Friday, June 6, 2014

BEA 2014: The Recap

After BEA and a brief hiatus, I'm opening up my blog again with a recap of my whirlwind trip to NYC. Basically, it was a blast, though as always, I was completely exhausted when I returned and sad about all the people who were there that I missed seeing. 

Here is my BEA in 5 points: 


1) Parties/publisher events 

I attended several extra events during my 4 day trip to BEA that were hosted by various publishers. Some of them were more mingling/cocktail based and some were focused on authors and the publishers' upcoming catalogs. 


**I'm sorry for the distinct lack of photos in this section. I was having too much fun to think of snapping them!**


Jenny and I in our nifty NOVL sunglasses. 

A) I attended a lovely brunch at the NOVL headquarters of Little Brown, Books for Young Readers where bloggers were given a preview of their fall catalog and a tour of their offices. What I loved about this event was getting to hear from the staff - editors, publicists, designers about what upcoming books excite them. Their enthusiasm was contagious. We also learned more about NOVL, which is their new brand/site dedicated to readers who want a place to hang out, read and discuss YA books together. 

A slide from LB's powerpoint presentation on upcoming releases. Did you know The Walled City is based on a real place, and the author asked someone who used to live there to read her book to verify authenticity? 
I love tidbits like that! 

B) Epic Reads hosted a cocktail party, featuring Harper Teen staff, authors and a trivia game. My group managed to get second place in the trivia, although I contributed very little. Epic Reads always has exciting YA related activities. I enjoyed interacting with publishers and other bloggers in a more relaxed atmosphere and even playing a game with them. 

C) Harlequin Teen hosted their annual book blogger's breakfast, featuring five authors and a Round Robin. It was set up a lot like speed dating: authors and other HQ staff visited each of the blogger tables for 5 minutes, before moving to the next one. I really liked this method, because it gave bloggers a chance to actually talk with authors and staff. It was quick but much more intimate and less chaotic than navigating the BEA floor. 


Authors at the Harlequin Teen breakfast who came down from the podium to chat with bloggers. 
L-R Jennifer Armentrout, Alexandra Adornetto, Robin Talley, Julie Kagawa, Adi Alsaid

D) Macmillan also hosted a cocktail party for its bloggers, and I enjoyed getting to chat with friends, including the lovely Ksenia, who does an amazing job at managing all the bloggers and ARCS. 

2) Walking/taxying/subwaying around NYC 

I took a few taxis and the subway once. But mostly I walked NYC. Despite the constant crush of people, I love the idea of living in a place where you can walk everywhere and pretty much see everything while you do. I wish I'd had a fitbit because I'm sure that I walked at least 6 miles just on the first day. I also wish I'd taken a picture of all the crazy people and sights. 




Busy NYC street. Outdoor Reading Room in Bryant Park. Spiderman. Chelsea Garden Center, which I passed to and from BEA daily. Love the mix of chaotic, wacky and green.


3) Bloggers 


Awesome hosts and yummy cake at the Book Bloggers Picnic 

BEA is essentially a huge conference filled with social introverts who read as much or more than I do. I love it. I met and hung out with a lot more bloggers than I took pictures with, but it was truly amazing to have people I know online become real life. And to be able to fangirl about books and authors in person. I wish we all lived closer to each other! The Book Blogger Picnic held in central park was a great event where we all got to hang out and chat together. 





 With Aly. Katelyn and Betty. Danielle, Jen and Steph
(I wish I had pictures with all the amazing people I hung out with!)

Of course there's also the actual three day Book Expo America event at the Javits Center, which includes publisher booths, lots of walking and bloggers, as well as the following two points:


 Lots of huge publisher posters in the Javits atrium
4) Lines

I stood in a lot of lines at BEA. To get onto the exhibit floor. For book drops and signings. For Starbucks. There were a lot more lines than last year. For the most part, I appreciated these lines because they meant more order and less chaos. Plus I had a lot of bloggers and newly made friends around me to chat with in those lines. The only time lines got out of hand was on the last day durning Blogger Con, which is a whole different issue entirely that I won't attempt to discuss here, except to say it was CRAZY. Check HERE for Bookswarm Mary's great post on Book Con.


Becca Fitzpatrick's signing line for Black Ice included four of these guys in their hiking gear.  DannyAllison and I couldn't resist the photo op.

