BookExpo America discussion

Have fun!

Registered! :D Thanks for the heads up Hannah!

All registered and booked my hotel!

I registered and booked my hotel!

Hannah, What Hotel are you staying at? I'm staying at a Marriot on 40th.

I'm staying at the Hampton Inn Times Square North on 51st. I stayed there last year and freaking LOVE THIS HOTEL.

We should organize a meet and greet!

That sounds fun! I'm totally up for that!

I'm coming in daily from CT on Metro North. Sadly hotels close to BEA r a tad too pricey :( it's ok I live close by train. I'd love to stay in NYC and do BEA that way. Maybe 2014? It's going to Chicago in 2015 or 16

2016 it moves to Chicago, which makes me kinda sad. LOL

☆∞Bella's wrote: "I'm coming in daily from CT on Metro North. Sadly hotels close to BEA r a tad too pricey :( it's ok I live close by train. I'd love to stay in NYC and do BEA that way. Maybe 2014? It's going to Chi..."

Is this your first time? I had friends that did that last year, Just be prepared to have a 200 lb bag and have to lug it through whatever terminal you come from. (Grand central yeah?)

Oh I've always wanted to go to Chicago and hopefully by then I'm in my actual career so I can go on the company's dime...

Well to be fair she can stop by the Post Office and ship them out. Me and tegs shipped out about 156lbs of books/swag last year for just under $50.

My cousin is going with me this year and asked how much she should save to ship stuff home. Last year I spent about $20 a box at the post office and between all the swag and whatnot, I sent 6 boxes back in varying sizes, mostly medium to small. But I went to the PO daily after BEA. I think if I waited and combined more I can do less boxes, ergo less $.

Plus, the last day of BEA we're leaving for home right from BEA so whatever I get that day has to fit with my clothes in my suitcase.

Admittedly, I went a little nuts at my first BEA last year and grabbed WAY too much. I still have a shelf-full of books from there to be read. This time I plan to be much more selective.

It was beneficial financially to do it all in one shot...but it was also stressful weight wise. Plus with BEA going til Saturday this year, i'm not sure if the main branch closes early on Sat or not.

Yeah we broke two suitcases last year with how many books we still brought home.

Oh, whoa. Yeah, I'm worried about breaking a suitcase with the weight, too, hence why I went daily. This year ... Meh. It is what it is. I'll use totes to carry stuff if I must. It'll suck, but be worth it.

You shoulda seen my sister though, she powered that 70 lb suitcase up four flights of stairs with only mild cursing XD

I might do like Tegs' boss and bring my own boxes and ship from the hotel honestly. Most hotels have some sort of shipping thing for the guests.

I have never been. Do bloggers get a lot of books there?

Read for your future! wrote: "I have never been. Do bloggers get a lot of books there?"

Yes ... but it's more than just the books. I mean, I got to meet so many amazing authors last year. And I got facetime with publicists and people I had been conversing with only via the internet for over a year.

That is so awesome. Where do we register at?

bookexpoeamerica.com

I went last year as a Power Reader and would love to go for the entire thing this year. Does anyone know if that's possible/allowed/etc.? Thanks for your help!

Are you a blogger or anything like that? You can buy the blogger pass for $104.

I'm not a blogger - I just review on GoodReads, which I don't think counts...

Hmmm ... Yeah. I'm not sure. I think they're doing the Power Readers program again this year, though!

They're definitely doing the Power Readers program again, though far as I can tell its still the one day.

Maybe see if you can find a blog that needs reviewers - I know there's a few I've seen around that are looking for help reviewing. Then you won't have as Full Time a commitment as most of us, but you'll still be able to claim legitimately you are a blogger.

Thanks Hannah and Lexie! I also just looked online and book club facilitators are allowed to register. It's a little more expensive than the blogger price, but still gets me in.

If all else fails, I will definitely be going as a Power Reader again - it was an amazing time last year!

That's a great idea, Lexie!

Hope you can go the whole time, Jenn! It really is just an incredible experience.

So I qualify as a book club facilitator/leader. But I've never been before. I'm leaning towards just going the one day as a Power Reader to get a feel for it, but I do have to admit the rest of it sounds cool too.

How do the earlier days differ from the last one?

Different authors are offered--not just for autographing/signing, but also different Author Stage events (where they discuss their book, usually with several other authors in their genre), but the first two days are also the more 'packed' ones. More people, more signings, more galley related drops. The first two days are also longer by about 2hours.

The last day is a good day to talk with the booth people--especially after the first couple of hours. There tends to be less people milling around, so its easier to grab their attention. Also a lot of folks frontload their meetings for the first two days, so the last day there's different people able to talk to you.

I'm not sure that its going to be as quiet this year since its a saturday and Power Readers is super open to everyone.

