#bookexpo 2019

[bookofmirth]

I’ve been going back and watching/listening to SJM’s interviews and podcasts and noticed she doesn’t really talk about her mom like at all. She tells stories about her dad and grandmother and joshes family often but rarely ever mentions her mom lol I just thought that was very strange and was wondering if you know of any instances of her talking about her mom or siblings

You’re right, she doesn’t talk about her mom much from what I remember but thanks to the powers of the group chat @bagelfyre was able to find this: https://www.booktopia.com.au/blog/2018/04/30/sarah-j-maas-interview/

And also this: https://www.tor.com/2019/06/04/dani-and-bryce-are-the-abbi-and-ilana-of-crescent-city-sarah-j-maas-talks-about-her-adult-debut/

[wangwill66]

台北國際書展2023

H：2020停辦，2021停辦實體書展改線上書展，2022年6月2日舉辦第30屆書展。疫情延誤2年。

台北國際書展2023

時間：20230131至0205地點：世貿1館1樓登埸。20221230W5

台北國際書展2023

時間：20230131至0205地點：世貿1館1樓登埸。主題：以「閱讀的多重宇宙」為題，主題國為波蘭。

主題展：3主題

1「從書中看波蘭歷史」，

2「百年波蘭繪本插畫展」，

3「世界文明史珍本古籍展」。

(摘錄自20221230W5自由時報B6文化藝術)

維基百科介紹：

台北國際書展

台北國際書展（英語譯名：Taipei International Book Exhibition，簡稱TIBE）是每年春季在台灣台北市舉行的出版品展覽會，由中華民國文化部主辦、台北書展基金會承辦。最早稱之「中華民國台北國際書展」，前身為「全國書展」，於1987年12月15日在國立中央圖書館（今 國家圖書館）首度舉行，主要是以增進國際出版品之交流為重要的主軸，後來於1990年起固定於台北世界貿易中心舉行，展期大致為六天。

由於屬於半專業性展覽（版權交易與消費展皆有），因此展期第一天為「專業人士日」，開放專業人士換證。目前是台灣規模最大，亦是亞洲第一大、世界第四大之國際級圖書專業展覽，僅次於德國法蘭克福書展、義大利義大利波隆那童書展、美國BEA書展（英語：BookExpo America）等世界三大書展[1]，由於展覽規模逐漸擴展，未來也有移往台北南港展覽館舉行的可能。

第一屆（1987年12月15日─12月21日）

第二屆（1990年1月13日─1月17日）

第三屆（1992年1月17日─1月22日）

第四屆（1994年1月14日─1月19日）

第五屆（1996年1月19日─1月24日）

第六屆（1998年2月19日─2月24日）

第七屆（1999年2月7日─2月12日）

第八屆（2000年2月16日─2月21日）

第九屆（2001年2月1日─2月6日）

第十屆（2002年2月19日─2月24日）

第十一屆（2003年2月11日─2月16日）

第十二屆（2004年1月28日—2月2日）

第十三屆（2005年2月15日─2月20日）

第十四屆（2006年2月7日—2月12日）

第十五屆（2007年1月30日─2月4日）

第十六屆（2008年2月13日─2月18日）

第十七屆（2009年2月4日─2月9日）

第十八屆（2010年1月27日─2月1日）

第十九屆（2011年2月9日─2月14日）

第二十屆（2012年2月1日─2月6日）

第二十一屆（2013年1月30日─2月4日）

第二十二屆（2014年2月5日─2月10日）

第二十三屆（2015年2月11日─2月16日）

第二十四屆（2016年2月16日─2月21日）

第二十五屆（2017年2月8日─2月13日）

第二十六屆（2018年2月6日─2月11日）

第二十七屆（2019年2月12日─2月17日）

第二十八屆（2020年2月4─2月9日）

2020台北國際書展，原訂於2月4日至9日在世貿一館舉行，由於COVID-19肺炎臺灣疫情疫情影響，考量全民共同防疫，本屆書展由主辦單��文化部與承辦單位台北書展基金會於2020年1月30日共同宣布延期，改至5月舉行。[94][95]

2020年3月期間，全球疫情持續延燒，國際參展單位及國際作家來台交流受限，經審慎評估，於3月18日再次宣布2020年取消展覽辦理，並於5月15日推出台北國際書展線上書展。

2020書展首度推出線上書展，包括「主題展」有六大主題， 「閱讀沙龍Online」，重現台北國際書展現場，將最吸引讀者的28場講座移至線上呈現，「出版社推薦」推出家參展單位的閱讀相關影片自製影片等超過700部，「Onlilne Book 秀」單元中，串聯超過1500本書，並提供官網、FB、購物車的連結服務，直接導入出版社的購書系統，欣賞由出版社提供的展位設計圖或3D圖，有如重返書展如臨現場，讓讀者藉由科技以另一種方式悠遊書展。

