Event Recap: NYCC 2015

My second year at New York Comic Con was just as epic and awesome as my first. Not only did I get to meet up with new and old friends, but there were celebrity spottings, Chewy spottings, and (of course) some amazing prizes won. Plus, it's always fun having a press pass and access to all the coolest events and things.

There is nothing like walking up to the Javits Center and seeing everyone dressed up in their CosPlay. There is an energy that radiates from blocks away and the epicenter is the Javits.

Walking in is unlike anything else. You will walk past some of he coolest impromptu photoshoots, see the craziest outfits and marvel that the majority are homemade. 

You can wander the show floor for hours, checking out everything from Funkos to giant Lego creations to cars. NYCC is a mecca for all things pop culture. 

Panels are also available for the brave (seriously, you have to wait in endless lines, committed to your cause). Once again there was a Walking Dead panel and the usual other shows, but I loved that ABC Family had a strong presence around NYCC this year. I cannot wait for the Shadowhunters series!

MTV was also hyping their shows like Teen Wolf and the upcoming Shannara Chronicles (which looks absolutely amzeballs).

NYCC is insane. It's chaotic and crazy, with people trying to visit exhibits, panels, and meet their favorite celebrities (so jealous of my friends who met the cast of Arrow). It's a place where being a fan is cool and the crazier you are, the more you're embraced.

These are my people.

BEA 2015 Recap: Part 1

First of all, I can't believe this was my fourth BEA - I mean, what the what? That's so crazy to think about! To say this BEA was crazy and fun is a total understatement, but I loved every second of it.

PART 1:

Of travels, parties, and beginnings...

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday

May 26-27, 2015

BEA started a bit early for me this year because on Monday I got to have a sleepover with two of my YADC soul sisters - Andye from ReadingTeen and Steph from No BS Book Reviews. We went out to dinner, loaded the two cars with bags and survival essentials for BEA, and then stayed up way too late talking about books, life, and blogging.

Plus there was actual blogging involved. 

We did manage to get some sleep and then morning arrived and we finished loading the cars and then hit the road. Andye and I went straight to NYC while Steph headed off to pick up Kelly.

Before BEA started, back in the winter, I set up a room block at the Homewood Suites in Manhattan. (For those of you who remember my hotel woes last year, this was the hotel I was originally slated to stay at but it fell through because the hotel was/is brand new and wouldn't be opening until after BEA.) This year they were open and I worked with two fabulous women, Marina and Natalia, to organize a block of rooms so I could put all my friends in one place. Because what's better than having 40 of your closest friends in one building?

Andye and I drove into NYC (OK, she drove, I mostly took pictures) and snagged parking right in front of the hotel to unload our bags. A bellman came out and helped us unload two carts full of things and then we left to park the car in Brooklyn. We quickly stopped by the Javits Center to see if we could grab our badges a day early, but it wasn't meant to be. We did, however, manage to see Faye Bi from Simon & Schuster and exchange quick hugs and hellos before she had to dash inside.

After a quick lunch of amazing pizza at Juliana's, Andye and I headed back over to NYC because we needed to get to our room and meet up with the rest of our roommates (Krista from Krist'a Dust Jacket, Val from Stuck in Books, and Brianna from Paperback Princess). When I checked into the room, I was greeted by a surprise from the awesome people at the Homewood:

That surprised absolutely blew me away. I was expecting that at all, and I can't say enough wonderful things about this hotel. If you ever go to NYC, stay there!

At the last minute I decided to host last year's #YAParty. Due to funds (or a lack of) the party was scaled way back, but the Homewood graciously let us invite a few friends over to hang out on their gorgeous rooftop and get together.

We also made Liza Wiemer, former Rooftop Party hostess and current YA debut author of HELLO?, sign copies of her book for attendees. And the mega talented Becca from Pivot Book Reviews gifted me with a tote bag with my blog's design on it. I will treasure this forever.

Attendees chipped in and brought food and drinks and a lot of wine (most of it provided by the lovely people at Wunderkind PR). We talked, laughed, and kicked off the week of BEA madness in style. It was so much fun to have my favorite people in one amazing location for a few hours.

Wednesday meant the official start of BEA, but unlike past years, the start was delayed until 1 pm (not that that stopped people from lining up at 8 am to snag a front spot in line to run for the Susan Dennard tickets for TRUTHWITCH. In fact, I happened to bump into Susan as she was walking onto the floor before the doors opened. She was adorably sweet and amazed at how many people were planning to run for her signing.

