Hey there, book world! Long time, no update (but not really). It’s been a hectic few days for me here, but at least I have some book news for you! It’s that time of year again when Book Expo comes to town, and for a second year, I attended and was once again, blown away by the literary community/industry. I figured I’d hop on here and give a recap of my experience with the event, include some photos, and just tell you guys that it’s a must-see for any reader who’s in the industry in any way.
To begin, there’s Book Expo and there’s BookCon. I’ve never attended BookCon simply for the fact that by time Expo is over, I’m genuinely exhausted and can’t bring myself to attend more days. I’m probably making an assumption here since I have not attended both, but it seems like Expo is geared more towards people in the industry; book clubs, bloggers, media, librarians, publishers, authors, editors, agents, etc while BookCon’s sole focus is the fans and readers as a community. Definitely correct me if I’m wrong!
Anyway, I came across a sponsored post for Book Expo last year and went to the site to apply to attend, and thankfully, they’ve given me a yes two years in a row. It’s three fun-filled and informative days of panels, lectures, meetings, and LOTS of galley (ARC) handouts and book swag. You name it, it’s there. Clothes, books, bookmarks, pins, tote bags, author signings, celebrity sightings, and more await you at the Javit’s Center in New York.
Now, I live just across the river in New Jersey, so both years, I’ve commuted in via train, and this year, there seemed to be repeated issues with NJ Transit, so that caused a bit of a headache when it came to trying to spend all day there. Due to delays, there were a few events I missed, so maybe next year, I’ll plan to just suck it up and stay in the city. I dug my heels in this year because there’s just something about lugging bags of books all over Manhattan that made me want my own bed at the end of the night. Ah well.
This year, they called it the “reimagined” book expo, and they definitely did. Again, I’m going to assume that not every year will be quite up to snuff or what everyone may expect. For being my second year in attendance, for some reason, with the setup and other attendees, I almost felt like I didn’t belong. In the three days I spent wandering the aisles and company booths, I tried to notice other attendee badges to get a feel for who I was walking around with, and this year, I didn’t see another blogger anywhere. Not to say that they weren’t there (because there were a lot of people there), but last year, I knew I saw multiple bloggers. It almost made me wonder if I should pass on Expo next year and perhaps attend Con instead. I might do that just to get a feel for BookCon since I’ve never been.
In 2018, I was lucky enough to score a ticket to listen to Senator Bernie Sanders speak, but aside from that and attending a talk with Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman about the book they co-wrote, my agenda for this year was quite empty. Don’t get me wrong, there were a LOT of authors there speaking on panels and doing signings, but many of the names were unrecognizable to me. Combined with the train delays I faced, it actually worked out, because I didn’t have to run to tables and booths to try and get ARCs and autographs because there weren’t many must-sees for me this year.
Just because there weren’t absolutes for me doesn’t mean I didn’t not enjoy myself or meet people. As usual, I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place. My goal when I go is to try to network with people in the industry both because of my blog, and because of what I went to school to study. Book Expo is the world I strive to be a part of while simultaneously feeling like an outsider at the same time (if that makes sense). I seem to underestimate how much bloggers are valued to people in the industry, so it’s nice to go and meet people who want to network and market through you. I met a handful of lovely authors and wound up with twice the haul I came home with last year.
It seems there were fewer displays out and about this year to just wander over and pick up a freebie like there was last year, and for a handful of these books, I did have to get in line and attend a signing, but it was still nice to meet authors and make small talk with people writing genres I may not have considered reading. I’m thrilled that I found some new books to review and picked some selections for future book club discussions.
All-in-all, as I stated earlier, Expo was a thrilling and informative three-day event that I loved attending despite the fact that it differed from last year. I always leave learning something and maintaining the opinion that it’s one of the coolest events I’ve been to in my life as a book lover, blogger, and English Major.
Now that I’ve blabbed for almost 1,000 words. I’m going to sign off here, but stay tuned, because my shelves are officially overstocked, so you might see some of this haul posted as a giveaway. If you haven’t already, follow me on Instagram so you can stay updated on getting your hands on a free book!
Did you attend Book Expo this year? Have you attended BookCon? I’d love to hear your thoughts on if I should switch it up and go to Con next year instead!
