
BEA Day 3 (Thursday) | Alexia's Books and Such...: BEA Day 3 (Thursday)

“Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.” ~ Mark Twain

Friday, June 8, 2012

BEA Day 3 (Thursday)


I came, I saw, I did not conquer.

Was very excited for day three of the book expo, as I would finally have a partner in crime to hang out with! Picked up my friend Tammy (of Bo's Book Nook) early, so she could check in as a Power Reader and we could coordinate our plans for the day while waiting for the expo to open.

Was a little surprised that the registration line for the Power Readers wasn't longer, as BEA had made such a big deal out of opening the doors to the public for the first time. I think they had too many hoops to jump through, which may have discouraged people from even trying to register. But Tammy was able to register through an invitation from Comic Con, so all was right in bookland.

Our first stop was Sourcebooks, as I saw a tweet on Wednesday that they would be handing out t-shirts first thing Thursday. A green Authors Are My Rock Stars tee with a picture of Edgar Allan Poe in sunglasses. Love it! Definitely the best swag of the show IMHO!

Then we split up, Tammy to go grab a big red bag from McGraw Hill (best tote of the show!) and me to stand in line for James Dashner. I thought he would be signing an ARC, but it was just an excerpt. Disappointing, but at least the line was short and I got to say hello!

Met up and headed from one signing to the next. Tammy got caught in someone's net. Lured in by the offer of a totebag, she was boxed in by the publicist and a bouncer (that's what he looked like!) as an author pitched his book to her. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally signed the book and she could escape. I was trying not to snicker, but was ROTFL on the inside. I don't think she believed me before when I told her this could happen, so felt a little vindicated. Plus, it was funny. >:)

Spreadsheets in hand, we met up and separated throughout the day. Have to admit that it was nice having someone to hang out with. While I have no problem attending on my own, it was cool that she saved me a place in Line B while I stood in Line A. And she didn't give me any grief when I walked up to an autographing table for what I thought was Karen Mahoney's Wood Queen, but turned out to be someone else. The author had already made eye contact with me, so I had to take the book. Oops! Guess that was karmic payback for me laughing at T getting caught in a net earlier.

We were both disappointed that they ran out of copies of After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia for the Ellen Datlow signing and closed the line a few minutes after starting. She's a great editor and chooses the best stories! Stopped by the Horror Writer's booth for the 1pm signing, but the new shipment of books still hadn't arrived. Only big disappointment of the day, but what are you going to do? If the shipment is late, it's late.

Found it strange that there weren't more offerings for the Power Readers. Some publishers had no signings or galley drops scheduled for the day at all. Others packed up early and left. They shut down the autographing chutes at noon, and the Expo itself closed at 3pm instead of 5 like the other two days. The Power Readers were a brand new audience, so why not try to impress them? Another example of Reed having a good idea, but lousy execution (have yet to read any good reviews of the Book Blogging Con!).

I was starting to drag halfway through the day; the two previous days finally catching up with me. Most of the signings and galley drops I wanted were in the morning, so I stood in a line or two for Tammy during the afternoon. The line for The Curiosities was insane, so skipped that one. Plus, heard a rumor that they were charging for the book. Assuming that wasn't true, as I saw no angry bloggers storming the booth or rioting.

Curious what the publishers with 4 o'clock signings were going to do since the expo was closing at 3, we limped over to a booth to ask. The people there were very grumpy and acted like we were bothering them. We asked if  we could get a copy since the signing wasn't happening, but they said they had to take all of the books back to the office. Um, if you were planning on giving away the books to begin with, why not provide them to two willing reviewers who were interested enough to stop by? Didn't make much sense, and left a bad impression.

Am very glad that BEA is only three days and not four, as I barely survived! Still have a red mark on my shoulder from my totebag. Feet are killing me. Have bruises on my arms and legs that I don't remember getting. Am sore all over and feel totally drained. And I would do it again in a heartbeat!

So glad that I took Friday off to recover! And looking forward to reading about everyone else's adventures! Was surprised that I didn't run into more people in line, but guess there were more choices this time around. But there was this one lady in a big blue wig and spacegirl outfit wandering around....


18 comments:

  1. lol yeah it was kind of insane huh? It wasn't Curiousities they were charging for, but the booth next to them (Pendell Press I think?) was charging for their books after a certain point (Intrinsical and Indelible). I didn't get charged when I went in line for that or for Bloodborn (which ran out quick), but they did charge a friend of mine.

    Sh'yeah the publishers were packing up a lot earlier then normal this year, it was kind of odd. I only missed one signing I wanted, Batman: Death by Design, but it was for my brother so not a big deal.

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    1. Am impressed that you only missed one signing, especially with your schedule! Nice job! And yea, you got Bloodborn! I missed that one too. Think I have more than enough to read though, so it's all good. :)

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  2. Wow that sounds insane! What exactly are power readers?

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    1. Sorry, forgot to explain that....BEA decided to open up the expo to the public for the first time this year. "Power Readers" is a term they came up with to describe these attendees. They had bigger badges than everyone else, green lanyards, and a big Power Readers ribbon on the badge. Guess this was for easy identification. Only saw one other person with that badge, but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention. Based on the huge amount of advertising I saw on Twitter, I'm guessing that they didn't sell all 1000 tickets. Wonder if they'll do this again next year?

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  3. I'm at work right now. I am sooooo regretting not taking off for a day of recovery. Smart woman! haha

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    1. Think I would have had to call out sick if I hadn't taken a vacation day, as I'm wiped!

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  4. i saw the space girl, oh man we were on some of the same lines. Darn i knew i should have talked up more people. Glad you had fun. TTYL

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    1. If I'd known that, would definitely have said hi! Next time!

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  5. Oh, funny! I love the torture we readers put ourselves through for books. ;)

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    1. It is funny what we'll do for a chance to say hello to an author or get our hands on an ARC!

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  6. Sounds like you've been through a battle but glad you sound like you've had a wonderful time. I am seriously thinking of flying over the for BEA next year. How disappointing about the behaviour of some publishers. I guess there's good and bad even in the book world.

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    1. I think that some publishers still aren't sure what to make of book bloggers, though others seem to have happily embraced us!

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  7. It sounds like you had a fun time. It also sounds a little overwhelming. I've never gone, but would like to at some point in the future.

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    1. It is a little overwhelming, but a great time and well worth it! Hope you're able to make it one day!

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  8. Last year, I felt like the 3rd day was just too much for me, so I skipped Thursday this year. Reading this made me think I made the right choice! Sucks that there were so fewer signings and galley drops, but that might be because of the power readers. And like you, I took the day after off and was so glad I did. I meant to get work done at home, but slept for ages instead. Sounds like you had a great time!

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    1. Pretty sure a fourth day would've done me in! Wish they had spread things out a little more, as Tuesday and Wednesday were so jam packed while Thursday was more meh. I meant to work from home too, but am still recovering!

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  9. I wish I could have taken the day off, but only taking Thursday off was too much for this year as I wasn't really prepared for being out of work. Spent half the day in catch up mode. Will take the whole week off next year. Hope you're there with me.

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    1. At least you got to work from home, so didn't have to go into the office. That helps! I don't know about you, but I could use another day or two to recover (and play with all of my new books!).

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