Should I be worried about there be no passes available past a certain date? I think I'm going to wait until early-mid April to decide for certain whether I want to go as a Power Reader the last day or get a pass for the whole thing. I understand that hotels will be harder to book and transportation more expensive.

I don't think that is something to be worried about, last year they had tons of passes available the day before.

They used to have BEA on Saturday when I first began going, and it wasn't any more crowded (relatively speaking--there's more people going NOW, but it wasn't as crowded compared to the two days before THEN). Its still not a day the Publishers really push--remember they have to pay their employees for working on Saturday (half of whom are hourly), travel is more expensive (for those coming from out of town), Mail/shipping isn't open as late, etc.

Even if the Power Readers are there, it wont' change the content much.

Yeah I wouldn't worry about the POwer Reader badge, unless they get on the ball about promotion >.> which doesn't seem likely.

can someone list some hotels that are close to the convention center-maybe walking distance?

I'm not sure where the closest hotels are, but here's the list of ones affiliated with the conference:

http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/Travel...

Are many of you going to the Blogger Conference?

Michelle wrote: "Are many of you going to the Blogger Conference?"

IM going! I think it will be loads of fun to maybe meet some people that I look up to in the blogging world.

I won't be. I don't get in until Wednesday morning and I wanted to spend one day sightseeing and shopping since I leave a couple hours after BEA ends Saturday.

hannah THINKS she's leaving. in reality she doesn't know the kidnapping plot.

my group isn't attending, we're getting in later as well.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out if I want to be totally obsessed and go for the whole thing (Wed thru Saturday) or if I should take it easy for my first time and go 3 days instead. If I choose the latter, then which day is better: Wed. or Sat?

And man, those hotels are filling up! Thankfully I think my roommate is now coming with me so I can start nailing down the plans!

I recommend the whole thing if you can afford it. If not? I would get there on Wednesday so you have time to check in (plus Teen Author Carnival is on Wed. night), get you bearings and such before the craziness ensues.

But I know several people who left after the second day last year and they regretted not staying all 3 days. But Day 3 is the most relaxed day - less going on, shortened hours.

I find the BEA website sometimes a little confusing to the uninitiated. On Wednesday, is there anything going on other than like Blogger's Conference, Teen Author Carnival, etc.? Like is the true expo day with galley drops, etc. start on Thursday?

And thank you sooo much for being so helpful! It's greatly appreciated!

Yes. BEA is Thurs-Sat. That's when you can meet authors, grab galleys to review, meet with publishers, etc.

Wednesday is the BEA Blogger Conference, Teen Author Carnival, etc. Plus, there will be various other publisher hosted events going on outside of BEA, author signings throughout the city, etc.

BEA turns NYC into a book lover's mecca that week. There are a ton of events planned around it because so many people come into the city for BEA.

What Hannah said--for those not attending the BEA Bloggers, you can pick up your badge that day and if you are interested in the industry or educational side of Publishing its a GOLD MINE of events (I believe ABA Day of Education is Wednesday again, its normally the day before BEA proper).

For readers/bloggers more interesting in the authors/book side of things, Thurs-Sat are the days to care about.

I liked picking up my badge the day before because it was one less thing to stress over the morning of BEA. I was already worried about getting there on time, checking my suitcase, finding out where I was supposed to go, where the tickets would be handed out ... That one less thing I had to worry about really helped.

Plus, I was secretly paranoid that after all the drama with the editorial media passes I would STILL be denied and I knew I had a better shot of not freaking out if I sorted it out the day before and not the two hours before BEA began.

Happy April, everyone! April means the BEA schedule is out this month and BEA is next month!!!!

:'( I can't go to BEA! I have a mandatory work day on Friday of that week, and it's ribbon cutting for my new job (new branch of the credit union's grand opening), so I can't take off. I don't think I'd be allowed to take off Thursday or Saturday either because of the event. I'm so sad. I'm definitely going next year though, especially since it's moving to Chicago in a couple years. I'll be expecting to live through all of your posts to see the awesome that ensued without me, so make 'em good :)

Just a little FYI, the Avid Readers pass is sold out. I registered for BEA this week and found out that way. The regular Readers' pass (for like 1 cut the line pass, etc) is still available.

man some folk are scary with those passes! This one lady thought it was her God Given Right to be rude as well as go to the front of the line (mind you she literally showed up 2 minutes before and cut a lady in a wheelchair x.x)

Lexie wrote: "man some folk are scary with those passes! This one lady thought it was her God Given Right to be rude as well as go to the front of the line (mind you she literally showed up 2 minutes before and..."

I can't say if I had one I wouldn't wait until right when the signing started to get to the front, but no need to be rude about it. But seriously, why wait in line for an hour if you don't have to?