Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Part 1 is here. I hope everyone who’s going to BEA has a lot of fun!

7. Stick around after closing hours on the last day (if you can). Publishers start giving away tons of books, even the ones that weren’t available beforehand, because they don’t want to cart them back to wherever they came from. I didn’t actually do this because I was at lunch when it happened, but people who DID stay said it was amazing. Oh, but that reminds me:

8. Don’t be overly grabby. I personally only saw people acting lovely, but there are always stories of (bloggers, usually) bumrushing stacks of ARCs or whatever. Don’t do that. Stand in line, if there’s a line, and get one copy of whatever book you want. If you want two (or more), ask one of the publishers first if it’s okay. Usually they’ll say yes, or they’ll even send you more after BEA if you want to do giveaways or whatever.

If there’s no line, just try to gently move yourself forward to where the books are. I’m pretty good at dodging around elbows and stuff, so I managed okay, but if you see an ARC you want and can’t get to it, either wait for the people ahead of you to move or say “excuse me” and THEN wait for them to move.

And don’t forget to say thank you to the publishers! Make eye contact with one of them, lift up your book(s) and say (loud enough to be heard): Thank you! I’m looking forward to reading this/these!

9. On that note, TALK to publishers, too. Unless you’re not there for meeting publishers (I know some people just go for bloggers/authors). But if you ARE, I’d recommend getting a catalog (they always have a stack of them), flipping quickly through it, and then finding someone who doesn’t look too harassed and talk to them about it. Ask them what their favorite book coming out this year is. Ask them about midlist titles you should read. And so on!
10. Ditto that for authors. Sometimes you don’t have a whole lot of time to chat (and if there’s a lot of people in line behind you, PLEASE DON’T have 10 minute conversations, even if the author’s your best friend in the whole world) but I always tried to ask them how they’re doing and if they’re enjoying being at BEA. I think they appreciated it.
11. Try to plan out your day. (Maybe this should be nearer the top?) What I did was make a list of the authors I wanted to get autographed books from first, and then I went through and added in events, panels, and so on. I saw people with really fancy spreadsheets and I saw people with scribbled lists. Whatever works best for you is fine. Be sure to get a copy of the daily newsletter thing (they give them away at the front entrace) as there’s other events and signings listed in them that aren’t listed online. Usually you can figure out what ARC a publisher’s giving away at what hour, too (check the ads).

Be sure to mark the locations of where things are, too! Mark them on your map as well, to be most efficient.

12. Bring lunch in with you, if you can. The food inside the convention center is HORRENDOUSLY expensive. What I did was buy breakfast outside (if you got a few blocks over there’s always food trucks), eat half of it, and then save the rest for lunch. Coffee’s cheaper outside, too; there’s a Starbucks but it’s about double the price of any other Starbucks so I don’t think it’s worth buying, personally. If you bring a water bottle you can refill it at the water fountains, too.

13. Send your books back home via USPS, if you can. There’s a big post office not too far from the convention center that you can use. Depending on where you’re from you might get a better deal somewhere else, but I sent mine back via Media Mail rate and it only cost $14 for a huge box of books. Some people sent them back with the prepaid rate boxes (more expensive, but quicker). Whatever works for you.

And that’s all my tips! Any of you kind readers have some you want to impart? Leave ‘em in the comments!