Yesterday marked the coming and going of the first BookCon. As i mentioned in my previous post, BookCon is the progeny of the Power Readers day of previous years, and the coordination of ReedPOP, the NY ComiCon guys. The first thing I have to say about it was it was incredibly unorganized. Registration felt hastily thrown together, then a  separate line was arranged outside. Meanwhile the BEA crowd picked up their passes and lined up right at the show entrance. The BookCon side was also half the size with a line essentially drawn down the middle and security checking badges at those points. I understand them keeping the international sections on the trade side and other B2B companies separate and honestly it does take a little of the confusion out of who to speak to.

I did not feel we benefited from all aspects of the separation though. Macmillan for example had areas arranged on both sides. On the Con side, there was a nice area set up with mini-speaker sessions, some chairs and a giveaway area, with giveaways and topics being rotated. I cannot complain too much because I did pick up a galley there. What existed on the BEA side though was a large pavilion with information on all Macmillan imprints. Since, in all honesty, my main interest in them in Tor, I felt that there was very little information. From 2-2:30 I did go to a small Tor talk where the brought  up a few things, like the upcoming Locked In from John Scalzi, and the highlight of the talk being The Three Body Problem, the trilogy currently being translated to be released by Tor. Unfortunately there was not much more being discussed than what is already available from Tor.com. The one thing the woman did mention was  the Scalzi would be continuing the Old Man’s War series, but she was not sure if it was officially announced yet. I do know that there were Tor reps and authors on the other side though. In fact, I know John himself was there other days.  I also know Hugh Howey was on the BEA side this week, and may BookCon consumers were upset to Learn the highly marketed Len Dunham appearance early on was only on the BEA side

Hachette had a great pavilion on the other hand whit one of their largest spaces dedicated to Litte, Brown & Co. In that area, they had each of their imprints with distinct booths setup. I of course was concerned with the Orbit desk which was one of my first stops upon the doors opening. There was a mad rush by some folks for their galleys, and they did go rather quickly. I did get an info sheet on some upcoming books that I will have to look over, then if i have time to get to any of them, report back. Harlequin Simon & Schuster had similar arrangements, though I tend to read a lot less from them than I do Orbit, Tor and Del Ray/Spectra.

I was not impressed with most f the authors in the autograph areas either as they mostly did not fall into the SF/F genre. What I did like were Simon & Schuster’s separate autograph areas. They brought Cary Elwes from Princess Bride and Danielle Fishel from Boy Meets World. While I would have loved to have met Topanga, I sadly missed both her autograph and her panel. Cary Elwes on the other hand, I was able to squeeze in both his autograph and his panel, which turned out to be by far the greatest part of the whole day.

Cary was so incredibly nice, shaking everyone’s hands unlike most autographers who will use hand sanitizer after waving to you. I got the intro chapbook to his upcoming book As You Wish, about the making of the classic film. This was of special interest to me since I loved the movie, and the book is also classic fantasy. Cary Elwes and Rob Riener were both big fans, and of course William Goldman, the author, was involved. His panel was fantastic and simply out, it made the event worth it. I even sat next to a really cool couple dressed as Buttercup and Westly. Cary had some really fantastic stories which I am sure will make it into the book as well. My favorite part was they they actually queued up clips from the DVD and he talked about them. We got to watch scenes from one of our favorite films for many in attendance, with the star and hear live commentary. Honestly, I could have sat there the whole time and listned to him do live commentary with behind the scenes info.

I unfortunately did not get into the 2pm panel with Lev Grossman because getting out of the previous one at 2:00 meant that I could not get into line early enough. I did run up to Macmillian instead for the Tor discussion I mentioned previously. The last panel I made it to was on Dystopian futures, moderated by Veronica Roth. While it was good, it was YA focused, and generally out of my demographic. The panels were not bad, but after Neil Gaiman last year, it was hard to measure up for me. I really thought that most booths were lacking and I looked across the line longingly more than a few times.

There were also a lot less galleys this year for the consumers. Probably not wise to complain about free stuff, but lets not lie, it is a huge benefit to get ARCs at a show like this. I did pick up a few, one that was on my to read list anyway. I also grabbed a bunch of comics from Image. (If you are an SF/F fan and have any appreciation for comics, I cannot recommend Saga enough. Wonderful and funny blending of the two sub-genres.) Contrasting this year which felt like a free for all where many people picked up every book whether or not they cared to read it, last year the power readers were give a tote full upon picking up passes, with other being given out by publishers at their booth. I know from others that the trade side was loaded though and the distribution was much, much smoother. I think next year i will pay the $90 for the blogger pass, but I was planning to go with a friend this year who would not have been able to get one. I could have gotten a pass for all days, but I cannot get away from work at end of month. The price was much less this year, but I am inclined to think the discount was not worth the deficits.

I spoke to other show goers, parents bringing their children, and professionals as well as exhibitors coming over to the BookCon side from BEA and it was generally unanimous that it was very poorly organized and lacked from last year. If they maybe expanded the area, made a consumer only day, or reverted I think it would be a lot better. I love BEA, but BookCon needs work if it is going to continue. If not far Cary Elwes, I would have had a less than stellar day. With him there however, it was a fantastic experience that I would not have given up. If you have never been to something like this, I can cautiously say to try it, but not give a wholehearted recommendation. I would say that if you can register as a professional, the extra price of BEA is probably worth it.