BEA, Bill Bryson, and Other Bookish Events

Workman booth at BEA

I have been woefully behind in my blogging!  Book reviews, author signings, and publisher dinners have come and gone without my posting, but I can't skip out on BEA, or BookExpo America.  BEA is arguably the most important book/publishing event worldwide, up there with the Frankfurt or London Book Fair.  It's also a chance for me to meet up with friends in publishing and from other bookstores whom I only see 1-2 times a year at bookseller conventions like this one.  It's lots of fun. It's also *exhausting.*

My favorite YA from last year, along with its sequel

I spent most of my Thursday and Friday in meetings with publicists from various publishing companies to promote my store for its 50th anniversary this fall. We're trying to build a MONSTER events schedule for the anniversary celebration, so we were pitching to everybody. If I could get just one of the big authors we were shooting for, my pick would be Bill Bryson, who has a new book out in the fall called One Summer: America, 1927, which I'm reading now. My highlight of the day on Thursday was getting to meet him again (I spent an exalted hour in his company once before, which you can read about here) when I showed up in the Random House meeting room for my appointment.  Here's the man himself, chatting with a...publisher? Marketing person? Publicist? I'm actually not really sure.

Bill Bryson (on the left) 

On Thursday we had the Celebration of Bookselling luncheon, where each table has an author or illustrator and somebody from publishing, and we indie booksellers get to chat them up. I got to sit next to Will Schwalbe, author of End of Your Life Book Club, and we shared a Moment. One of the folks speaking (John Green by video, maybe? I really cannot remember) got us both a little choked up and then we glanced at each other and started laughing because we were both so sappy.

Will Schwalbe

Publishers also throw lots of fun parties, and that is a good part of where the exhaustion comes in.  My coworker and BEA roommate, Hannah, might have overdone it just a tad on her first day, but I don't blame her.  It was her first BEA, and she was in appointments all day long, followed by cocktail parties for Random House and Simon & Schuster, followed by more time on the town in the company of a very groovy Wiki chick. I then was witness to her heroic efforts to make our 9:00 appointment on Friday morning.

Workman's menu. Bacon candy? Yes, please!

Odyssey Booksellers!

I went to the Workman party, which is open to almost everybody, and then made my way to a dinner hosted by Algonquin (I've raved about them before, but they're a wonderful publisher based out of North Carolina and a part of the larger Workman group).  We always try to get to the Workman party right when it starts so that we can actually have a conversation and meet new people, because after about 45 minutes, the room fills to a ridiculous level and you cannot hear anything.  Plus the wait for the bar or for food is ridiculous!

Three lovely public school librarians from near Buffalo, whom I met at Workman

At 7:30 I left the party and walked to  Home restaurant, where I was lucky enough to be seated with author Lee Smith for the first (and longest) part of the night.  The authors rotate from table to table so that everybody gets to meet each one, but Lee was at our table for drinks, appetizers, and salad, so I got extra time with her.  Also at my table were the editors from O Magazine and Family Circle, which was pretty cool, and the publisher and a marketing person from Algonquin.

That's Larry Watson in the middle

Friday was largely a repeat of the previous day, except that my dinner that night was sponsored by Milkweed, an indie publisher based out of the Twin Cities.  They do great work, too, and this was another fairly intimate dinner.  Sue from Milkweed took us to Lupa, which is one of Mario Batali's restaurants, and treated us to the tasting menu.

This is me with Betty, who runs a big literary festival in one of the Dakotas. Shhh...I can't remember which one.

I left Lupa and started walking towards Poisson Rouge, where the PGW party was happening, but wonder of wonders, the music was over before I even got there.  I think it must have started super early, 'cause I'm not the type of person who usually shows up at an evening music venue after it's over.  I'm no night owl. Anyway, I ran into a woman who used to see my old mentor, so we grabbed a quick drink and then found our way home.

The post-music dregs of the PGW party

Saving the best for last, I met up with some fellow bookbloggers at an Irish pub near Penn Station on Saturday morning: Alice, Alley, Rayna, and Amanda were all there and we had a grand ol' time.  We talked about BEA, suffragists vs suffragettes, Bessie Bueller, Harry Potter, fan fiction, and lots of other breezy subjects about which we know everything. Everything. Seriously, next to chatting with Bill Bryson, this was without a doubt my favorite part of the BEA weekend.

L-R: Rayna, me. Amanda, Alice, Alley

I thought I was going to have time to blog about the fundraiser/cocktail party/dinner bash that I got to attend the following week, but alas, I do not.  The good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I'll get to it  soon.