Last week, Book Expo America (BEA) 2014 was held at the Javits in New York City. When I say BEA feels the hugest book festival ever, I'm not exaggerating: nearly 20,000 industry professionals attended. And on Saturday, May 31 alone, 10,000 readers hit up the first-ever BookCon, where BEA opened its doors to consumers.
That's a lot of readers.
It's no surprise then that when I polled my fellow OOMers about their BEA reactions, there was one overarching theme: we were overwhelmed! There's so much to see and do at BEA, from publisher booths (check out ours here) to panel discussions, from ticketed events to impromptu meetings in the food court. If you need a better understanding of just how much action happens at BEA, check out Publishers Weekly's roundup here.
Nadia said, "It was cool to be surrounded by so many people who love books and love literature, but it was definitely overwhelming. I wish I had more time there – I feel like there was so much I didn’t have a chance to see." Lia agreed. "I was in total awe of the sheer size of BEA—it was my first time at an expo, and I can’t even imagine all the work that must’ve gone into putting this together." (Shout-out in particular to the incredible Scholastic events team for their hard work!)
Of course, we all got much more out of our BEA experience than just a few minutes of feeling lost in the Javits. "It was energizing to be surrounded by avid readers and esteemed writers," Alex said. And Mike was in agreement: "It was amazing to see people’s passion for books shine. I was in complete awe of the size of the whole experience—trade, travel, education, ebook—you name! Definite must for any bibliophile."
While many of us attended panel sessions and networked with our industry colleagues, Brittany had a slightly different fan experience: she waited in line for two hours to meet Grumpy Cat. "#worthit," she tweeted. (That's her in the photo!)
And worth it is was, especially when we each realized how easy it was to spot our Scholastic friends even in the massive crowd. "Thank goodness for the big red Scholastic sign hanging from the ceiling; it was like a bookish northern star guiding me home," Lia said. And Megan, after attending a session about women in the publishing industry, "traced the path formed by a line of people (it wove through most of the trade show floor) that just so happened to end at the big red Scholastic booth where stacks upon stacks of Maggie Stiefvater's Sinner were waiting for eager readers."
Check out our Storify recap of the event here. If you were there, what did you think?
[View the story "Book Expo 2014" on Storify]
