BookExpo
Penguin Random House (and specifically Penguin Teen) definitely deserves a shoutout for their wonderful staff & lineup. They had so many popular signings, like for Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman and Marie Lu's Warcross, and they managed the lines pretty well; I didn't have any trouble trying to find the line. Their staff, including volunteers, were also very friendly and nice to chat with!
Some of my favorites from Day 1 of the show:
- Owlcrate's wheel, which consisted of either recent YA books or YA related swag, such as candles and calendars. I won Roseblood by A.G. Howard from the wheel.
- I also made it to the drop for Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen, which I had been anticipating since I absolutely loved Gaughen's Scarlet series.
- Of course, Marie Lu's Warcross signing on the second day was wonderful as expected.
- Perhaps my most anticipated event for BookExpo and BookCon was Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman; it was my first time meeting Leigh, and I was just in the middle of reading Crooked Kingdom so that was a nice touch. The line for the signing started over an hour before, and it was nice to have book buddies to sit down with to pass the time. :-)
- One of the last things I did at BookExpo was meet Julie Dao at her signing for Fires of a Thousand Lanterns and let me tell you - she was an absolute sweetheart! I cannot wait to read her debut.
- I also met Holly Black, who was so friendly and a pleasure to chat with.
One thing I noticed is that Little Brown/The NOVL does not announce any dates and times for its events prior ro the show, so it's definitely worth heading there early on to grab their schedule.
The atomosphere was great, the lines went by fast, and it was overall a great experience!
BookCon
BookCon is an annual thing I do with my friends, so above all, for me, it was more hanging out with my friends with the added bonus of being around books and authors. I only went the first day and didn't really plan a schedule.
If I can summarize BookCon into one word, it'll be lines.
Lines everywhere. Things at BEA that had absolutely no line (such as the Grishaverse) was swarmed on BookCon.
Despite the crazy crowds, I did have a great time.
Penguin had a bunch of random giveaways throughout the day with no coherent line, and they had a pretty cool giveaway promoting their new Underlined product. We got a zippered tote, a box with two books and some swag, a pouch, and a beach towel for signing up for Underlined. One of the books was The Golden Compass, which I've been thinking of reading anyway, so that was a cool surprise.
The only signing I went to at BookCon was the meet and greet for Kerri Maniscalo (Hunting Prince Dracula) and Lyndsay Ely (Gunslinger Girl). In fact, I think my next read may be Hunting Price Dracula.
I left not long after since I was still a bit tired from BookExpo, and the crowds were just not my thing.
OVERALL VERDICT:
BookExpo - A fabulous *insert many other positive adjectives here* event that I would reccommend to anyone with any role in the industry, whether it be blogging or selling.
BookCon - It's a nice event to enjoy with family or friends, but beware of the crowds.