第二十九屆（2021年1月26日─1月31日，維持線上書展與出版專業論壇）

2020年書展雖然停辦，但2021年書展被官方定為第二十九屆，不補上第二十八屆之缺號。

本屆書展原訂於2021年1月26日─1月31日舉辦，但再次因COVID-19肺炎臺灣疫情與國際疫情嚴峻影響，1月20日文化部與台北書展基金會宣佈停辦實體書展，而線上書展及出版專業論壇則持續辦理。[96][97][98]

經過兩年停辦，由文化部主辦、台北書展基金會承辦「2021台北國際書展_精選主題館巡迴展」打破台北國際書展往例，首度以實體形式移師北部以外縣市，第一站台中場於2021年8月27日至9月12日「文化部文化資產園區」登場，第二站台南場於9月17日至10月3日「文創PLUS-臺南創意中心」，壓軸宜蘭場，則於10月8日至10月24日「中興文化創意園區」巡迴展出。

本展策劃五大主題，結合2021台北國際書展三大主題館精華及延伸展示，包括 (1)書展大賞館 (2)「2020義大利波隆那插畫展」台灣入選作品展 (3)妖怪山互動體驗 (4)精選繪本展 (5)展售區，同時邀請選「義大利波隆那插畫展」插畫家、書展大獎、金漫獎、金鼎獎得主重磅開講，舉行12場閱讀沙龍活動，將台北國際書展豐沛能量，遍地開花，深入更多民眾生活之中。

網路報導

2022台北國際書展睽違2年再度開展 展現臺灣豐沛出版能量

2022年06月02日 /

文化部主辦、台北書展基金會承辦2022年「第30屆台北國際書展」，今(2022年6月2日）日在世貿展覽館開展。副總統賴清德、文化部長李永得、台北書展基金會董事長林訓民、法國在台協會副主任戴寧智（Guillaume Delvallée）、立法委員林奕華及何欣純、各國駐臺代表、出版業者、2022台北國際書展大獎暨金蝶獎得獎者出席開幕式，法國在台協會主任公孫孟及法國出版協會會長Nicolas Roche也以預錄影片致意，在法國女高音Anne Rodier及琵琶伴奏張士能「致克洛伊絲（À Chloris）」及「望春風」兩首曲目下，共同為2022台北國際書展揭開序幕。

[whilereadingandwalking]

Signed Saturday

At BookExpo 2019, I got in line to meet a new-to-me author named Tamsyn Muir, encouraged by a fellow blogger who was hotly anticipating the debut, Gideon the Ninth. Muir signed my book, “Hope you enjoy bones or swords,” and I do, so I got excited. I was taken aback at how much I ended up loving it. Complex, sapphic, and twisty, this epic fantasy is about a necromancer and her bodyguard trying to complete a competitive, deadly trial to become immortal knights while trying to learn to trust each other. It had one of the most daring endings I’ve read in fantasy for a long time, and I would spend much of the year hyping it up, and in 2020, I had the opportunity to read Harrow the Ninth, its sequel.

Signed Saturdays is a weekly series at While Reading and Walking. I’m an avid book collector, and each Saturday, I’ll tell the story of one of my signed books. Feel free to join in at #SignedSaturdays.

[leah-jeffries]

Okay, the week is HERE. In part one, I talked about what to expect at the convention, what to do, and a few tips while concurring the gathering of book nerds from all over. But my favorite thing by far was quickly recapping the books that I’m really excited about. My post there got kind of long, so I decided to just put the covers in it without much background information, so I thought what I’d do is make a separate post here about a handful of my most anticipated titles. While I’m a little ambivalent about how publishers have run their galley events in the past, I’m always leaving with a fun new title in my tote (and yes, there are always TOTES EVERYWHERE).

FYI that in my original post that I had a few books on my list that I hoped would be available, but the books in this post will certainly be making an appearance in the duration of Book Expo so keep an eye out through the Book Expo schedule and through publishers’ social platforms! 

Tell us what books you’re excited to see! 

[redgoldsparks]

From May 30 through June 2, 2019, I will be at a big publisher conference/book convention in New York City. I will be doing signings all four days. This is a ticketed event, and my understanding is that the first two days (called BookExpo) are only open to industry professionals, while the second two days (called BookCon) are open to the public. You can find out more information here: www.bookexpoamerica.com/ and here: www.bookcon.com/ My signing schedule is: Thursday May 30, 12:30PM – 1:15PM Friday, May 31, 10:30AM – 11:15AM Saturday, June 1, 1:30PM – 2:15PM Sunday, June 2, 12:00PM – 12:45PM During these times I will be at the Lion Forge Comics booth, #1609! Check out my talented fellow authors who will be signing there as well: www.lionforge.com/bookexpo-boo… I will also be attending San Diego Comic Con and the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, later this year. Come say hello if you’ll be there! Indie Bound / Books-A-Million / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Goodreads

GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR by Maia Kobabe ISBN: 1549304003 (ISBN13: 9781549304002) Publisher: Lion Forge Comics, 2019

instagram / patreon / portfolio / the nib / etsy

[atthequillsmercy]

BookExpo day 2!

Here’s today’s swag!

This time I did bring my little rolling suitcase so I admittedly nabbed more than I should have. But I am super excited to read all these!!

Follow me on BlogLovin.