Lines to get into the Javits center, and lines around the exhibit booths. 

The photo two above is the Autographing area at Book Con, the bottom shows a Starbucks in the distance. Lots of people, lots of waiting. But it was all worth it! 

5) Books

Yes, I also went to BEA for the books I would get. There's definitely no denying that. Each new find made me giddy and now that they have arrived safely, I can breathe a sigh of relief.  As I said in my previous post, I made two book related goals this year 1) be more targeted about the books I pick up (i.e. only ones I'm interested in reading). Researching ahead helped with this, and I think I succeeded fairly well in this endeavor. But it's hard to resist when free books are staring you in the face! 2) Pick up a few more adult books than last year. I definitely grabbed more adult books, though my focus was still YA. 


I only mailed 1 box of books home this year, and I was so paranoid that I used that entire role of tape on it. Thankfully it arrived safely! The rest of my books I rolled home in my suitcase.


The books I brought home from BEA in a completely random order. Not pictured are the Little Brown BYR books that were shipped separately. Oh and Every Breath, which I'm reading now and forgot to put on the pile. 

Maybe I'll go crazy and actually post a book review next week! 

22 comments:

  1. We never got a photo together! :-( I always do that...miss my opportunities. Love seeing the stack of books. I'm trying to decide if I want to wait until my Little Brown books come until I do my BEA recap post. I probably won't. I'll probably do it Monday or Tuesday.

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  2. I haven't seen any of the recaps say anything about the Little Brown event so it's so awesome to hear about it in yours :) I love that the staff is excited about the stuff they publish and it must have been great to see that in person. Epic Reads and the HQT party both seem so exciting too :) Did you have fun chatting with the authors during the "speed dating" thing? Haha! Spidermaaaannn :D The picnic looks so cute :) I saw some pictures on someone else's (don't remember who) blog and they were really cute. Ha! You met Danielle :D yayyy. (Btw, the pic of you and Jenny at the top of the post is totally adorbs. Wish I could have ben there to fangirl with you guys.) I always laugh when someone says that they didn't go there for the books? Um, ok. If you say so. Let's be honest though, the books (and the people) are the reason. If you didn't love books so much, why would you go? Books have to be one of the reasons, you know. Anyhow, it seems like a lot of people were more list-oriented this time around. Lots of "I targeted fewer books this year" lines around there so you're not alone in this ;) "But it's hard to resist when free books are staring you in the face!" LOL. True :D Hahahaha! It looks like you could have used a saw to get that taped box open. Safety first ;) I'm glad it arrived safely. Oooh! Snow Like Ashes, Talon, SINNNNEEERRR!! Stitching snow, The Return (my gawwwd), Afterworlds, Since You've Been Gone, The Jewel, Mortal Heart. Ok, I'm getting pretty crazy here :D Did you not get Heir of Fire though? Or did you just request the ecopy? Such a gorgeous haul. I really hope you enjoy all of these books :)

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  3. Ooh, so glad you had such a great time at BEA! I think this is the first time I'm hearing about parties thrown by the publishers, but they seem like a blast and I definitely want to attend one year. Plus, meeting bloggers seems to be the highlight of the event and NYC is such a fantastic location for this. Thanks for sharing this lovely re-cap post with us, Lauren!(:

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  4. Ahh you guys make me want to go more and more with each passing recap. I REALLY wish that by some magic I had been able to go and meet all you wonderful people.I am glad to see you had SO MUCH FUN! :D (it looks like a lot of fun) and your haul looks amazing! :D

    Although I don't know how any of you could part with your books and decide to send them via mail. I am way too paranoid... I worry when I buy books online and go insane if they are even a day late. *shudders*

    Thank you so much for sharing all the fun you had with us folks who couldn't go!

    Rashika @ The Social Potato

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  5. I LOVED hanging out with you!! So much fun to see everyone and talk books (yes, all us social introverts all in one place. It's crazypants.). Thank you for the shout-out! The whole experience is just so amazing and fabulous. You got some WONDERFUL books! Little Brown killed it this year -- usually there's that one publisher who's entire catalog I'd be thrilled to read.

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  6. I LOVE that picture of us! It just makes me laugh:) You know what else makes me laugh? The amount of tape on your box. *falls down dead* I think you maybe added 3 lbs to your box's weight with all of that. BUT, it obviously worked because your books arrived safe and sound. YAY!

