Last year, BlogWorld Expo officially became a bi-coastal event by co-locating with BookExpo America in New York City. It was such a success, they are going to do it again next week. I’m not sure of how the locations will run, but last year, BEA had the top floor at the Javits Center, while BlogWorld was located on the lower level on the north side.
Any way you slice it, the co-location gives social media hounds the best of both worlds. BookExpo is such a great opportunity to connect with authors and the publishers who bring their books to market. I wrote a post last year about how BlogWorld attendees could make the most of out BEA, and it’s just as valid now as it was last year. Maybe more so. I don’t think most BlogWorld people realized that there was this whole vast world of books above their heads, all for the taking. It’s so great that these two conferences are located together, that it’s a shame to not take advantage of what they offer. Here are a couple of tips to compliment last year’s post.
1.The BEA Autographing schedule is now live. Take the time to go through it and compile a list of all the books you are interested in. These are books that for the most part are not available yet – the original purpose behind BEA was to promote fall and winter publications, the busiest season for book buying. This year. for some reason, it seems like every author is signing at the same 2 times on Wednesday, but maybe that’s just my personal issue. There are 3 kinds of autographing sessions…
- In Booth – that means you visit the publishers booth and get in a line to get your book signed. Sometimes for famous or prolific authors, the line can form up to an hour before the signing. Plan accordingly if you have to have a book like that.
- Autographing area – there is an area set aside on the show floor for autographing. Authors sit at tables and attendees wait in draped lines to get the books. Again, the early bird will get the worm…er…um…popular book so if you’re looking for a big name author’s book, get in line early.
- Ticketed autographing – most books in the autographing area first come, first served. But others are so popular (think celebrity and high-profile) and limited in quantity that they are considered ticketed events. To obtain a free ticket, go to the booth near registration on site the day of the autographing starting at 7am. They’re first come, first served, and yes, even though I got there last year at 7:15am, I wasn’t able to snag Rick Riordan tickets. You have been warned.
2. There are a number of events besides BEA and BlogWorld running the same time. There is the BEA Bloggers Conference which I will be attending for the first time, so I can’t speak much to it, except to say that my friends who have attended felt it was very worth their time. It’s usually been on the Friday after BEA, which is why it never made it onto my schedule. Honestly, I’m a wreck by that point and never had the energy to do much by the end of BEA. But this year, it’s on a Monday, which makes it the perfect kick off to the conference. I’m excited about it for many reasons. First off, I want to meet more book bloggers in the community. Secondly, I think the sessions look really strong. Third, the author line up is remarkable. I will be live tweeting from the conference, so please follow me on Twitter to get all the updates.
Other concurrent events include the International Digital Publishing Forum and the ABA Day of Education. It’s a big week people, rest up now!
3. Wiley authors will be all over the BEA and BlogWorld. You want a copy of their latest and greatest? No problem. Here’ s a link to the Wiley author signing schedule. Kelly Senyei, Kelby Carr, Deb Ng, Scott Stratten and Lisa Sabin-Wilson are names you probably know well from the social media space. Now is the time to get a signed book from them!
4. I said it last year but it is worth repeating. Use this opportunity to ENGAGE. If you find a book you want, ask to get a card from the publicist or marketer for the house and make sure he or she knows you are a blogger. Generally, authors are accompanied by someone from the publishing company – look for the person opening books to the title page to be signed. Make connections so you can get access to more great content. Believe me, they’ll be happy to meet you. Consider blogging about the books you get – authors are always happy for the support.
I’ll be at the BEA Bloggers Con and IDPF on Monday, and floating around BEA the rest of the week. If you see me, definitely say hi – I’d love to meet you. You can also ask for me in the Wiley booth #3722. I think I was forced to sign up to work for a few hours on Thursday. Come keep me company!
(Edited to add that depending upon which badge you have, there may be additional fees to attend the co-located conferences. )
Great tips and also I found the Digital Book Zone in the corner opposite end of the hall from the autographs to be amazing. This year there appears to be about twice as many exhibitors in this section. Last year I think I spent half my time here and half my time at BlogWorld.
Thanks for commenting. I found not enough BWE knew about BEA and vice versa. I recall being in the hallway with one guy just saying FREE BOOKS! FREE BOOKS! over and over again. Maybe I made my point?
Yeah, I think the layout last year kept people at a bit of a distance. I don’t think a lot of people understood that either pass got you into both halls too.
I don’t think BlogWorld is in the basement again this year, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. BEA gives a good break down of where there stuff is on a floor by floor basis, but I’m missing the Blogworld equivalent. Might see if the Javits center site has any info on that.
Looks like pass access is actually different than last year
I was just reviewing
http://www.blogworldexpo.com/2012-nyc/bea-blogworld-colocation-information/
Last year the expo hall pass got you into both halls, this year that is not the case for blogworld to BEA (not sure about other way around).
The blogworld site mentions upgrading and prices available for that but I could not actually find any.
Unfortunately yes we are in the basement again. But then again the Javits is kind of one big basement.
Thanks for a very helpful post Ellen! I want to make sure people are aware if they want to attend the Book Blogger conference there is an additional registration fee. This is a BEA policy.
Thanks Rick and Brett – I edited the post to reflect the fact that you may need to pay an additional registration fee depending on what conference you are attending.
Thanks for writing this and sharing because as a first time visitor to the Book Expo I’m excited, but had no idea what to expect. Sure hope we see each other!
Ditto. I’ll have to shriek like a tween for a “fangirl” moment.
Thanks for the info! I had no idea they were connected. I knew that they were “co-locating” but when I hear that I think of NYC public schools sharing space and fighting over the cafeteria and gym.