin. Cindy from Cindy's Love of Books won an i-pad mini! It was the number between mine and Kate's - So close! But congratulations Cindy!

Kate (Midnight Book Girl) & Cindy (Cindy's Love of Books).

Sue Grafton made an appearance!



BEA 2013 Coverage - Book Bloggers Conference.

As most people know, the structure of BEA was a little different this year.  The BEA Bloggers Conference was Wednesday with the rest of BEA being Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

I hesitated to go to the BEA Bloggers Con this year after last year's event, but I decided to give it another try.  Plus, Kate from Midnight Book Girl was going and she was staying with me, so that was more incentive to go.

The first snafu was when Kate was trying to get the meal voucher.  Long story and VERY rude manager that upset both of us quite a bit.  I tweeted this and one of the organizers of the Con responded immediately to come find her and she would have a ticket.  So that was great and I appreciated the quick response to rectify the situation.  However, we didn't need to do this because another person at our table was given 5 meal tickets (yes 5) and gave Kate one.  So, it worked out on that end.

The opening keynote speaker was Will Schwalbe.  His talk was called Who Knows What Works and the booklet described his presentation as discussion of what works and what does not work on the web pertaining to books.  There were a few Tweets expressing displeasure with his comments about being "nice" in reviews and to remember that there is a person behind the book.

So, there was that.

I think that most book bloggers understand that we discuss the book and not the author and to be reminded to watch our snark kind of made me feel like I was being scolded.

Next was the Adult Editor's Insight.  I assumed this panel would discuss editing books.  How it works, some inside stories.  However, it was a panel telling about the books coming out.  I wish there had been a blurb explaining this or the panel was called something else that was more clear.  I didn't leave and go to the other panel because that one was the YA Editor's Insight and I figured it would be the same.

A lively discussion was after that with Adult Book Blogging Pros: Successes, Struggles and Insider Secrets.

After that I went to the VERY crowded food court for lunch.  It was crazy!  I didn't really want to wait on two long lines so I just grabbed a salad and waited on the long line to pay.  There were other Cons going on and maybe the organizers might want to think about not holding the lunch slots at the same time.  There were several people who didn't get a lunch voucher either. 

When I finished eating I went back into the main room and caught some of the Ethics Forum Luncheon.  Admittedly, I didn't hear much, but I did understand that basically the FTC is concerned about endorsements.  So that's why book bloggers need to be transparent about their sources.  

Next up-Blogging Platforms with Rachel from Parajunkee, April from Good Books and Good Wine, Evie Seo from Bookish and Stephanie Leary, a Word Press Consultant.   Although I knew a lot of the information presented, it was still helpful to hear it again and the discussion of the pros and cons of each.  I'm still trying to decide if I should switch to Word Press from Blogger.  I feel like I don't really need to, but after this panel I'm getting closer and closer.

Extending the Reach of Your Blog Online was next with some ideas of how to increase your presence.  We skipped the closing Keynote so I can't really comment on that.

Me and Jeff Hirsch.

Kate and I headed over to the cocktail hour which was nice.  We met some publishers and got some books signed.  I met Jeff Hirsch who wrote The Eleventh Plague and I was able to get my book signed.   We also met Melissa de la Cruz and got books signed.  I was kind of nervous to ask Jeff to sign my book, but he was so extremely nice.

Melissa de la Cruz and Kate.

I think that the organizers do listen to the attendees of the Bloggers Con and it was improved from last year in that I didn't feel books were being pushed on me and the general feel of what bloggers could do for authors was not present. However, as with all events, there were some aspects that could be improved.  I realize that the day is short and different people look for different information at a conference.  I'll have to see what the line-up is for next year before I decide to go again.  I also feel that a lot of information is so readily available online and from helpful bloggers that the conference didn't enhance what I already knew.  Don't let that sway you from attending though.  Determine if the speakers are a good fit for you and if you think you can learn something new.