That's Normal does BEA 2014 {Book Expo America}- That's Normal

This past week I had the privilege of attending BEA 2014 {Book Expo America}

Before attending BEA, I knew little to nothing about what to expect. I basically knew:

It was a convention for books (true) & BEA stood for “Book Educators of America” (wrong)
It was in New York City and everyone hates the Javitz center where it’s held (true)
Veronica Roth did the keynote speech last year (pretty sure that’s also wrong or there isn’t just one “main” keynote speech)
It’s the one time a year that Librarians let loose and get $h*t faced every night (not that I saw)

I was right about the convention being about books, in a great city and a great place to network for work and for That’s Normal. But I was wrong about most everything else. Instead of a day-by-day, minute-by-minute recap, I bring you:

What I learned during my first trip to BEA

The Epic Reads Party is Epic

Epic Reads is the marketing arm for Harper Teen (publisher for the Divergent series, Shatter Me series, Delirium and so much more) and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I got a chance to meet Aubry and Margot who are the quirky faces behind Epic Reads (plus more of the team behind-the-scenes), and despite the fact I was supposed to just “stop by” their party & attend 2 other parties that night, I never left. The party was too great, the rosé was too delicious and the room was full of book bloggers, YA lovers and did I mention rosé?

Aubry and Margot premiered one of their new Epic Reads original content videos & it’s hilarious:

Everyone loves a Theo James Cardboard Cut Out

Usually I’d be embarrassed to get my picture with Cardboard Four, but NOT AT BEA! This is a very normal thing to see happen & I was sure to do it at the Harper Teen “Divergent Cocktail Party” which was an actual thing a 12 year old boy told me not to miss.

BEA is not BYOBook

I knew that you could get author autographs at BEA, and I was concerned how I was going to get such autographs seeing as most of the books I own are digital. Turns out they GIVE YOU COPIES OF THE BOOKS. FOR FREE. A lot of them are ARCs (advanced reader copies), but some of them are actual finished copies! WHO KNEW? (apparently everyone, except me, seeing as they brought an extra suitcase to roll their books home and I left the city with 3 extra tote bags full of books and arms that will be sore for the rest of the week)

Librarians don’t like me

I’m sure there were some really nice Librarians at BEA, but I sure didn’t meet any. Everyone librarian I talked to seemed annoyed to be there and annoyed at “Casual book lovers” like myself who only consume on average 3 books per week. Sorry to all the librarians I met, that I wasn’t nerdy enough for you!

There is no nap room at the Javitz center

If I were in charge of the convention center, I’d create a nap room and charge people to take naps. THEY’D MAKE BANK. Book conventions are exhausting.

At BEA, you get books EARLY!

There are traditional book sessions and publisher meetings & “How to write real good” sessions that happen during the convention, but the real reason the convention exists is for publishers to promote their upcoming titles & their authors and for book lovers to get advanced copies of such titles. Most titles being promoting will be in bookstores in the Fall. Who knew!? (again, everyone except me)

People know SO much more about books than me

I read a lot. Sometimes I read things other than smut & YA. I even have some favorite authors. But compared to most attendees at BEA, I know nothing about books. I kept getting the question, “What are you most excited to get” from people I was in line with or meeting at parties/dinner. Before I realized BEA is all about getting books early, I thought they were asking what tacos I was excited about getting from my favorite place in Brooklyn, but what they really meant was– what was I getting up early to wait in a 4 hour line for? What “hot” title by which “hot” author? I had no answer. I literally had NO idea. I am happy to say that I finally decided my answer was “Landline” by Rainbow Rowell & I got it!

As you can see above, I also got Christina Lauren’s latest, Sublime, and I already started and CANNOT wait to tell you about it!

AWWWW me + C&LO.

Brooklyn is really far from the Javitz Center

I was staying with my bff in Brooklyn & I knew I’d have a commute, but how far can 5 miles in NYC really be when you’re traveling underground? FAR I TELL YOU. But that didn’t stop me from deciding at 4 pm to go home to Brooklyn, arriving at 4:55 pm to change my shoes and freshen my make-up to then leave again at 5:10 to arrive at dinner by 6. Can I mention again how the Javitz center needs a nap room?

It’s important you get invites to parties and dinners

I already mentioned the epic Epic Reads party I attended, but I also got a chance to grab dinner with Quirk Books and bunch of bloggers & book vloggers and the Quirk author Grady Hendrix to chat about his new book Horrorstor. I haven’t read it yet, but Grady was delightful, the book looks like an IKEA catalog (intentionally) and I can’t wait to tell you about it after I’m done! They also bought me Rosé- so win!

Apparently I drink Rosé in New York

I don’t know why, but I started ordering Rosé at the Epic Reads party my first night and that’s all I drank for the rest of the week. I counted, and all-in-all I drank 10 glasses of Rosé from Wednesday to Friday and paid for 0 of them. THANKS PEEPS.

Overall, BEA is a blast!

I loved my first time at BEA and can’t wait to go again. Here are a few extra pictures from the week:

I took a selfie with a Grumpy Cat poster:

I took a selfie with my fangirlish bff Erin:

But I replaced Erin with a new bff Axl Goode:

(Axl was there with a few other guys with ~~arms as big~~ personalities as good as his to promote some smutty publisher, though I have no idea what it was called, any titles they publish or how to ever find out *nor do I care*)

I talked with Poison Princess & the author behind my month long smutfest Kresley Cole!