BookExpo & BookCon '18 Recap + King of Scars Sampler Giveaway!

This was my 5th year attending BookExpo and BookCon and I honestly can't believe it.  I also can't believe that it's taken me almost a month to put this up, but better late than never, I suppose... 😅

Differences Between BookExpo and BookCon

So I got this question a lot during both conventions so I thought I would address it here. BookExpo is a publishing industry convention, meaning to be able to attend, you have to prove that you are part of the book community as a professional in publishing as a publisher, editor, publicist, author, reviewer, etc, etc. However BookCon is open to the general public, which means it's usually filled with x10 the amount of people.

BookExpo & BookCon: 2017 vs. 2018

In general, this was the calmest BookExpo and BookCon that I have attended. Don't get me wrong, there was the usual drama with the book drop stampedes. But overall, it was pretty calm in the sense that there weren't as many books dropping as in the past, and for the books that were dropping, there were multiple opportunities to get them so it was a little less insane—with a couple of exceptions.

But generally, it was a really fun year! While I didn't pick up as many books as I did in previous years, I got to hang out with so many great people and that's one of the main reasons I love going each year.

Leigh Bardugo finally got her first banner at BookExpo and BookCon! It was so freaking beautiful, and I have to say that it's rather fitting that it was for Nikolai's book. After all, he does have a thing for dramatic entrances xD. 

As you guys know, for me, I need to own everything that Leigh Bardugo puts out, so the main things I wanted from this convention were the King of Scars sampler AND all 5 of the new buttons. It took a little bit of luck and a lot of hunting, but I left the convention VICTORIOUS!

Authors I Got to Meet this Year!

Top Right - Leigh Bardugo, Top Left - Tomi Adeyemi, Second to the top, left - Natasha Ngan, Bottom Right - Elly Blake , Bottom Left -Kerri Maniscalco

I also got to meet Marissa Meyer, Sabaa Tahir, Renee Ahdieh, Roshani Chokshi, Marie Lu, Heidi Heilig, Adib Khorram, Adam Silvera, Becky Albertalli, Annie Sullivan, Claire Legrand, Joan He, and Sandhya Menon but I sadly I didn't get a good photo with any of them 🙁

One of the main reasons that I look forward to BookExpo is the people. I got to see so many people this year that I don't normally have an opportunity to hang out with. Some of you, I got to hang out with outside of the con, and those memories are probably my favorite. But either way, I'm so glad I got to spend time with so many fabulous friends!

Here are some of the lovelies I got to hang-out with:

Stefani Sloma , Aila @ One Way or an Author, Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts, Michella Domenici, Alexandra @ The Book Buzz , Melissa Lee, Dana @ Dana Square, Alexandra @ Twirling Pages, Mishma @ Chasing Faerytales, Meredith @ Pandora's Books, Brittany Blake @ abibliophilesbkm, Danielle Duffield @ Flyleaf Chronicles, Julianne Daly, Alexandra @ Literary Legionnaire, Megan @ Book Birds, Mikaella @ pikamikareads, Melissa @ Twirlynao, and Hazel Ureta!

I hope I didn't miss anyone, but if I did, I'm sorry! 

The Books!

Here are some of my favorites that I picked up from BookExpo and BookCon this year.

I already read and loved the King of Scars Sampler and Wildcard, and now I'm going to read Muse of Nightmares next!

Line-Jumping: If one person stands at the front of a line and then brings half of the convention to stand with them, it is just rude and unacceptable for me. People wait in line for hours for these drops, and most of the time, the copies of whatever they're giving away are extremely limited. So when a person allows 20 of their friends to jump in line with them, it also means that 20 other people behind them just stood in line for no reason. Of course everyone holds spots for their friends within reason, but people also need to realize when they are crossing a line and use some common sense. 

Front of the Line Pass: So for those of you who don't know, this is a pass that allows you to jump to the front of the line for any signing in the autographing area. With this pass, you can have the peace of mind that as long as you arrive before the signing starts, you will most likely get the book you want and meet your favorite author. Sounds great, right? Well it is, but it is also has a sucky side. I have nothing against the pass in general, and I have even bought several in the past and used them. However, I think it needs to be handled better. As I said previously, people wait in lines for hours and then at last second, people with these passes come up and then the people who spent the time waiting are cut out of the line.

So who's the bad guy in this? It's hard to say. I believe that there just needs to be a limit on this somehow. For example, if you are planning on using the front of the line pass for so-and-so line, you have to claim your spot in the line half an hour before the signing starts.

Passwords: It's common at conventions for booths to announce passwords on their social media in order for people to get exclusive swag, books, or products. It's a really fun and cute idea, in theory. But when you're dropping a password for one of the most highly anticipated books of the year? You've just asked for a stampede of people to come running over the second that password drops, and it won't be pretty.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And that's it for this wrap-up! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Did you go to BookExpo or BookCon? What's your favorite convention you've been to? What convention (not just to do with books!) would you like to go to and why? Let me know!