But before BEA, I managed to snag breakfast with my bestie, Nicole (formerly of Paperback Princess but now publicist for Disney Book Group) and then I headed over to the Novl Bubble Brunch. This was the second year of the Novl brunch and I loved seeing their new offices, hearing about how the Novl box came to be and also getting our own boxes. 

Jennifer E. Smith, author of HELLO, GOODBYE, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN was there to chat with us and answer questions and tell us about all her book to movie news! I cannot wait to see her debut novel on the big screen.

It was a great time to hang out with everyone and catch up before BEA started. They also gave us BEA survival totes - a sturdy canvas bag with a granola bar, copies of all the Little Brown signings and galley drop schedules, a lanyard, and a reusable Novl water bottle. Armed with the essentials (and pocket Jamie), we set out for BEA.

We arrived and found our friends, who we had dropped our bags off with as place markers earlier that morning, before spending some time strategizing and catching up before the doors opened. Of course, as soon as we were let in, a hell broke loose and people were legit running for the Susan Dennard ticket line.

Admittedly, I coveted TRUTHWITCH, but I vowed to take it easy at BEA this year and not stress, so I hit a few booths before going over to the line and jumping into it. I was pretty far back, and fairly certain I would not be getting a ticket, but lo and behold, I wound up #69 in line. I also managed to run into Derry Wilkens, former Sourcebooks publicist and all around amazing woman.

BEA started at 1 pm, but by 3 I was ready to drop. I wandered a bit more but called it a day around 4:30 and left. I was supposed to attend the Harlequin High Tea, but I decided rest was more important, especially since I also had the Epic Reads party that evening.

The Epic Reads party was ... well, EPIC. It was in a great space that unfortunately got a little hot and loud but was still fun. There were giveaways and food and so many of my friends were there. Plus, there was a photo booth with silly props. The swag bag at the end was fantastic. It had posters, a book, and ... a portable charger with the Epic Reads logo. Yeah. BEST. SWAG. EVER!

But we're only halfway done. So make sure you check back for Part 2 of my BEA recap!

Event Recap: NYCC 2014

Several months ago I was talking to Steph from Cuddlebuggery and we both said we wanted to go to New York ComicCon. It seemed insanely fun and like something we needed to experience. When we told Nicole from Paperback Princess of our plan, she graciously opened up her home in Hoboken to us so we didn't have to worry about a hotel. It was quickly decided we would go, and after months of being excited and planning and prepping, it finally happened last weekend.

I'm still recovering.

Steph and I left Baltimore Thursday morning and made it into NYC around noon where we met Nicole for lunch at the Galway (which may have the best Mac 'N Cheese I have ever tasted). We chatted, ate and then Nicole had to go back to work so Steph and I killed time by going up to Rockefeller Center (she had never been!). We had Magnolia Cupcakes and promptly decided that our fellow YADC friend and blogger, Jen from Jenuine Cupcakes has far superior cupcakes. 

Hyped up on sugar, we went to visit Ariele at Simon and Schuster for a quick tour and some book talk. Ariele was amazing and happily escorted us around the beautiful S&S offices, showing us the breathtaking views and, of course, all the books.

Seriously.

ALL. THE. BOOKS.

After hanging out there for a bit, Steph and I sadly departed but then headed down to see our friends at Bloomsbury. I adore the Bloomsbury team and stopping into their offices to say hi is something I truly love doing.

Steph and I grabbed a taxi because we were both hauling suitcases with clothes and now books thanks to Ariele and her awesome coworkers at S&S. I gave the cabbie the cross streets and he groused about having to drive down to midtown - chillax, dude, this is your job - and after about 15 minutes, promptly dropped us off.

The block Bloomsbury is on has some scaffolding and construction happening and Steph and I just walked down the block and entered the revolving door (doing that with suitcases is not fun). We checked in with the front desk guy, who didn't speak the best English, and here's how this went:

Front Desk Guy: "Where you go?"
Me: "Bloomsbury. Fifth floor."
FDG: *confused* "Blooms..."
Me: "Bloomsbury."
FDG: "Fifth floor?"
Me: "Yes."
FDG: "Ah! Fifth floor! Tom Levy!"
Me: "Bloomsbury."
FDG: "Tom Levy."
Me: "Bloomsbury. Fifth floor."
FDG: "Tom Levy. Fifth floor."
Steph: "Yes. Tom Levy." *to me* "I think that's one of the imprints?"
Me: "Yup. Tom Levy."
FDG: "OK."