[thedoylestownbookshop]

We are at @bookexpo this week in #nyc learning about upcoming book releases and meeting with publishers which helps us to continue bringing the best author events to the #buckscounty. . . . . . #newreleases #newbook #bookexpo @americanbooksellers #aba #doylestownbookshop #lahaskabookshop #2019 #authorevent #authortour (at Javits Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByDvZIwjUiq/?igshid=i7k3bowyds4m

[accras]

Sulwe, the word for "star" in Luo, the actress's native language, is about a girl whose skin is “the color of midnight” who is “darker than everyone in her family, according to its official description, and is billed by the publisher as “a powerful, moving picture book about colorism, self-esteem, and learning that true beauty comes from within.

[kaybeesbookshelf]

2019 Atlanta Kickback hosted by 556Book Chicks Registration link https://atlantakickback.com/2019-atlanta-kick-back-registration #atlkickback #2019 #supportauthors #supportblackauthors #bookexpo #festival #bookfair#newbook #book #books #bookish #bookclubs #bookclub #bookstagram #booknerd #bibliophile #bookworm #ilovebooks #coffee #wine #goodreads #instabook #read #reading #readersofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/ButWcJ9DbLa/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cqvp2eaoptlm

[caitsbooks]

PREPARING RAPUNZEL + ANASTASIA FOR NEW YORK COMIC CON – COSPLAY CHECK IN

New York Comic Con is swiftly approaching and I made a bad decision.

First, let’s back up. In case you don’t know, New York Comic Con is October 3rd – 6th at the Javit’s Center. It’s a huge convention, with countless panels, autographing sessions, and, of course, cosplayers.

I’ve been going every year since 2015, but usually, I only get tickets for one day. Last year, I was lucky enough to sneak away for two. This year, I’m going for three.

Since I’m going more days than I usually can, I wanted to have a new cosplay.

This is where the bad decision comes in.

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[ Related: BookCon & BookExpo Survival Guide ]

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My original plan was to create – from scratch – Anastasia’s “Once Upon A December” dress and have that be my new cosplay this year. When did I come up with this plan? The 3am on September 2nd.

I realized that that probably isn’t the smartest idea, considering I’ve never made a ballgown from scratch, styled a wig, or tried to start and finish a cosplay in only a month, so I changed my mind.

Instead, I was going to do two new cosplays: Anastasia’s yellow and pink ballgown from the end of the movie, and Rapunzel in her classic dress and braided hair.

Why is this less of a bad decision? Because I’m not making the dresses, I ordered those online. All I have to do is make the accessories and style the wigs. Should be easy, right?

Wrong

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Read more to see just how wrong I was!

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I made this decision the day before my semester started, so you can already tell this won’t be good.

I ordered a Rapunzel and Anastasia dress online from a trusted cosplay maker. It was my first time ordering from them, so I was a little nervous, but their reviews looked good and I know some people who have gotten dresses from them and loved them.

It would take 15 business days for the dresses to be made and shipped, so in the meantime, I started looking at the wigs.

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RAPUNZEL

Rapunzel required a lot more things than I anticipated.

What I Used:

Pascal plushie

2 strong magnets

Ballet slippers

2 Rapunzel wigs

Needle and thread

Alligator clips (no teeth) & bobby pins

hot glue gun

wig combs

detangling spray for synthetic hair & a wide tooth comb

a whole lot of flowers

My first mission was making the wig. And this wig was quite the challenge.

I ordered two simple Rapunzel wigs off of Amazon. They were both 47″ long and not horrible quality. They came already braided, with three mini-braids in the main braid. I picked one wig to be my main wig, took out the main braid, but left the mini-braids.

Then I went to detangle.

Yeah, the movie is called Tangled for a reason.

This wig took FOREVER to detangle. It took several days of (not so) patiently combing through the hair to finally get it presentable. Once it was detangled, I cut wefts from the second wig and sewed them into the main one, making it thicker. If you want a full tutorial on how I did this, and how I styled this wig, let me know!

For the styling part, I did a dutch braid on each side of the wig, where they would join into the main braid. I used some gel to keep the hair from getting too messy as I braided. Once I got to the end, I tied it off. Then, I took some remaining hair from that spare wig, and used it to extend the wig. This hair I left simply hanging. I plan to trim it a little and maybe put some little braids in it later.

Speaking of little braids! I covered the area where the extension was sewn in with a mini braid from the second wig. I also took the other two mini breads and weaved them into the braids on Rapunzel’s head.

Then, I took my set of LED string lights (battery operated, and they don’t get hot), and weaved them into the braid. I made sure to try to get it in the hair as opposed to on top of the hair.

Finally, I took $40 worth of Michael’s flowers and cut them off the stems, then hot glued them to alligator clips. Some I would glue alone, but I mostly glued multiple flowers together in a clump. I clipped them into the hair, using around 14 flower clumps to make the wig look good.

This was EXTREMELY stressful. Definitely would not recommend for a first-time wig styler. The detangling process definitely took the longest, but there were definitely a few do-overs when it came to braiding (I also learned that I suck at braiding).

