Monday, June 1, 2009

BEA 2009 Wrap-Up & 100th Review Giveaway Announcement

Got home at 2am this morning from a fantastic four day trip to NYC for Book Expo America. It was just incredible and we had a wonderful time! It was my first BEA and I was repeatedly told that it was "the smallest one ever." All I have to say to that is "Thank Goodness!" I did not sit down for three days so my back was killing me and I was completely exhausted. But also thrilled to meet bloggers and publicists who I have been talking to online and emailing for the last year. They are all so nice and such fun to talk to, I wish there had been time to say more than "hi" to most of them! But I was so happy to get to spend a little time with Kathy from Bermudaonion's Weblog, Julie from Booking Mama, Amy from My Friend Amy, Stephanie from Stephanie's Written Word, Nicole from Linus's Blanket, Beth from Beth Fish Reads and Lisa from Online Publicist.

It was also great to meet the publicists at Hachette (so much fun!), Sourcebooks, Unbridled, Five Star, Medallion and Penguin.

There are probably people that I am forgetting at the moment, but they were all a pleasure to meet. Each and every one was positive and enthusiastic. I saw no evidence of the much-hyped "death of publishing," for which I am grateful.

Friday night was the BEAtweetup party. Huge turnout and a very cool venue at Greenhouse:



There were signings with many interesting authors but the one that pleased me the most was Julie Andrews, who wrote the book that was my absolute favorite when I was a kid: Mandy. (She even signed a bookplate for me to put into my old copy of Mandy.) And so many others: Annie Barrows, Eileen Goudge, James Patterson, Alan Bradley. For a book lover, it was heaven!

I also got some great books to add to my giveaway pile, which is outgrowing my house. I've been planning a HUGE giveaway to celebrate my 100th review. I am currently at 91, so 100 will be coming up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for the details, it looks like I'm going to be giving away in excess of fifty books, you won't want to miss it!

Saturday night we went to The Strand. It is the best bookshop anywhere (in my humble opinion) and I never miss a chance to visit there when I am in NYC. For the first time ever, I did not pick up a single book! Not even one. I was so overwhelmed with great galleys at BEA, I didn't even want another book. My husband went a little crazy, though, and made up for me not buying anything!

**Edited to add that I did have one disappointment at BEA, and it was a biggie. One of my all-time favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon, was there signing and I missed her because I had no idea that she was scheduled to appear. She wasn't on any of the published schedules before the show. Here's a tip for anyone going to their first BEA: Publishers Weekly puts out a daily BEA newspaper, which is distributed free all over the conference center. Pick one up first thing in the morning and read it. I grabbed one on Friday morning and then proceeded to carry it around with me for the entire day. It wasn't until I was sitting in bed Friday night that I opened it up and read it. There was the ad for Diana's appearance on Friday morning. And I missed it! I'll admit, there was some cursing in my room at that moment. My sweet hubby felt so bad for me!

13 comments:

Julie P. said...

I'm so glad we had a chance to talk at the tweetup party! You and your husband are both so nice!

Sandra said...

Sounds like you had a great time. I love The Strand and always went there when I visited new York. 100 reviews is quite an accomplishment, congratulations.

Nicole (Linus's Blanket) said...

It was so much fun to meet you and Mark. I hope I am not making his name up. I very well good be, so forgive me if I am. I'm glad that we hid out upstairs and chatted. I'm greedy though, I still wish we had more time!

I definitely interested in DC. We'll see what develops.

Stephanie said...

It was so nice to meet you too! I've lived near NYC all my life and have never been to The Strand - I really need to go there one day!

Molly said...

I am SO sorry I missed you at BEA this year. Let's make it a point of meeting up next year, ok?

I went to the Strand on Sunday morning before leaving town. I didn't buy any books either, but couldn't leave empty handed so bought a Strand canvas book bag (you can never have too many of those!)

Libby's Library said...

Wow - Julie Andrews doesn't look like she has aged at all, in the last 20 years. That's a great photo of her.

Glad you had a great time!

Sarah Johnson said...

Hi Carey! I'm sorry we didn't get to meet up after all; I got dragged away to another event on Sunday afternoon so didn't stay late at BEA. My husband and I were also at the Strand on Saturday night. Maybe I should have kept my name tag on so we could have identified one another!

Passages to the Past said...

I am SO there next year...bummer I missed this one. Seems like everyone had a great time! Wow - Julie Andrews looks great...I love her!

Beth F said...

I loved getting a chance to meet you! I just wish I had more time to really talk to you. At least we met, I missed other people completely. Next year!!!

bermudaonion said...

It was so much fun meeting you and Mark! He was such a great sport. If BEA was any bigger, it wouldn't have fit into the Javits Center.

Melissa said...

Sounds like you had a great time, but I would have been very bummed to miss Diana Gabaldon too!

Lisa Roe said...

I was so happy to meet you, too! Definitely hope we can all meet up again in the future and chat more. :-)

Book Butterfly (Kim) said...

100 posts is a great accomplishment! I follow your blog and I really enjoy your reviews :)
The BEA sounds amazing!!! I want to go some day....(crossing fingers) :)


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New Hampshire, United States
Bibliophile, Anglophile, Traveller... I have been an avid reader all of my life, since I took the Dr. Seuss Dictionary away from my Mom when I was less than a year old because I wanted to read it myself. In college, where I earned my degree in English Literature, I was often asked "What are you going to do with it?" Now I finally have the answer to that question!!! Being employed as a Flight Attendant for twenty years has given me a lot of life experience and, better still, a lot of time to read. I love to travel for fun, too.