And off to the elevators we go. We went, punch in floor five, elevator goes up, doors open and ....

Vera Wang | Tom Levy Offices

Me: "This isn't right."
Steph: "Maybe it's a different floor?"

Yes. Yes, that must be it. We scrambled back into the elevator and hit floor 7. I know it's an odd number. 

It's not floor 7.

Sigh.

Back into the elevator. Instead of going back down to talk to the FDG, I go all Elf and simply light up every single floor button. IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THEM. 

We make it to about floor 14, I'm texting my Bloomsbury friends and they're assuring me they're on floor 5, and I realize this isn't right. It's at this point I start to realize we might be in the wrong building.

Steph and I quickly vacate the elevator we're in because it still has another 10 floors I highlighted to get through before we can go down, switch elevators and run out the building.

I look up and realize the cabbie dropped us off at the wrong street. We're a block away. We quickly walk to the real Bloomsbury offices and meet up with our friends. We hang out with them for a bit and chat before we decide to go check out ComicCon.

Now, I've done BEA for 3 years and Steph has for 2. I really felt like, going in, that I knew what to expect. Crowds and lines, but with more colorfully dressed up people.

I DID NOT EXPECT THIS.

As soon as we pulled up to the Javits, we could tell this was different. Maybe from the way the sidewalks were blocked off. Or the massive crowd outside the Javits. Or the way security checked everything before letting us in. Regardless, once we got in, it was like BookCon all over. But worse. 

We wanted to hit two bookish panels, so Steph and I quickly checked our suitcases and then made a beeline for the first one. The doors were closed and there was a line of 50+ people still waiting to get in.

Instead we headed for the other panel we wanted to hit - which was almost 90 minutes later - and got in line. There were already 50 people ahead of us and within 20 minutes, there was another 150 behind us. 

BEA 2014 - The Video Recap

I know BEA ended several months ago (*sobs*), but I was playing on iMovie this weekend and decided to make a video to commemorate my time in the city with my friends and family. It was fun re-living those memories.

I hung out with a lot of amazing people this year and went to some incredible parties, so don't be shocked to see yourself in here:

Recap: #YADC Tackles eBook Piracy

This weekend YADC converged at One More Page in Arlington, Virginia for the launch party of Jessica Spotwood's final book in the Born Wicked trilogy, but we also came together to help spread the word about a topic very near and dear to our hearts: eBook Piracy.

eBook piracy is growing at an alarming rate. Authors are losing money, publishers are losing money, and readers are suffering as a result. A lot of piracy is involving eARCs lately. Local author Martina Boone said that pirated copies of her debut COMPULSION were up on 15 sites six months prior to the release this October. 

YADC had the idea to create a PSA (Public Service Announcement) about eBook piracy. The video is currently in the editing phase, but i had such a blast this weekend with my YADC friends that I needed to talk about it here.

I've met a lot of people who are fascinated by YADC and want to know how they can join something like this. Let me tell you about YADC:

YADC (Young Adult DC) was a group started by Andye at Reading Teen in late February of 2013. She had this brilliant idea to start a Facebook group to keep track of local signings and events that bloggers, authors, librarians, book sellers and fans could use in the MD/DC/VA area. Within months it exploded into a group of over 100 people.

I don't think any of us realized how many authors and bloggers we have in our little area, but it's amazing. It also means now we always have a familiar face when we go to a signing event. 

Here are 5 quick things to know about YADC:

1. The events are awesome, but the carpool road trips to get there can be awesome-r. Like that time I saw a man napping on the sidewalk in DC. At night. We hope he was napping anyway. 

2. When in doubt of a name, just yell, "Steph!" or "Jen!" I promise someone, if not 5 someones, will turn around.

3. Laughter is guaranteed. I've yet to wake up the day after a YADC event without a massive headache and/or sore throat from laughing so hard I cried.

4. Books and Cupcakes are the power couple of YADC and we all ship that pairing hardcore. Also, never tell Jen that the cupcakes have fallen over unless you're cool with her having a heart attack.

5. We have in insanely group of talented people in a relatively small space. From our writers to our bakers to our bookstores, I never cease to be amazed by how much talent and heart is in this area.

YADC Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

BEA 2014 Recap: Part 3

Saturday

May 31

So let's talk about Saturday. Blogger Con. The Blogger Con. Also known as Book Hell on Earth.

