Thursday, June 16, 2011

Reading with Tequila Does BEA 2011! Part 3

Part 3 covers Thursday, the last official day of BookExpo America 2011. Check out Part 1 for pre-BEA goodness, Part 2 for my Tuesday and Wednesday experiences and my BEA edition of Week in Review for all the books.

Thursday
I took more than 1 picture at BEA this year!

Danielle, Lexie, Emily, Tegan, Nikki, Taschima & Amelia

Briana, Danielle, Amelia, Lexie, Tegan, Emily & Taschima

Thursday was my super calm day at BEA. Everything was very laid back and there seemed to be less people on the floor. There were minimal author signings and I used most of the day to wander the booths. I waited in line for a few authors, but nothing took too long as I wasn't attempting to see anyone huge. I heard rumor that the Maureen Johnson line got a little out of hand, as it incorporated everything I bitched about in Part 2 (blogger drama and big name authors in booths when they should be tabled and ticketed), but I wasn't anywhere near it and am very thankful for that.

The highlight of Thursday was meeting Eric from Quirk Books. I've worked with Quirk for a while now, love their books, and always look forward to Eric's emails and updates. He's as genuinely awesome in person as he is online. The lowpoint of Thursday was the Chuck Palahniuk signing. I had high hopes of meeting him, but knew there was little chance with it being a half-hour booth signing. Ugh. I headed over to line up an hour early and was told to come back in a half hour. I did as directed only to be told by the same man I had originally spoken to that he actually worked for another publisher and this wasn't the correct line. Yeah, thanks for that. I searched out the correct line only to find it was approximately 73 miles long. I gave up on Chuck. Had to. It was the end of the day and I wanted to drop my books off at the hotel before heading to the BBC reception. Mr. Palahniuk has now been added to my "James Patterson list of authors that I will totally meet someday, probably, if the fates align, and the lines aren't atrocious, but I'm going to keep trying anyway". It's a long title for a list. I'm working on it.

Now, the BBC reception. I sorta pimped this thing out. See, I went last year and had a blast. I met lots of authors, PR people and other bloggers - all while being stuck in a chair in the back of the room due to severely injuring my foot. I told everyone I met - go to the reception, it'll be awesome. Then we arrived, and I felt bad. Embarrassed. People were sort of not thrilled with the way things were done this year. Last year - snacks and sodas. This year, a bar! Yay! Except it was a cash bar. But that's okay. No problem. Except, you needed actual cash. On your person. That minute. Yeah, no one mentioned that previously. I checked the website. So, there we all are, no cash, no drinks - alcoholic or otherwise, and absolutely no snacks. Hmmm.

I ran into a couple of people at the reception that I had missed at BEA itself and met a few authors, but the vibe was completely different than last year. As friendly as the authors I met were, most were going to tell you everything about their book, even after you told them it wasn't the type of book you blog about. I was open to it at first, but after the 5th or 6th time, I seriously felt that we were all wasting each other's time. I tried sending the authors in the direction of other bloggers that did review their book genres, but got the full spiel anyway. It was awkward.

I had planned on heading out to one final event after the BBC reception, but by this point I was feeling a bit burnt out and ready to head home. I went back to the hotel, grabbed some sushi take out from across the street (it's way too dangerous to have sushi so readily available - I could eat it for every meal), and meant to pack. I figured there would be more traffic heading into the city from Jersey. I was wrong. My husband texted to say he was 10 minutes away and I flung everything I had into my suitcases. It was miraculous I didn't leave anything behind. I said a sad and super quick good bye to my awesome roommates and other friends that were watching my frantic packing and was quickly on my way back to the Jersey Shore.

Final Thoughts
I love BEA. I know I bitch about a lot of stuff, but BEA is mostly awesome. It's a bookish experience that everyone even remotely associated with the industry should experience at least once. I had an amazing time reconnecting with friends from last year (Lexie, Taschima, Emily, Eleni, Heather, Sandy) and meeting new friends this year (Amelia, Briana, Tegan, Danielle, Nikki, Steph, Darla, Midnyte Reader (I don't think I ever actually caught your real name), Steph, Tania, and all those that I am completely blanking on as I type this - sorry, I suck.)

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