BookExpo – Day 2 (Wednesday): Conference Day

This year, things were being run a bit differently in regards to BookExpo. The floor itself – where all the booths and author signings and galley giveaways would be – wasn’t opening until Thursday. Today was considered a Conference Day. There was really only 1 session I wanted to attend, The Adult Editor Book Buzz Session, and it wasn’t until the early afternoon. Then I had I a meeting scheduled with a publicist after that.

Tamara and I had a lazy morning…we slept in and got ready for the next two days which were definitely going to be long, jammed-packed days. Rhiannon came down to our room and as we finished getting ready, we compared schedules for the next few days, checking to see if there was anything any of us had missed. Then we decided to go get a late breakfast/early lunch before heading to the Javits Center. We ended up at Roxy’s Diner, right across the street from our hotel – I had a delicious BLT sandwich with a tasty sauce on it – a little spicy but oh so good! 

Me, Rhiannon & Tamara waiting for shuttle to Javits Center

We got to the Javits Center a little early, so we had time to pick up our coveted badges. This would save time tomorrow when the floor finally opened. We walked around a little bit, and then headed to the meeting room where the Adult Editor’s Buzz Session was that we were attending. I’ve always wanted to go to this session in previous years, but it is usually while the floor is opened and there are signings going on or galley drops happening and I just haven’t made it. I loved that this year, it was held before the floor was opened – there were no conflicts!

When we got to the session, it was mobbed! We ended up in the front of the room – but we had seats, so that was good. Six books were presented by editors from their respective publishing houses and while I only had four of these books on my list, it was really interesting hearing them tell why they were so passionate about the books. Here are all the books that were presented at the session…I’m sure you will be seeing lots about these books in the coming weeks and months:

• Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent, Scout Press, Publication Date: Aug 22, 2017
• Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo, Alfred A. Knopf, Publication Date: Aug 22, 2017
• My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent, Riverhead Books, Publication Date: Aug 29, 2017
• The World of Tomorrow by Brendan Matthews, Little Brown and Company, Publication Date: Sep 5, 2017
• The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, Putnam, Publication Date: January 9, 2018
• The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn, William Morrow, Publication Date: January 23, 2017

After the panel, there was mass chaos as galleys of the books were out…on two tables against the wall. It was like a stampede trying to get to the books and then if you were lucky enough to make it up to the table, you found yourself trapped there for a while…so that’s when you just started handing books out overhead…MASS CHAOS!!! But, I got my four books and I was happy! This would allow me to not have to stand in line for a book signing or galley drop to get these books over the next two days.

The 4 books I picked up from the Adult Editor’s Buzz Session

Then it was time to meet with Ashley and Kristin from Amazon Publishing. Tamara joined me in this meeting. Ashley and Kristin were just great – I’ve been working with Ashley for a while now and it was so great to actually meet in person. We chatted about our blogs and the types of books we liked to read and then Ashley and Kristin pitched the upcoming books they were going to be working on. They were super fun to meet with and I am looking forward to all the books I’ll be working with them on to promote – a good mix of fiction, women’s fiction, mystery and suspense books, with a few translated books, too!

After that, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Rhiannon. From there, the three of us headed down to The Mysterious Bookshop where Jenny Milchman was going to be presenting with three other mystery writers. It just so happened I got a message from Jenny the week before about this event and when I looked at the date – I realized I would already be in the city – I was psyched!!! I loved getting a chance to see Jenny, and I had never been to The Mysterious Bookshop – what a great book store. I will definitely be visiting there again!

The event was called: It’s As Easy As 1-2-3 Ways to Get Published and Jenny was presenting with fellow mystery writers Kathleen Kaska, Triss Stein and Cathi Stoler. It was very informative and I enjoyed listening to the ways all four of the women got published and how they work with their publishers now.

After the event, we headed back to the hotel. I ended up with a bad headache, so I went right up to the room to go to sleep, but Tamara and Rhiannon went to get something to eat. I knew I needed to get a good night’s sleep, knowing I would be on the go all day for the opening of the floor…and a special event we had been invited to the next day!

. . . Stayed tuned for a recap of  Day 3!

* And in case you missed it, here is the recap of Day 1.