I’m just glad it’s done, which brings me to cosplay #2…

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[ Related: BookCon and BookExpo 2019 Wrap Up ]

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ANASTASIA

The wig I used for Anastasia was a basic red ponytail wig from EpicCosplay. It shipped really fast and was surprisingly good quality (if not a little small for my head, but I can make it work).

In the movie, Anastasia has her hair in a fancy up-do. However, I’m really bad at styling up-dos. Really bad. So I ordered a bun extension from EpicCosplay and figured I would just attach it and be done.

Ha.

I took off the ponytail clip, and started pinning the remaining hair into a small bun so I could put the bun extension over it. However, I underestimated how much hair there was, and my “small bun” ended up too big. Luckily, I was able to try my hand at styling and made it into a cute little up-do that doesn’t need the bun extension.

For Anastasia’s accessories, I ordered her “Together in Paris” necklace from Etsy, and decided I would make her tiara.

Her tiara is almost like a mix between a kokoshnik and a fringe tiara, and I couldn’t find anything online that looked similar enough (at a reasonable price). Instead, I ordered some EVA foam, plastidip, spray paint, and rhinestones.

Now, I actually haven’t finished this yet, and I’ll explain why soon, but in case you’re curious what my plan was, it was to cut the foam into the rough shape I want then sand the edges smooth. Next, I would use heat to set the foam, then coat it in plastidip to seal it before painting. I ordered a glittery spray paint that I would do a couple of coats of, before the main event. I got 2 yards of rhinestone strands. I don’t know if it’ll be enough, but I’m not too worried about it. I plan on gluing the strands to the tiara in vertical stripes like the movie. And then I’ll be done!

But that probably won’t be happening for this con.

Why? Well, let’s talk about the dress.

It arrived, and it looked nothing like it was supposed to. Instead of being gold and pink, it was light pink and hot pink. There were also some smaller mistakes, but the color issue was the main thing. It looked nothing like what I ordered, and nothing like Anastasia’s dress.

What I ordered vs. what I received vs. the original dress in the movie

So yeah. Not great.

I didn’t expect it to be as good quality as the photo, but I expected it would resemble it a little more than it did.

I contacted the seller and I’m waiting to hear back, but yeah, there’s no way Anastasia is going to work out for NYCC this year.

That said, I still have Rapunzel and my old cosplays. But I definitely learned the hard way to not try to make two new cosplays with one month left until the con.

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Are you going to NYCC this year? What days are you going, and are you planning any cosplays?

I’ll be there Friday-Sunday. On Friday, I’ll be Belle in her gold ballgown, Saturday, I’ll be Rapunzel, and Sunday, I’ll be Belle in her blue village dress.

If you see me, be sure to say hi!!

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Follow Me: [Blog] [Bookstagram] [Cosplay Instagram][Twitter] [Tumblr] [Goodreads]

[justalittlelitnerd]

Summer 2019 Reads

Since I was a slacker this summer and didn’t post reviews of the books I read as I read them I decided to make a list instead. I’ve also included why I chose the book and my brief thoughts, but just ask if you want to hear more about one specific.

Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi (S&S for Young Readers 2019)

I got an ARC of this when I worked BookExpo and BookCon at the beginning of the summer and I think that I set my expectations too high because of how much I loved Emergency Contact. It was still a very good book, but I just didn’t connect with the characters as much as in Choi’s previous novel. If you love the celebrity (specifically pop star) + “normal” person trope than chances are you’ll like this book.

Roomies by Christina Lauren (Gallery 2017)

As you know I had strong feelings (all good) about Autoboyography and how well I felt Christina Lauren presented the YA romance. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was their first YA and that they primarily publish adult contemporary romance. (also imagine my surprise when I realized it was co-authors names Christina and Lauren not one person sorry I’m only human). So when I found out I would be working on a romance project for my NYU program I decided to do some “research” which included picking up this fun fake romance story. If you love the fake dating or fake marriage trope than you will love this book. There are heroic acts, music, accents, and of course misunderstandings.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (Gallery 2019)

I picked this up at the same time as Roomies because it was their brand new title and I am a sucker for hate to love romances. While I enjoyed the characters and their banter, after reading some of their other books I’m going to be honest and say that this was not their best. Still if you love anything Christina Lauren do or are like me and a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope than you’ll probably enjoy this book.

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (Tor 2019)

So TBH I picked up this book to prep for an interview and I was sold on the beautiful jacket and murder at a magic high school, but nothing could have prepared me for the beauty of Gailey’s writing. Every writer ever will tell you how hard it is to successfully write stream of consciousness and that even if you’re successful in telling a story that way, it’s not always the most successful with readers. (Kind of like using second person. or first person. or anything besides third). But Gailey succeeds and it made sense for the main character who seems a little scattered. If you like Harry Potter or The Magicians (because this is a little darker than HP) then you’ll probably like this book. Really if you like magic and mysteries and murder you’ll probably like this book.       

