Nerdy Kitten Pants

Book Expo

Until this year, Book Expo America (BEA) has been an industry only convention. I have been lucky enough to get to go through my jobs and school, but I realize that if I had not been involved in the book industry I would have never known about BEA. This year they opened the doors to the public and I am not sure how many people found out. Just in case they do it again I thought it might be good to let you guys know what it is about.

FREE BOOKS! (and networking with the book industry…)

The publishers and authors that attend BEA usually promote a ton of books and hand out galley copies. Most of the time the authors are there to sign them. As you can see below I met a ton of cool people:

Tim Gunn                                    Chris Colfer

Jonathan Mayberry                                 Erin Morgenstern

Bruce DeSilva                                          Kenneth Wishnia

Jeff Kinney                                    Chris Giarusso

Libba Bray                                                  Stacy London

Most of the books I brought home:

The convention is still geared toward professionals and you will see a ton of people sitting down to chat about deals and promoting. Many of the vendors will be for products that help booksellers and libraries, but you can still have a great time as a non-professional.

There are a few lessons I would like to leave you with to keep in mind for Book Expo 2013:

1. Bring something with wheels to haul your books home. Your back will thank you.
2. Bring your own food. the Jacob Javits Center Food Court is expensive.
3. Get there early. A lot of vendors run out of free stuff in the afternoon.
4. Authors are just as excited as you are. Most of them are really nice and humble people. Treat them right. :)
5. Have Fun!