Getting all booked up at this year's BEA

Tomorrow,this blog will be silent(atleast online)due to my attendance at Book Expo America aka BEA. This will be my third time going to BEA and the first time that LRG will be representing itself. Like my fancy business card? The artwork was designed by my talented younger sister,Stephanie,who has her own online comic strip called The Original Nutty Funsters,which you can check out at ComicSpace. It really pays to have an artist in the family.



"What's the big deal with BEA?" some might ask and my answer is" Well,it's just one of the biggest book parties this side of the Western Hemisphere!" Of course,I haven't been to many literary conventions but most agree that BEA is tops. This is the place where the publishing world and those who write,read and promote it gather together to talk shop,meet authors and get some great stuff to take home.

One of the most important things to take with you to BEA is a tote bag to carry all of the ARCs,posters,pens and other cool giveaway items that are eagerly handed out from numerous booths on the Exhibition floor. The first time that I went,there weren't alot of bags available for folks but a couple of years later, you couldn't walk about two feet without someone offering you a nice bag promoting a great new book.

There are author signings,for both new and established writers both at their publisher's booth or in a special section. I was hoping to meet Jennifer Weiner,who is still on the scheldule but from reading her blog,I discovered that she's sick and won't be able to attend. She says it's not serious but I do hope she gets better soon. I also hope to meet A.J. Jacobs,who will be promoting his upcoming fall title,The Year of Living Biblically. He gave me a great interview for his earlier book,The Know It All, and maybe I can get him to do another one for his new one.



Other hot titles being promoted will include Richard Russo's Bridge Of Sighs,Alice Sebold's The Oldest Monday, The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta and Stephen Colbert's I Am America And So Can You(Colbert will also be speaking at a Special Events Breakfast). And no,there will not be any advance copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows available but there will probaly be a nice bag or poster to grab up at the Scholastic booth. A good friend of Robin Brande's will be attending BEA as well,Barry Lyga,who is not only coming out with a new YA novel, Boy Toy, but has just signed an option to turn his very successful book,The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl,into a movie. Hope I get to run into him,maybe some of his good luck will rub off on me!

There will be a number of panel sessions,talking about the state of the book industry today. I plan to attend atleast one of them,called Blogs: Is Their Growing Influence a Tastemaker's Dilemma? Considering all of the online buzz about print vs. online book reviews lately,this should be quite a gathering. I hope to meet and greet some of my fellow bloggers and other interested parties here. C-Span usually covers BEA and most of the big events there,so you can watch and see from the comfort of your couch all of the hectic fun.

If you want to know more about BEA online,just click the title link above to check out the official website,which has a couple of blogs and a podcast in the works. Since I'm only going to be at BEA on Friday(got a family event to show up at over the weekend),I might report on Saturday how my day went. If I don't have the energy(it'll be hot and humid tomorrow,according to the Weather Channel),then I will update everyone on Monday. Another fun way to get a good idea of what BEA is like is to read the "What Would Dewey Do?" special edition comic at Overdue Media,home of the library comic strip,Unshelved. You'll need Abode Acrobat Reader to see it,but it's worth it. Until next time,true believers!