The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz (Tor 2019)

So I picked up this book also as prep for the aforementioned interview because the jacket copy was so beautiful written that I was sold instantly. Teens in space with a fancy restaurant? Sign me up. But I’m not gonna lie the world building is slow and there’s a lot more emphasis on the restaurant and the actual cooking than I expected that it took me a long while to get hooked in the story. I liked it enough to finish it, but can’t say yet if I liked it enough to reread it so do with that info what you will.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber (Flatiron 2017) 

So I finally read Caraval and I am still trying to wrap my head around the whirlwind craziness that is this story. Garber somehow managed to put together a convoluted plot that doesn’t seem like it would make sense or come together, but somehow it does. You know the stories I’m talking about where clearly the author scrambles to tie the strings together to make choices earlier in the story make sense, but they only sort of do? That’s not the case with this story. I’m still trying to decide if I want to continue the series so I will keep y’all posted. 

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren (Gallery 2018)

This was 10x better than Roomies and The Unhonemooners which I didn’t expect because I’m not usually a fan of best friend romances or anything remotely close to catfishing (hence why I was so disappointed in Sierra Burgess is a Loser), but this book proved me wrong. The characters had depth and a relationship I wasn’t expecting and the ending didn’t feel rushed or forced or superficial for the sake of a happy ending. I liked the analysis of dating apps and the general nerdiness of the characters.  

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren(Gallery 2018)

Okay so this is by far my favorite Christina Lauren novel I’ve read so far, honestly I’d be shocked if any of the others live up to this one because it was just so cute and quirky and everything I want from a contemporary romantic comedy. If you like general fluff and a confident female lead than this is the book for you. 

Fight or Flight by Samantha Young (Berkley 2018)

So this book had me hooked from the beginning because of the circumstances of the meeting and I’m a sucker for guys with accents, but the relationship was so toxic and I don’t feel like there was enough character development to warrant the ending 

[macmillanusa]

Macmillan @ BookExpo/BookCon 2019!

Stop by our booth (1544/45) at BookExpo/BookCon 2019 (May 29-June 2 at the Javits Center, NYC) for author signings, giveaways, and more! 

For author programming outside of our booth, please refer to the BookExpo and BookCon websites. Below is all of our in-booth programming across all of our publishers and imprints.

WEDNESDAY, May 29 (BookExpo)

Wednesday BookExpo Panels featuring Macmillan Employees: 

Changing Tides: Novel Approaches to Combating Piracy, featuring Catherine Bogin (Anti-Piracy Manager, Macmillan) Wednesday, May 29, 2:00 PM 1E10 Audiobook New Titles Showcase, featuring Guy Oldfield (Director Audio Production, Macmillan Audio) Wednesday, May 29, 4:15 PM Choice Stage

THURSDAY, May 30 (BookExpo)

Thursday BookExpo Panels featuring Macmillan Employees: 

Learn From the Marketing Success of the Bestselling Thriller, The Silent Patient, featuring Rachel Chou (VP Associate Publisher, Celadon Books) Thursday, May 30, 9:55 AM 1E11 But That's Another Story Podcast Panel, hosted by bestselling author Will Schwalbe (EVP, Edit Dev & Cont Inn) Thursday, May 30, 10:10 AM Downtown Stage Author Events and Beyond, featuring Melissa Campion (Author Events Director, Macmillan), Molly B. Ellis (Director of Publicity, MCPG), Erica Martirano (Senior Associate Director of Marketing, St. Martin's Press), and Amelia Possanza (Assistant Director of Publicity, Flatiron Books) Thursday, May 30, 11:00 AM Choice Stage The (almost) Annual Making the Make Book panel 2019, featuring Sarah Barley (Editorial Director, Flatiron Books) Thursday, May 30, 11:00 AM 1E16

FRIDAY, May 31 (BookExpo)

Friday BookExpo Panels featuring Macmillan Employees: 

How Publishers Promote Debut Authors, featuring Rachel Chou (VP Associate Publisher, Celadon Books) Friday, May 31,11:30 AM 1E11 Discovering Debuts with Macmillan Editors, featuring Tiffany Liao (Editor, MCPG), Ryan Doherty (Editor, Celadon Books), Jenna Johnson (Editor, FSG), moderated by Mitzi Angel (SVP and Publisher, FSG) Friday, May 31, 11:45 AM 1E10

SATURDAY, June 1 (BookCon)

SUNDAY, June 2 (BookCon)

[dunglizard]

Ok so...I was a Goosebumps kid. Growing up in the 90s and being a weird kid it was kind of inevitable. When I was applying to colleges (in 2008 holy shit) I wrote my common app essay about Goosebumps and how it got me into reading. 

Today, in 2019, my supervisor at my Serious Publishing Job lent me her pass for BookExpo so I went and R.L. STINE HIMSELF WAS THERE. And you didn’t need a ticket or anything?? So I just...got in the line and got my picture taken, and I got to tell him that I wrote my application essay about Goosebumps and that it helped get me into Brown. And he said, “That’s a first! Really, no one else has told me that. That made my morning!”