But hold on. First let's cover the Bloomsbury Blogger Breakfast. Held at their offices (which admittedly, is one of my favorite publisher offices), it was hosted by the awesome team of Lizzy, Erica, Emily, and Courtney. It was a fun, intimate gathering where they let us take shelfies - and Bloomsbury has some amazing shelves - and meet authors Sarah Maas and Jessica Day George.

Nicole and I even got to recreate Emily & Erica's photo:

And then we may have used Lizzy as a photographer for an impromptu Heir of Fire-inspired photo shoot:

Shortly after we left and headed to BEA. To Book Con. To Hell.

Here's a video I took when we stepped out of the cab. The line stretched around the Javits and then there were so many lines once you got inside. It was a chaotic, jumbled mess.

Going into the actual Book Con area was insane. I almost wondered if I missed the part where I was supposed to sign a waiver saying I wouldn't sue if I was trampled to death. I had my handy dandy schedule which honestly had like 5 signings I wanted and 1 panel. All that went out the window when I got to the autographing area.

But it's cool. Because there was security guards to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

Um .... Can someone get them a Red Bull? 

I swung by the Spencer Hill Press booth to grab a ticket for Jennifer Armentrout's signing of The Return and ran into Kate and Damaris, who were much calmer than I was, despite their booth being mobbed.

Knowing the way BEA worked, I decided to go to the autograph area (*shudder*) and find the line for Jen's signing, which would start in a little over an hour. Because as any BEA attendee knows, lines for authors, especially popular ones, start lining up at least an hour in advance. 

So I, along with Jen and Gabrielle, embraced my inner pinball and went into the crowd. We finally made it to where Jen's signing would be and I walked over to the girl in charge of that line, a totally awesome BookCon worker named Catherine. I asked her about the Jennifer Armentrout line and she said, "It's not starting until 10:30." The signing was at 11, it was now 9:50. She was very adamant that the line would not start until she handed the first person in line the whiteboard with the signing info on it. The same board she was clutching like a buoy as people slammed into her.

Fair enough. I asked if I could hang out near her anyway. She shrugged and said sure and I turned to tell Jen and Gabrielle what was going on, and when I did, they had been joined by another group of bloggers who wanted to attend the signing.

I relayed that the line wouldn't officially start until 10:30 so Jen and Gabrielle opted to try Daisy Whitney's line for The Fire Artist while I unofficially held our unofficial spots in the unofficial line.

What happened next was pure insanity and I'm not even sure how it went down, but I essentially wound up working Book Con for the next 2 hours. More and more people started coming up, asking about Jen's signing. Some had tickets from SHP, some looked at me like I was nuts. Catherine and I told everyone where to go to get a ticket and finally, by around 10:15, the crowd for Jen's signing had turned into a mob that had to be moved.

But Catherine was stuck working the line for the signing that was currently going on and couldn't leave her spot, so I volunteered to corral everyone and get a line set up. Kate came over from SHP and passed out tickets to everyone, mindful that they only had 250 copies of The Return for the signing.

Which is awesome, except that 500 people showed up. Shortly before Jennifer Armentrout's signing, Jen returned (Gabrielle ran away for the BEA side of the floor to escape the crowds) and Damaris arrived. Jen and I got our books signed first and then dropped our bags behind the signing desk and I helped control the crowd and direct people while Jen made sure everyone had a post-it with their name for the signing. 

What started as a massive headache actually became fun (I thrive in chaotic situations), and it helps that Jen Armentrout has some of the best fans. While the back of the line was waiting, I got them to cheer for Seth:

Plus some of my favorite bloggers and friends were in this line as well.

The signing went over, and for the most part, people were kind and fun and just went with the crazy mess that Book Con was.

After Jen's signing wrapped up - oh, and did I mention she was signing next to Cassandra Clare and Holly Black who we got to meet? - I vacated the Book Con area and wandered the exhibit hall floor, which was pretty much a ghost town, and chatted with a few friends before leaving for the day and calling an end to my BEA adventures.

So final Book Con thoughts? Book Con isn't a bad idea. But the way it was handled was a disaster waiting to happen. Lines and crowds aside, it was unsafe to put 10,000 people in a space that small and expect it to work. I heard the area where panels were held was even worse.

Book Con proved that there is definitely room for a consumer based type of show, and maybe it could piggyback on the BEA hype. But combining the two - even for a day - was not something that should be repeated. Ever.