Jan 4, 2013

For Your Consideration: BEA 2013


For Your Consideration: BEA 2013

With registration for BookExpo America having opened last month (press registration begins later this month), there’s been a lot of buzz online from people who are excited about going, contemplating going, or wondering if they should go.

Who BEA Is For

Anyone involved in the publishing world, and yes, that includes bloggers.  It is a trade only event, which means you do need to be involved in the book world in some way. Author, librarian, blogger, publicist, and more are welcome.

Some people think bloggers are on the low end of the publishing totem pole, but I can assure you that is far from the truth. Don’t think because you’re a blogger that you don’t matter. I had a blast last year meeting authors and publicists I had worked with since launching my blog in 2011.

Money Talks

I’m not gonna sugar coat it, kids: BEA ain’t cheap.

It’s held in New York City, arguably the most overpriced but fantastic city in the continental US. I mean the sales tax alone is like 14%. There’s a lot of fees that stack up:

                -Price of BEA is $104 for bloggers (and most others!) if you register before May 15, 2013
                -Hotel cost (varies)
                -Travel to New York
                -Travel while in New York (taxis, subways, etc.)
                -Food

It all adds up, and I get that. But there are a lot of ways to help alleviate some of those costs:

                -Roomies are your friends. No, literally. Room with friends and split the costs. Plus, if you book through the BEA site, they have some discounted hotel prices.
                -Pick the easiest way to travel and don’t over pack to avoid costly charges. Also, BEA offers some discounts depending on your preferred mode of transportation.
                -Split the costs while at BEA with those you are with. Share a cab ride, split a pizza or a $5 subway sub.
                -Use the shuttle that BEA provides—I know some people claimed they had a bad experiences in the past, but I loved it.
                -NYC has some of the best cheap food. Don’t go for the 5-Star dining experience—unless you can afford it, in which case I expect an invite, mmkay? Instead grab a slice of pizza at an off-the-beaten-path Italian joint. One of the best meals I had last year was at such a place where they had killer garlic knots (relax, I had gum on me) that were 4 for $1. These things were the size of my fist!
                -Don’t forget to factor in the books. Yes, you can get a ton of books (which are a HUGE perk), but you’ve gotta get them home. I recommend finding the nearest post office and shipping media mail. I lucked out and had one on the same block as my hotel, so I shipped stuff daily.

Still On The Fence?

Talk to someone who went.

When I decided in the summer of 2011 that I wanted to hit BEA in 2012, I emailed several people who had went and picked their brains for details. Not a single one dismissed me. They were all very accommodating and helpful—they loved talking about BEA as much as I loved learning about it. And I made some cool friendship from talking to these people who I also got to meet at BEA (Hey, Audrey! *waves*)

Bottom Line

Look, you have several months to BEA. 145 days, according to the countdown widget on my Droid.

What? Don’t judge me.

If you think there’s a shot you’ll be attending BEA or are curious, start planning now. Start saving your money as if you are going. Make a budget. Worst case scenario you don’t go and have some extra money come May. Which you can then use to buy books.

20 comments:

  1. I want to go SOOO badly, but there is one big downside: I live in The Netherlands and I'm a poor student at the moment :p

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  2. I went to BEA 2012 and had a blast. For me it wasn't that expensive. I only live an hour from the city, so I didn't have huge travel costs, and rooming with three other bloggers definitely helped in hotel costs.

    I don't really know if it will be worth going this year though. I'm moving 700 miles south, and so travel expenses, as well as getting all those books home, will be way more than last year. Still on the fence though, clearly, I still have time to think about.

    Great post :)

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    1. You know, I shipped all my books home via media mail. Cost about $70 total. Probably would have been less if I didn't ship them each day (waited and sent 2 big boxes instead of 6 medium-small ones each day).

      2012 was my first BEA and I'm so excited to go back. I feel like this time I'll be more relaxed and less deer-in-the-headlights. I was overwhelmed last time and missed out a lot on talking to people.

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  3. I am hoping to go again as this will be my third time going and hoenstly the only way I could attend this is by rooming with fellow bloggers. The first time I went it was just two so it was half but last year I roomed with three other people and it was so cheap.

    I shipped a box of books back to Canada and it cost me over $100 and that was with Fedex. If your thinking of shipping books don't use the convention to ship they are expensive. Which I learned.

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    1. Yeah, I heard the FedEx and UPS boxes were ridiculously priced. I stuck with the post office, but I don't think you can ship media mail there from the US.

      Last year I roomed with a blogger I have known for over a decade and my mom and aunt came. This year it'll be my mom, aunt, and my cousin (who helps me out on here now) sharing a room, but my dad lets us cash in his Hilton Honors points, so it makes the room REALLY cheap. My mom and aunt don't do BEA - they just love NYC.

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  4. I would love to go to BEA, but since I'm graduating in May, I don't know if I should. I should probably save my money in case something happens... Doesn't mean I'm not tempted though. Hrmmm...

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    1. I think Bailey from IB Book Blogging went last year as her graduation present. :)

      If you can swing it, I would. It's such a totally cool experience, and you meet so many authors!

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  5. *Waving back*

    Something that helped me SO MUCH last year was forgoing the hotel room and booking a room in a person's apartment that she rents out. It was walking distance to the Javitz, and cheap. It would have been even cheaper had I shared with a roommie. The website I used was https://www.airbnb.com/. Saved me hundreds, literally.

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    1. Ooooh! I forgot you did that! That's a great tip!

      Sigh. I'm gonna miss not seeing you this year. :'(

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    2. But we will plan on ALA Midwinter 2014. It's only a year away....

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    3. Thanks for the info about airbnb. I just decided to attend BEA and of course the hotels are pretty booked. Renting a room in an apartment looks like a good option. This will be my first year. Looking forward to it :-)

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  6. Such a great post. I want to go to BEA SOOOO bad. My only issue is 2 things obviously 1 is that it is expensive and 2 being, I don't really have any blogger friends to attend it with and I am not quite comfortable to attend alone yet. I am thinking bring my hubby/or Mom if at all possible. Since well they do contribute to my blog in some way or the other.

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    1. Do it! I doubt I would tackle NYC solo.

      I posted earlier in a comment my mom and aunt come, but they don't go to BEA - they do stuff in NYC while I'm at BEA.

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  7. Well I live in NYC so my expenses are a lot less for me. I tell people split the hotel rooms, because it makes it cheaper, plus one of my friends stayed with me in NYC last year during BEA, which helped alleviated her costs a lot.

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    1. .... So we're all staying with you this time? ;)

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  8. I went last year for the first time and I will be happy to answer any questions. Hannah and Julia also had a Goodreads group about BEA and I learned a lot from that. I live in Maryland and I drove to NYC. The pro are that I was able to carry all my books with me (not ship them), the con is that I had to pay for parking. I am planning on staying longer this year and to the blogger conference too.

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    1. I totally forgot you drove last year! You probably paid as much in parking as you would have in shipping. Ugh. Stupid NYC and their lack of parking. LOL

      Hope we get to spend some actual time together this year! LOL

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  9. I'm definitely going again. Last year was my first time there and I spent a lot of it walking around by myself (as my friends were off seeing other authors or other events). I'm not very independent but I felt very comfortable there and had a blast talking to random bloggers while waiting in line and such. I'm certainly excited to go back & this year I'm dragging another reviewer from my site because all I did was gush about it.

    But you're right. Finding a hotel was last minute for me because I had friends back out. We ended up staying in Brooklyn and taking the subway every day. I certainly want to book a hotel closer because lugging a suitcase filled with books up and down subway stairs is no fun! Definitely planning everything WAY in advance!

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