BookCon 2018: Experience + Haul

Published on by Breanna

I just flew back yesterday from BookCon and I’m still reeling from all the fun I had! I’m so thankful for my decision to spontaneously buy tickets at the beginning of the year. This was my first year attending BookCon, and I was not disappointed! I’m also really glad my mom came with me: we used to go to the Chicago Blackhawks Fan Conventions every year, and so the two of use have created a pretty good system which we were able to apply at BookCon. Although I did have a pretty rough start Saturday morning, luckily things went smoothly after that.

The bookish community is such an amazing thing to be a part of! I’m not one to make small talk while standing in lines, but I struck up so many conversations with other people while waiting and it really added to my experience. I have hardly any friends IRL that read, so it was great to talk with fellow book lovers about authors, upcoming books, other events, etc. 

IMG_7934I ended up getting a lot of the books I wanted, and then some. Mom came in clutch on Sunday when she battled the horde of people at Penguin Teen and came out victorious with Four Dead Queens! She also managed to snag a copy of Shadow of the Fox, which was one of the books I was really hoping to get my hands on. I still can’t figure out where she got it because I had looked and asked everywhere after I missed out on Julie Kagawa’s signing. Needless to say, my mom is now required to come back with me again! I’m also going to humble brag a bit, but as I was standing with my mom figuring out what to do next, Simon Teen tweeted out a password for a bound manuscript of Crown of Feathers, and I got one of the only three copies they had!

Things I Learned:

1. People can be giant a**holes when it comes to ARCs. I learned this first thing in the morning on Saturday as people just shoved their way through for the ARC drop of Rule. I talked to the workers at NOVL later and they said they had to start earlier than they wanted because they had no control over the crowd and people just kept grabbing them and running off. So I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get one, but I ended up winning one on Sunday anyway!

2. It pays to be nice. They did an Escaping From Houdini ARC drop on Sunday afternoon the same time I was standing right next to one of the Hachette booths waiting for my mom to meet me. Someone came up and asked me what they were giving away and I told her, and even showed her the password from the Twitter notification on my phone so she could grab a copy. She was very grateful when she saw me again, and then she let me know about a different ARC drop they were doing at another booth that I hadn’t known about. At the end of Sunday, my mom was spinning the wheel at Fierce Reads, but since it was the end of the convention, there were only a couple options left to win. We got a graphic novel, which is totally not my thing, so I asked a girl standing nearby if she wanted it. It turns out, the book my mom had won was exactly what she wanted, and she offered me a signed copy of Ace of Shades that she didn’t really care for. Amanda Foody’s signing was something I had wanted to go to, but ended up being too busy to swing by, and I was thrilled. Whoever you are that traded with me, thank you so much!!

3. No matter how comfortable your shoes are, your feet will still be killing you by the end of the weekend. And on top of my extremely sore feet, my back and shoulders ache terribly. I’m also really sleep deprived, and probably a little dehydrated. I would also like to shout out to those booths that had the super plush carpeting: it was magical and my feet thank you.

Overall, BookCon was a huge success for me! Although I am feeling a little anxious about the amount of books I have to add to my TBR. So many books, so little time! I kind of wish I had taken pictures (I didn’t take a single one) but that’s something I’ll think about for next time. I had such a fun time and I can’t wait to come back to BookCon next year! If anyone was there, let me know how your weekend was! 

30 thoughts on “BookCon 2018: Experience + Haul”

  1. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself! I can’t make it to any book conventions this year, which is sad, but it’s fun to see others having fun. And yes, yes, yes to the being nice thing! Kindness totally pays off at these events; besides getting more access to things you might want, you make friends, too!

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  4. SO MANY AWESOME BOOKS – this sounds like an amazing and also maybe too crazy experience. Haha. I think having your mom for support was clutch – maybe I can convince my guy to go with me in the future…

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    1. My mom definitely pulled a win for the weekend haha! You should totally convince your guy; I met so many boyfriends/fiancés while waiting in lines that were just there for their girlfriends 😂

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  6. Omg number 1 is so true. Some people were so rude. I saw some of their posts on Instagram and saw they got like every arc imaginable but there is no fun in that. I didn’t get a ton of books this year but I had an awesome time and met some great people!

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    1. Not only is it rude, but the booth workers get really annoyed and it gives the rest of us a bad rep. I’m glad you had a great time! I know I can’t wait to go again!

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  7. Awh, I love this post and this haul! Amazing books, love! Let me know if you want to buddy read any throughout the rest of the year! And I loved your number 2. Always pays to be nice! And I hope whatever you’re reading now is five star worthy! 💗xx

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    1. Thank you so much! 😊 I haven’t done a buddy read yet but I think that’s one of my goals for this year! I’ll definitely keep you in mind if I decide to want to try one 💕

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  11. I’m so glad you had such a great time and got such a great haul! My mom is also my Book Con buddy and I always send her around the show floor with a spreadsheet 😂 I always encourage kindness at these kind of events, both toward the volunteers and our fellow readers. You never know what will happen!

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    1. So true! I also made my mom her own schedule and our text messages are just full of her asking me where to go next 😂 But I think she has a good time as well; she met many other moms while waiting and even made some friends haha!

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      1. Same for my mom and I! I literally had to keep texting her the penguin booth number so she would remember it! She had a really fun experience meeting Kevin Kwan and she always gets into conversations with people in line

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  13. Pingback: Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2018 – Paws and Paperbacks

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