My Bookcon 2019 Experience!

[My overall Bookcon 2019 Haul, not including my Dad’s and Derek’s books. Only two were purchased for $4 and $5, respectively.]

Bookcon 2019 was a blast!

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, Bookcon is a weekend-long nerdfest for readers, authors, and publishing personnel. In other words: paradise!

Bookcon 2019 was my fourth year attending the NYC-based event, and it didn’t disappoint! In fact, I came away with my biggest overall haul of twenty three books. Most of these were from Sunday, as Saturday was a bit crazy in terms of the crowds.

[The majority of Saturday’s haul. PC: Derek Mann]

Despite how crowded the event floor was on Saturday, my boyfriend, Derek, and I had a great time. We got the chance to meet a few authors during the signings, talk with some publishers, look around the booths, and attend two panels.

[A blurry but still nice picture of Derek and me with Trista Mateer during the singing for Aphrodite Made Me Do It]

As far as the panels went, I didn’t hustle quite as much as previous years, as the goal was to spend more time out on the show floor meeting authors and getting ARCs. The two panels we did attend were “Contemporary Fictions and Modern Day Storytellers” and “John Cena: One on One.”

I loved the idea behind the Contemporary Fictions panel. The featured authors, Sarah Dessen, Karyn Parsons, Brittney Morris, Morgan Matson, and Sandhya Menon, were wonderful about sharing their time with the mic when speaking about their experiences and novels. Sarah Enni was a fantastic moderator, and asked interesting questions to keep conversations flowing in the right direction. This was a great panel for people who are interested in fiction with an infusion of truth.

The John Cena panel wasn’t as interesting. While I realize a lot of what was discussed was meant for the ears of the children present, I felt that everything I was taught about writing children’s books flew out the window simply because of Cena’s celebrity status. I admire John Cena’s wish to help young children grow, but the way he spoke about his book was didactic and preachy. I have not read the book for myself, but based on the fifteen minutes I could handle of the panel, I don’t think I would call it a great representation of children’s literature.

[Derek amused us on lines by taking very flattering selfies of us. PC: Derek Mann]

Other than our short foray into the panel section and a lunch break, Derek and I spent the rest of our time in line, much like my experience on Sunday with my Dad. Luckily, I met a number of wonderful groups of ladies to pass the time, particularly on Sunday. If it wasn’t for my line buddies while waiting for I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal, I would have come out of Bookcon with a boring line story and fewer books and totes!

[The line for this book was one of the most fun and supportive I’ve ever been on!]

My Dad also did a fantastic job of networking with some publishers on my behalf, as well as getting quite a few ARCs that I would have missed by being in other lines.

Overall, Bookcon 2019 was one of my favorite experiences with the event, and I’ll definitely be attending in 2020!

For Friday’s post, I’ll be sharing a bit about the standout books I got at Bookcon. Stay tuned to see my faves!