It took me four weeks to gather up the courage to apply for the Book Expo America badge. In my understanding, Book Expo America (BEA) is one of the most significant events in the publishing world. Also, it happens to take place a 23-minute subway ride from where I am currently living in Manhattan (God bless the Second Avenue subway).
It sounds like a win-win-win. First, Great networking, interesting panels, some free books (27 and counting, and I’m only taking the ones I really like). Second, I get to see the weird Hudson Yards womb-statue from relatively close up.
But I was still nervous to apply.
Here were some of the things I was thinking about:
1 Is it crazy to spend $250 to attend an event mostly because I keep hearing about in writing podcasts?
2 How many people fit in the Javits Center, anyway?
3 What am I going to eat for dinner? (Hey. A girl’s gotta eat.)
4 I know there is some nonsense advice about doing impossible things before breakfast, but is it realistic for me to go as an author? No one published my book yet! (See above point about the importance of the event. Also, below photo for a visual representation of some of the authors that are featured there)
(Spoiler alert: You might have noticed the above photo was taken inside the event.)
One day before the early-bird discount was set to expire, I applied for my BEA badge and was accepted as a participant.
Answers to Book Expo America Questions below:
1 No, it is not crazy. (and writing podcasts are the best).
2 Approximately 5 million? I have no idea (and I don’t want to find out, which I am filing under ‘Reasons I Will Never Attend Comic Con’)
3 In order of importance: 1. Pizza 2. Some sad thing I tried to cook for myself 3. Avocado Toast (I’m trying, Alice Waters, I swear I am!).
4 I had to look up the quote for this one. It’s not about doing impossible things, it’s about believing impossible things. So it turns out: It was totally realistic for me to go as an author. It was a great idea, actually. I was forced to work out this really concise elevator pitch introduction comment for myself about how I’ve completed my first manuscript (pro-tip: ‘aspiring author’ and ‘completed a manuscript’ are tremendously different things). Also, I met lots of wonderful, encouraging authors and publishers (and an astonishing number of librarians, but thats a story for another time). Most important, I saw panels about the future of publishing and trends in YA fiction. I learned about imprints that I didn’t know existed.
So that was all great. But the most important idea I walked away with was this: Once I believed in the idea that I could attend, it came true. One thing I’ve learned in my novel-writing adventure is that book publishing requires a thoughtful balance between a thick skin and a lot of hope, so I think Lewis Carroll was onto something with this ‘impossible things before breakfast’ idea. Picture of my Book Expo books below to celebrate!
Banner Photo Credit: Austin Chan