I made R.L. Stine’s morning. It’s just...it isn’t that I LIKED Goosebumps as a kid, it’s that I would not be the person I am without having read and reread those books and having cultivated a huge and honestly indiscriminate taste for reading. I probably wouldn’t be a writer or a horror enthusiast or a master of fine arts or what have you; I would be a different person. Not a bad person, but a very different one. I’m not really sure how to say what I’m feeling right now. It’s a heavy, but not unpleasant feeling.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Signed Saturday

It was really exciting to meet comedian and actor, and now author, Jenny Slate at BookExpo 2019. She was signing her book of short stories Little Weirds, a strange and eclectic collection with many gems. She’s produced so much fantastic, quirky comedy that has brought me and others so much joy, from her work on Parks & Rec to all her voice acting to Marcel the Shell. So it was really great to get to see her in person, to take a photo with her and thank her for all the joys, and to get this copy of her book.

Signed Saturdays is a weekly series at While Reading and Walking. I’m an avid book collector, and each Saturday, I’ll tell the story of one of my signed books. Feel free to join in at #SignedSaturdays.

[leah-jeffries]

I can’t believe it’s been over a week since BookCon rolled out of here! Now another 300-something odd days until the next one and I’m already anticipating BookCon 2020. Insane, right? Before this year is over, I’ve gotta tell you about what went down during one of the biggest bookish weekends in the world. 

I’d been at BookExpo 2019 so by the time BookCon rolled around, the pair of us were tuckered out, our feet were in pain and I was anticipating the large number of convention-goers that would make their way into the enormous glass building. Now if you’ve never been to BookCon, it’s pretty much like BookExpo, but on steroids and with a much bigger fan experience. If you had to measure it against something like New York Comic Con, it’s really like a fourth of what that is. Though, I have to admit that this year was probably the highest attended BookCon the two of us have ever seen! I’ve been going since 2014, so it’s been a good part of a decade that I’ve had the pleasure to watch it grow. 

Now if you didn’t know, the folks that run BookExpo/BookCon have an enormous social outreach. Besides all the standard platforms they have accounts on, they always make it a point to update their app through the respectable stores (in our case, on the Apple App Store) where they seem to have EVERYTHING. It lets you plan your schedule, check out who will be attending, what sort of events are happening, and even lets you connect with other people who will be attending in the community. 

Okay, so I knew that BookCon would be a place where I go to really check out how exhibitors shift their focuses between the industry-targeted BookExpo and the standard community-targeted BookCon. And I knew that people were more excited since there were some heavy hitters that would be in attendance (I feel like it was really about all the celebrity authors this year).

So Saturday morning, I knew I was going to come early just because I love seeing the show floor right when it opens and what exhibitors are offering in their programming and materials to hand-out in the first wave of attendees. When I woke up and on my way to the city, I couldn’t help but peek in on the official Facebook group to see if people were really out and about for the conference already (I was up by 6am) and of course, there WERE people who had been talking about how attendees had been there since practically 4am! There were some really big book lovers out there, which I am totally on board for, but definitely not as big myself. 

Saturday seemed like a wild day and honestly, the busiest that I had seen the 4.5 days between Book Expo and Book Con. And according to a few articles (particularly on PW), it was the busiest and most-crowded. I’m not surprised since Saturdays seem to always be the biggest when it comes to conferences and conventions. There were people EVERYWHERE and not enough freebies to spread amongst the increased con-goers (which I know a lot of people were disgruntled about) according to most attendees chief complaints that I read about. 

To be honest, writing this a week later, the events are all a blur. So I’ll stick to the highlights. 

Back to Saturday! To be honest, the biggest thing that happened that I was really hoping to score was THE TOLL from Neal Shusterman. When the cover was revealed a few weeks ago, I hadn’t thought in my wildest dreams that they would be creating advanced galleys (no matter how limited) for the ARC OF THE SCYTHE trilogy, let alone dropping them during BookCon. From conversations that I had with publishers over the duration of Book Expo, it seemed like they were holding back a lot of their promotional materials until Book Con, which I found pretty surprising. So when RivetedLit announced that there were scythes walking around the floor with envelopes that told you if you were “the chosen one” or not, you bet your tush that I bolted in search of them. I have no idea how many times I asked if they had something for me and how many enamel pins I ended up with and honestly, that was the biggest hardship I faced the entire weekend. With their tote bags full of envelopes, I was convinced that that these galleys didn’t exist. Apparently, there were 25 of them but I sadly, did not get my grubby hands on them. 

September isn’t too long from now, right? (-sobs-) 

(Also, I can’t deny that I waited until the end of Book Con on Saturday in hopes that S&S would do a drop of it since that was what happened with AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS during Book Con 2017. It was my biggest regret leaving early.)

I feel like I tried to steer clear of the bigger booths that had the more ‘coveted’ giveaways happening (like HarperCollins and Penguin Random House) because there always seemed to be an endless stream of people, but I definitely didn’t stray from Simon & Schuster and Hachette. While they were buzzing with people, they had more opportunities for attendees to interface. RivetedLit had a fun lollipop (though people seemed to line up HOURS in advance with no promise of a free book) wall where you picked one at random and the color on the bottom fo the stick indicated which of their most-talked about titles you would receive. And if you got a blank one, you still got a lollipop out of it (which I certainly approve of). 

