My BookCon Experience!

    It has certainly been a long time since I last made an entry, but part of why I am starting again is because of BookCon. To start off, this was my first year attending BookCon. I have wanted to go for many years, but either I forget to buy tickets or something comes up. This year I wasnt going to let that happen! Even though I was late to buying the tickets and didnt get to reserve a spot to meet any authors I wanted, I still decided to just go and have fun and experience the event.

  Leading up to the weekend of BookCon, I cant even begin to count how many blogs or articles I read for first time visitors. I wanted to be as prepared as possible and be able to experience every single amazing thing it had to offer. But if I'm going to be honest, they weren't much help. I only say that because actually experiencing the event was a whole different beast. Yes, wear comfortable shoes and bring snacks because you will wait on lines most of the time you are there and they come in handy, but nothing could have prepared me for the insanity of BookCon.

  I started my day waking up at 6am. Then I made the 45 minute train commute into the city. From there you get on line and just wait until the doors open at 10am. Those hours waiting on line were the most calm moments from my experience. As soon as the doors opened I had no idea what to do, so I did what everyone else was doing, I ran like hell to get to the show floor! Everyone was pushing and shoving to get a spot on line for either a ARC, a tote bag or goodies you win from spinning a wheel. I was so overwhelmed by the energy I just walked up to the staff member holding the underlined totes and asked if I could have one. She handed me an ipad and told me to sign up for their newsletter and I could have one. So I did and I do have to say, I am really sorry for anyone I skipped or got infront of, I really didn't know what all the fuss was and was kind of stunned and just simply asked for a tote. I can say since then, I made sure to get on line and figured out the flow of things.

  After I got my tote, I walked around the whole show room floor. I went and looked at each booth and what they were offering, picking up a book/item here or there if it was offered on display. I had no clue on who was doing signings or what giveaways were happening. I kept checking the BookCon app though which I do have to say was a total life savior! During both days, I managed to pick up a couple of unwanted signing tickets. I got to meet Scott Westerfield, Veronica Roth and Lauren Oliver!

  My first day was a success in my opinion, especially for being a newbie. I cannot say the same for day 2. My sister came along with me on the second day and was very tired from the moment she woke up. I though sunday would be calmer and not as packed but boy was I wrong! I tried to prep my sister and what to expect and where we should go first. I had all the papers with giveaways and times at booths, but in the end it didnt matter. Day 2 was total mayhem! I understand everyone was free things and ARCs but that is not the sole reason to go to BookCon. I was pushed and shoved and had someone even go in my tote and steal one of my posters. I caught her when she tried taking a second one but she pretended she picked it up off the floor and then ran away! My sister got sick and decided to go home only 1 hour since the doors had opened. She couldnt stand seeing the chaos of everything. I felt super bad but decided to make my day a mission to get the best of whatever I could to bring it home for her to enjoy. Shout out to the lovely ladies who I met on some of the lines who made sure I got a spot to grab a book for my sister, and also the young ladies who gave me their extra ticket for the Zenith line. That was my number one goal.

  To wrap this post up, BookCon was a crazy experience. I met some of the nicest, friendliest people and it ignited the spark in me to write on my blog again, to pick up a book and spend hours in a new world. My body is crazy sore still and I can't stop thinking about next year's BookCon and how I will grab that bull by the horns and make it the best experience it could possibly be. I think everyone who attended feels the same way.