BEA Madness!!

Late December, shortly after registrations opened, I did it. I pressed that button and it was official. I was going to BEA (Book Expo America) which is one of the coolest book events EVER!! But even knowing that I registered it still didn't really hit me.

Now that BEA is a little over a month away I'm starting to realize how insane (in a good way) this is going to be! It's the ultimate book dorkdom. A huge, HUGE event with publishers and more authors than you can imagine, all there to sit on panels, hold discussions, and sign books. How do you even begin to plan for something like that?!

There are sooooo many things to consider, like

Travel & hotels- How will you get there? Will you be rooming with someone? Should you stay in New York close to the convention center? Or maybe take the slightly less expense (ok, MUCH less expensive)route and stay in New Jersey? Will you schedule time for sightseeing? What sights will you see?

What to take- What do you pack? What will NYC weather be like in late May? What should you wear to the events? What will you need to carry with you when actually walking around the event? Is it better to use a backpack or tote bag? Should you have business cards for your blog? How many business cards? How will you carry the books you get at the event? Should you check an empty suitcase at the event? Is it safe to even do that? Will people steal your precious books?

Authors- What authors will be there? Should you go to any of the author breakfasts? What is an author breakfast? When will BEA release official schedules? How do you maximize your time and see a lot of authors? Will certain authors require tickets? How do you know which ones? How do you get the tickets? Will there be other author events outside of the BEA convention? How do you find out about them?

Feeling overwhelmed yet? Take a few deep breaths, I'll wait...

The best advice I can give you is  research, research, research!! There are a TON of bloggers who have posted tips and tricks to surviving the BEA Madness. Read them!! Read them all! And read them again...ok, maybe that's a bit much :) but you get my drift. I have read countless posts and I was also lucky enough to find a BEA group on Goodreads which has been a lifesaver!  I have a few posts linked below to get you started.

The Irish Banana has a series of helpful posts
Steph's Stacks also has a few posts
Krista's Dust Jacket posted a couple times from a newbie's perspective
Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog
Reading with abc
Poisoned Rationality has some posts and she also has links to posts from other bloggers.

And now I'm off to go have a much needed planning session with my travel buddy/roomie/partner in crime!

Happy planning to anyone else attending BEA :)