BEA 2013: Publisher Events

Last year, I went to a total of one publisher event, and I was mystified to get invited even to that. This year, though, the invites came rolling in, because obviously I'm very big and important now (ha!). The parties were mostly not as swank as I was imagining, but, hey, free food is always a win. I also know which party I most want an invite to next year: the blogger rooftop party, because that was apparently the best.

Harlequin High Tea, Wednesday
Probably the best event swank-wise was Harlequin's High Tea. They threw it in their offices, which are in the Woolworth building, which, normally, tourists aren't even allowed to enter. So that was cool. Plus, a lot of delicious food, and the editors were really nice.

 

They had hot tea, iced tea lemonade, and some sort of peachy champagne drink. There were sandwiches, cookies, brownies, scones, and more to eat.

Everyone stood around and circulated, while drinking and eating. The Harlequin reps did a nice job of talking to everyone, and really asking our opinions. It seems like they're really trying to figure out how best to work with bloggers and that they actually cared what we had to say.

Also, it was awesome that this took place before BEA officially started, because that made it a bit easier to get to, even if catching a cab was tricky. Still, there were no other time commitments that day, so the stress was minimal.

Harlequin Teen Blogger Breakfast, Thursday
I neglected to take any pictures at the breakfast, so my bad. Anyway, Harlequin did an awesome job again. They had the best tote bags of BEA, imo, at this event. Plus, those tote bags had hardcovers of Katie McGarry's books and the latest by Julie Kagawa. Heck yes! They set up a round robin during the breakfast, so each table got to talk to four Harlequin Teen editors/publicists and four authors (Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry, Elizabeth Scott, and Amanda Sun). The event went really well, and I think everyone at my table had a great time.

Macmillan BEA Happy Hour, Thursday
Props to Macmillan for choosing a location fairly close to Javits and the post office, because we probably wouldn't have made it to their offices. Yes, it's nice to get to see the publisher's offices, but it's nigh impossible to catch a cab at around five from the Javits, or anywhere near the Javits. So, thank you, Macmillan, for making life easier (as you always do).

I finally got to meet Ksenia, which was awesome. She's just as cool in person. There was some basic pub food, because this took place at Houndstooth Pub (cheese cubes, veggies, fruit, pigs in a blanket). There was also an open bar. Since Macmillan lets the bloggers they work with choose whatever they want from the catalog, obviously the goodie bag options were limited, so they did something special: bound galleys of the much vaunted The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski. Steph and Kat of Cuddlebuggery both LOVED it and even blurbed it, so that has my attention. I read the first hundred pages on the plane, and it's been really good so far.

Oh, another highlight was getting to meet someone from First Second Books, which means I'll be reviewing some graphic novels again. Yay!

Penguin Bird Bash, Thursday
Yet again, I failed to take pictures. However, this whole event was a bit of a letdown, aside from the goodie bag of books. Basically, picture a high school event or something like that. White walls, grey stone floor, a couple of plastic tables. This was NOT what I was expecting. The food, except for the boiled organic hotdogs, was already gone by the time we got there (late because it took 45 minutes to catch a cab from the Houndstooth Pub. The highlight here was getting to hang out with Morgan Doremus some more, otherwise it was a bust.

Penguin Teen Lunch, Friday
Thank goodness the lunch was better than the Bird Bash. They brought in two authors (Richelle Mead, Melissa de la Cruz) and one editor/author (Anna Jarzab - who edits for them but it is published by RH), and had a panel while we ate. Note to self: open chips before panel begins so as not to make loud chip-bag-opening sounds while authors are speaking.

The panel was fairly interesting, and the food, though Javits-provided, slaked my hunger beast. Oddly, I wasn't all that hungry throughout BEA; I am not a stress eater. They also gave each blogger a book by these authors: The Indigo Spell, Frozen, and Tandem, even though it's a Random House title, though they ARE merging. Honestly, I only kept Tandem, but I'm sure Andreya and Jen will enjoy the signed copies I gave away. Interesting fact I learned: Michael Johnston, who cowrote Frozen is Melissa's husband, and he had assisted with Blue Bloods.

When the panel was over, there was a signing line, which conveniently took place right where Steph and I were sitting, so we got to go first AND Richelle Mead sat in a seat warmed by Steph's butt. It was a big day for Steph.

Richelle Mead signing Steph of Cuddlebuggery's book!

Farrar, Straus and Giraux, Friday
Wah wah. We did not make it to the FSG party, because the post office took forever, and by the time we got a cab, it was about half an hour to the party's end anyway. Yes, the post office plus the cab took about two hours.

Publishers, please consider having your events within easy (VERY EASY) walking distance of the Javits Center or providing transportation (and not just money for a cab, because they're still hard to catch). While seeing your offices is awesome, we just might not be able to get there. Or, I suppose there were probably public transportation options, but by the end of the day all of the smartphones that could look that up were dead. All in all, I do think the parties were worth it, but the timing and locations could have been way more convenient in most cases.