Between the two of us, we got WINTERWOOD by Shea Ernshaw, SLAY by Brittney Morris, and PERMANENT RECORD by Mary H.K. Choi (I only got a lollipop on Sunday!). I gotta say, those were great choices. I had hoped to get THE LADY ROGUE by Jenna Bennett since it sounded so EPIC and I loved the premise, but again...September isn’t too far away...right? (-anguished sob-). 

My two other highlights of Saturday was meeting Claire Legrand, author of so many delightful young adult novels, but she was there at SourceBooks to promote her latest release, KINGSBANE, the second in the Empirium Trilogy (aka one of my favorites in recent years). The first fifty in line received a complimentary finished copy of KINGSBANE while anyone thereafter got a copy at a discounted price. And let me say that there were A LOT of copies. 

I only got a few seconds with Claire Legrand when it was my turn to meet her and I always feel like I’m taking too long by chatting with them (and I always love getting a photo of them signing their book), so I just tend to be awkward and always keep in mind to tell them to have a great time while they’re there since I know how insanely exhausting it can get. She is always a delight to meet and always decked out in a lovely outfit. 

She was also giving away her preorder enamel pins which I’d missed out on since I procrastinated, so I was so glad I was able to snatch one for my pin board! 

My other signing that day was with Joan He - again, a fleeting moment because I knew there were many people in line who wanted a chance to talk to her and I really would rather have that time devoted for those who want a real moment with her. I was so excited to meet the author of DESCENDANTS OF THE CRANE since it is a jaw-dropping, edge-of-table-gripping story. And honestly, how am I supposed to resist a diverse spellbinding story??? 

I spent the better part of the weekend on the show floor and saw a lot. It’s really no surprise that there were lines everywhere you turned. I can’t exactly figure out the best way for exhibitors to eliminate their lines other than dropping tickets in the morning or reserving them through an online system (like autographing area tickets), but I can say that if there weren’t lines, I think it would be such a great opportunity to network and get to know publishers more. I feel like a lot of the times, bloggers and people from the media (at least small-press media) get a terrible reputation at Book Con and other bookish conferences is because there’s very little room to develop that relationship between publisher and media. 99% of the time, people in both roles are behind the screen and working for corporations that do not allow for much face time. 

Sunday was pretty much the same, but I still enjoyed walking around all day despite having been through the show floor MULTIPLE times in the week I’d been there. It’s just always fun to see what new things exhibitors are doing and to see the demographics of the attendees. According to PW, it was majority white women in their 30s-40s. While that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest and I did see a number of POCs on the floor, I was disappointed that there was not more catered to bringing in those bigger numbers. It was definitely startling to see the sea of “whiteness” when there were plenty of authors/illustrators with culturally diverse backgrounds in attendance and being promoted. 

Truth time, I really wanted to devote my mornings on the weekend to finding totes. If you’ve ever been to one of these conferences before, you know there always seems to be totes flying everywhere from every booth, but it didn’t seem like the case this year. I’d sadly missed out on this AMAZING tote giveaway supporting Karin Slaughter at Blackstone Publishing during Book Expo, but I made up for it by claiming one of their really cute ‘Crazy Book Lady’ totes which is now in my collection of totes to use as my casket lining when I die :).

The only things we had to attend were our autograph signings. We had Sandhya Menon, Cora Carmack, and Tasmyn Muir/Kel Kade. 

Cora Carmack went pretty smoothly. We’d met her earlier that week during her signing for RAGE and we’d wanted to get some of her backlist titles signed, so it was pretty delightful to see her. We’d decided to skip Sandhya because we were disappointed in the rule of having to purchase a book at full price, especially when her books were being sold at the Simon & Schuster for half price. 

Tasmyn Mui and Kel Kade were signing on Sunday and it was our lightest day when it came to a schedule. We were pretty excited for GIDEON THE NINTH which boasts a cast of lesbian necromancers, so what is not to love? Especially when V.E. Schwab blurbs it, amirite? Also, Tasmyn and Kel were TERRIBLY delightful.

 While we were waiting in line for the signing to start, there was a kerfuffle behind us and it seemed as though they’d run out of books for one of the authors which was pretty shocking to me. These autographing sessions are booked WEEKS in advance and while I know there is some negligence on part of the Book Con staff (people who just let other people without tickets in), I just couldn’t believe how short the number of books had been and it didn’t seem like it was a one-time mishap. There were multiple complaints across the Book Con official group in the days following Book Con and I dunno if I would have been okay with it had I been waiting a while for books that I thought I was going to get and ended up not geting (and believe me, there is a lot of waiting).

Two things that jumped out at me on the floor were the very family-oriented activities happening on the other side of the show floor hall. While the right side was condensed with all of the publishers, the left side was left quite empty and most of it dedicated to the queue hall for attendees to line up in the morning. But when you looked around that section, you might have noticed that there were many more merch booths and an area dedicated to a Family Headquarters where families had their own activities and programming. While I don’t have my own family, I thought it was really nice for Reedpop and Book Con to parter with the Children’s Book Council to cater to families that would be attending. 