    I had such a blast hanging out with you, I can't wait to do it all again next year! *stares impatiently at calendar*

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  7. Wow, looks so crazy and fun! Glad you had such a great time.

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  8. I'm so glad that we had a chance to meet. It's definitely a favorite memory of mine from BEA. That's my favorite part of BEA putting a face to the names and blogs.

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  9. BEA was definitely amazing! I'm loving going through and reading everyone's recap posts!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  10. I LOVE this recap, Lauren! You've captured the excitement and magic of BEA and NYC in one post. Granted, I've never been to either, but like I said, your post says so much. I'm thrilled you had such a fabulous time. I hope I can attend BEA next year. I know it'd be an experience I could never forget. I'd embrace the chaotic and wacky without reservation. Plus, I could meet wonderful people like you! :)

    Enjoy ALL of the books, L! I look forward to your upcoming reviews!

    Pssst... summer is going to be so great to you! ;)

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  11. I absolute loved hanging out with you Lauren!!! And I love all the pictures you made about the awesomeness and the craziness!! The pic of you and Jenny is adorable :))))
    From all the events, I think the Little Brown Event was the best in terms of getting me excited about new books, love their fall line up - it's fantastic!
    *hugs*

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  12. I loved your super taped up box! That's exactly what I would do after all of the horror stories of ripped boxes and stolen/lost books!

    Angie @ Pinkindle

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  13. I'm glad you had so much fun! The special events look awesome and I'm glad you survived the lines. More importantly, nice book haul!

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  14. Looks like you had a fantastic time! I hope to be there next year. :)

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  15. Love your pictures, Lauren and I'm so jealous you got to hang out with Mary and Jenny! You got Sinner!! I hope they have it at the ALA later this month. It looks like you had an amazing time, welcome back! :)

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  16. It was so awesome to see you again at BEA 2014 this year, Lauren! I'm glad we were able to spy each other in a few lines and attend a few events together. Your photo of your box of books reminded of that time last year when we were at the post office together, trying to mail all our books out! I'm glad all your books arrived safe and sound, as did you. Looking forward to seeing you again next year!

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  17. Lauren, this was such a fun recap to read. I might not be able to go to BEA, but I love living vicariously through the different bloggers. The events especially sound like a lot of fun and the book blogger picnic sounds like something I would enjoy going to. I've never been to NYC before, but it's on my to-visit places. The pictures you shared of the city, the quirky people and the outdoor reading room has made me even more excited. Also, all the books! So jealous but at the same time, I can't wait to see what you think of all these awesome reads, especially Talon and Mortal Heart. And the people you met! I seriously need to plan to go to a BEA just so I can meet all of you lovely people! (Love that picture of you and Jenny!)
    Thanks for sharing your experience at BEA, Lauren! :)

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  18. I'm so happy you got to attend BEA again, Lauren! I always love your event recap posts and this one is no exception. The photo of you and Jenny in your sunnies is so cute, and I always love those sessions where you can hear from people you usually don't hear from (editors, designers, etc), too.

    Excited to see what you thought of all your book goodies! I saw cryptic tweets between you and Keertana about SINNER, but I'm going to pretend I didn't see anything. *la la la*

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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  19. Sigh. <3 It sounds like you had such an amazing time :D And I am beyond jealous, lol. But so happy for you. <3 I would love to go to BEA one day. And New York! Ack. Sounds amazing. And I love all the pictures :D You met so many amazing people. *Is jealous again, hih* And all the books! Dies. I hope you love them all sweetie. <3 (Especially Mortal Heart. <3)

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  20. Love these posts, so much fun to live vicariously through you, L:) and yes I totally just zoomed in your haul and added a bunch more titles to my TBR list. I cannot wait to read Sinner and Mortal Heart (!!!) I'm glad you had a fun trip and everything made it back to you safe and sound!

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  21. The lines can be annoying but like you, I kind of liked them. I really scaled back on books this year and although I didn't get every single book I wanted, I felt like the book love was spread out more because of the timed drops and moving some of the pubs.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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  22. I'm so glad I was able to see you and hang out with you for a bit again this year. I love our picture with the Black Ice boys. Definitely one of my highlights of BEA 2014! :)

    ~Allison @ Good Books & Good Wine

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