On Saturday, I went to Book Expo America, the premier trade show for the publishing industry, for the very first time. It was impressive, exhausting and overwhelming.I'd offered to spend some time helping out at the EPIC booth, so that was my first stop. (For those not familiar with EPIC, it's the Electronically Published Internet Connection, an organization of e-book authors and publishers.) Here's a picture of the booth. I'm on the left, EPIC President Carol MacLeod w/a Lynn Crain is in the middle, and author Kathryn Sullivan is on the right.
We talked up e-books to people who stopped by, demonstrated our e-book readers and answered lots of questions. Amazon had a large booth at the show to demonstrate the Kindle, so there was a lot of interest in that. I took mine along to demo. We took turns wandering around. Here are a few more pictures.
On the left: RWA President-Elect and friend Diane Pershing at the RWA booth.
On the right: My good friend Patricia Thayer signing her book for a fan at the Harlequin/Silhouette booth.
By the time I got home that night, my feet and shoulders were sore, and I felt brain dead, but it was a fun day. BEA is in New York next year, so I won't be there.
Has anyone else ever been to BEA? If so, where and when?
Linda
Note: Links updated 6-3-08, 8:40AM
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11 comments:
Hi Linda,
I was at the BEA in New York in June 2007. I helped out at the Sisters in Crime booth. You nailed it exactly: impressive, exhausting and overwhelming, but tons of fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I am so glad that you enjoyed it.
Terrie
Terrie, you'll get a chance to do it again next year, since it's back in NY for 2009, then Washington, DC in 2010 and Las Vegas in 2011. The last one is close enough... maybe.
Linda
Linda, how wonderful that you attended and contributed at the Book Expo. This is a worthy cause, and I can relate to how exhausting and overwhelming it must have been.
I've never been, but I certainly hope to attend one day.
I hope you will, too, Travis, preferably as a best-selling author signing gobs of books for adoring fans. :D
Linda
I've never been. It sounds amazing. Thanks for the report!
I've heard of it but have never been. Sounds great. How could it not be with all those books!
Thanks for a great report, Linda. I helped at the Ellora's Cave booth last year in NYC and it was mind-boggling to see so many people with one passion: BOOKS! I'm glad to hear it's in NYC again next year; I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Cris
www.crisanson.com
That must have been fun, Cris. I was going to include a picture of the Ellora's Cave bus, but the post was getting too crowded. I can't believe they brought the whole bus!
Linda
I always tell myself I'll go to go to the Book Expo or RWA's National Convention but I always chicken out. It's intimidating to think all those people I admire will be in one location. Now that the Expo will be in NY for the next go-round, the excuses for not going will be harder to come by...
~Debbie
Debbie, I know what you mean. I was intimidated, too, but I won't be the next time. Look at it this way, you might be able pick up some free books to use for your daughter's home schooling, too, so it's a dual purpose event. They have lots of children's and YA books, too. Not textbooks, so much, but novels were being given away. I picked up several YA novels for the library.
Linda
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