Not only was the event committee catering to them but also a few of the exhibitors They had tables and little (what I assume were workshops or activitiy time) tables where kids and parents could sit and do a variety of things like color and decorate activity sheets. This has got my 100% approval stamp all over it and of the kids that I saw there, they seemed like they were definitely having a lot of fun! 

The other thing that jumped out at me that I briefly mentioned above and was probably my favorite part of the whole Book Con experience was the section that had exhibitors selling bookish merch. You don’t know this, but I am an avid collector of bookish merch like prints and enamel pins. Anything that is artfully done and for a fandom of mine, I will throw my money and bank account at without a second thought. I was actually really excited to explore it and while I’d browsed through it at Book Expo, it seemed to definitely bump up with a few more vendors during Book Con. 

Sadly, I don’t have photos documenting that part, but I will definitely link anything I bought below that has a buy page or product look for you in case you want to check it out! 

ChickLit Designs had a booth where you could spin a wheel and win a prize! Between the two of us, we won a lovely Rifle Paper Co.-esque Oscar Wilde quote print and a $10 off one of their products! Since they did have inventory there, we naturally had to buy something to avoid shipping costs. 

"The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Phone Case

I was delighted to see Wick & Fable there since I am an enormous fan of their products! They had a really cute booth setup and there was no shortage of people looking to buy their stuff! I’m not too familiar with their store, but I understand that their website is pretty much their candles and subscription boxes. While they were selling their candles, they were also selling (what I assume to be) exclusive products from their monthly boxes which typically cannot be found online outside those boxes (which means $$$). While I desperately wanted to purchase their gorgeous Grisha/Six of Crows shadowbox frames, I just didn’t have $35 to shell out for them as much as I wanted to. I didn’t walk away empty handed though. I’m a sucker for THE CRUEL PRINCE and again, if I see anything that catches my eye, I will buy it. So I had to score the below pin! 

The Cruel Prince Enamel Pin 

Speaking of Cassandra Clare (no, I know that Holly Black wrote THE CRUEL PRINCE, but I always feel like I see Cassie and Holly together), I also couldn’t help but pick up the gorgeous tarot deck from the Topatco booth. Once again, gotta love any chance to save on shipping costs (though I had hoped for a discount, no matter how small). 

Shadowhunters Tarot Cards

The only other thing I bought was from a booth I’d been eyeing all week and debating on buying from. If you aren’t familiar with Pinch Me Therapy Dough, it’s basically like a stress ball or kinetic sand - something meant to help you if you’re feeling anxiety, stress, anger, etc. I hadn’t known about this brand until I saw it in an Instastory of Tahereh Mafi’s. What is special about these ‘doughs’ is that they have a really soft, cool texture and are infused with the NICEST SMELLING essential oils. It’s really hard to find a product where the aromatherapy doesn’t go overboard and I couldn’t help myself. The woman there was selling them in large and small sizes as well as sample size packs. After some good smelling time, I settled on the very first one that I’d smelled and really loved. 

Pinch Me Therapy Dough - Holistic Aromatherapy Stress Relieving Putty - 10 Ounce Relief Scent

They are a little pricey and I only got a small size (it was $15), but I really think it was worth it and it has me wanting to get more of them (Chill and Sun were two other scents I loved) but I think I’ll wait until I see the company at another conference and save the shipping fee! 

I was surprised to see a lot of subscription box companies there, but were really only there to promote their boxes as a whole. Had they been like Wick & Fable and sold more of their separate pieces from their boxes, I think that would have made a HUGE difference. I understand that maybe there wasn’t inventory or they didn’t want to break away from their “subscribe to our box” branding and slashing prices, but I just don’t get how you wouldn’t want to make a bit more profit with such a good opportunity! 

What my wishlist for Book Con 2020 is to have more of these vendors AND an Artist Alley. I know it’s odd to think of one outside of comic con conventions, but I’ve seen so many amazing pieces of artwork for books that I think it’s such a missed opportunity for there not to be at this sort of event where people are so willing to put down a few dollars to be able to visualize their favorite stories. And it would give conference attendees an opportunity to get away from the crowded lines of the main show floor and people who are just waiting on loved ones or need time to kill! 

Until next year, Book Con. :) 

[redgoldsparks]

I will be in New York City at the Javits Center for BookExpo and BookCon at the end of the month! I will be signing books at the Lion Forge Booth #1609.  My signing schedule is: 

Thursday May 30, 12:30PM – 1:15PM Friday, May 31, 10:30AM – 11:15AM Saturday, June 1, 1:30PM – 2:15PM Sunday, June 2, 12:00PM – 12:45PM

Both of these are ticketed events, you can find more info at www.bookexpoamerica.com and www.bookcon.com respectively :)  

Indie Bound / Books-A-Million / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Goodreads

GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR by Maia Kobabe ISBN: 1549304003 (ISBN13: 9781549304002) Publisher: Lion Forge Comics, 2019

instagram / patreon / portfolio / the nib / etsy