I Survived BEA 2010! Pt. I: First Impressions

WOW is all I can say (okay, clearly the fact that this post is just one in a series of many indicates that I have TONS more to say, but it seemed like a solid opener). Where to begin? BEA was amazing. It was my first time attending, and I sort of wandered into the Javits Center not really knowing what to expect. I’d attended MODA Manhattan events there from my days working in the fashion industry, but the BookExpo was an entirely different species. See, at MODA, fashion designers aren’t there signing garments of clothing with their autographs, industry professionals aren’t asking for your card (unless they want to sell your product), and of course, the events are sorely lacking in book bloggers. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy working the MODA events, but they certainly don’t compare to BEA. Plus, being there as an exhibitor versus being there as a member of the press made for a completely different experience as well.

It was fun meeting publicists who said things like, “Oh, I’ve heard your name around the office before!” or “Loved your review of X book, so glad you liked it” or “You made my author so happy when you said X about his/her book”. There are so many amazing book bloggers out there and it definitely felt great to actually be recognized by publicists with whom I’d never even communicated before. It was also nice to meet publishing professionals whom I’d only “met” online but never met in person before. The publishing industry really is changing so much and it’s nice to see that book bloggers are garnering much more respect and attention than in the past. Some houses are definitely more interested in becoming involved with bloggers than others, and it shows! I was amazed by how many industry people showed up to the Book Blogger Convention and the Author Reception, simply wanting connect and reach out to us, and to learn more. It gave me warm fuzzies just to be a part of it all.

Heather and me outside the Book Blogger Convention

On the last day of BEA, I finally got to meet my fellow Historical Fiction Round Table blogger Heather from The Maiden’s Court! We went around together collecting all the historical titles that interested us. It was nice to be able to go around with someone who was after the same types of books as I am, since BEA booths are set up by publisher and not by genre, and it had become a bit of a challenge trying to track down all the hist-fic.

I’ll be posting all of my BEA/Book Blogger Con swag on Monday, but I’ll give a sneak peek here of some of the historical titles that made their way into my tote bag. At Hachette, I grabbed Cleopatra by Pulitzer Prize-winner author Stacy Schiff and The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent, the prequel to her hit novel The Heretic’s Daughter, which I have not read yet but will look forward to receiving from one of the fabulous publicists at Hachette. I also went to author signings for Ape House by Sara Gruen (not historical but I’m really excited to read it!), Revolution by Jennifer Donnely (well, Heather went for me since I was running late!). Of all the publishers whose booths I visited, I’d say Sourcebooks had the greatest number of historical fiction titles. They didn’t have any of their hist-fic galleys on hand, though, but I’ll certainly be e-mailing my contact there to get my hands on a few future releases that caught my eye. In particular, Désirée by Annemarie Selinko (re-release) sounded really interesting, as well as The Morland Dynasty books, which Carey from The Tome Traveller sold me on during the HarperCollins book blogger party.

Our long table of 20 book bloggers at Dos Caminos!

To add to those titles already mentioned, last night during our post-Book Blogger Con slumber party, Nicole from Linus’s Blanket gave me Juliet by Anne Fortier because she happened to have two copies on her already-exploding-bookcases. Which brings me to last night’s festivities! I’m skipping over a bunch of other events/dinners that I am saving for other I Survived BEA 2010! posts, but last night is still fresh in my mind and I really want to mention how glad I am that Nicole and I (we being the two NYCers) were able to get 20 bloggers together for dinner at Dos Caminos! Great people, great food, great atmosphere…and a $900 check later (I kid you not)…we left with full bellies, tired shoulders from carrying books for 3 days, new friends, and lots of memories after one last great hurrah of the BEA/Book Blogger Con week.

Jen (Devourer of Books), Me, and Carey (The Tome Traveller) at dinner

Afterward, Jen from Devourer of Books, Lenore from Presenting Lenore, Natasha from Maw Books and Amy from My Friend Amy were all staying over at Nicole’s apartment, and I live just across the park from her place, so Nicole, Jen, Lenore, and I did an impromptu “That’s How I Blog” show on BlogTalk Radio. It went live at midnight but you can get the podcast here. We talked about our BEA experiences, the books we picked up, Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten, a picture book illustrated by Lenore’s talented husband, and bloggers on Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, one major announcement for me that resulted from my BEA experience: I have now joined Twitter! You can follow me at @HistFicChick. The Dos Caminos dinner really played a big role in my deciding to join – Natasha, Jen, Jenn, and Lenore really got me with the, “Well, if you want to continue this conversation after everyone has left New York…” line.

I know many of you are itching to know about Book Blogger Con, but it really deserves its own separate post. I’ll be posting more in this BEA recap series tomorrow. Today, I plan on spending the whole day at home recovering and reading some of my new books!