Blogger Convention 2011

BOOK EXPO OF AMERICA (BEA)

Ok, so last week I spend my entire week in New York at the Book Expo of America (BEA). My experiences there were awesome, to say the least, so I decided to dedicate an entire blog to it. What I’ll do is break it down for you day by day, so you can see how the whole process was for me, and hopefully, get a better feel for what it’s like to “walk in my shoes” for a week. And, honestly, there’s no better week to be in a writer’s shoe, than the week of the Book Expo.

So are you ready? Because here we go; buckle up for the bumpy ride!!

DAY 1

The previous night, I was so excited I could hardly sleep when I finally went to bed. I think that I managed to fall asleep sometime around 1 a.m.; then I had to get up at 4 because I decided that I would drive to New York instead of taking a bus or train. So, as usual, I got up kind of groggy and really sleepy. However, as soon as I got some coffee in me I was ready to go (not an endorsement, but I’m a huge coffee buff). Ok, moving on, I had packed the night before so I only had a carry on; traveling super light. I walked out to the parking lot (I live in an apartment complex) and put everything into my car. Of course I had a carry out coffee mug with me. God forbid I get on the road without coffee; that would be a danger to everyone involved. Now, I had mapped everything out, but I did take my faithful GPS just in case. Then I was off. According to my GPS, I should be arriving in New York around noon. I actually ended up taking off from Maryland around 5 in the morning. I got on the beltway, headed to 95 North towards Baltimore, and was on my way.

The only stop I made along the way was in Delaware. I pulled off at some random exit so I could gas up (or as I like to call it “drain the old wallet”) and get a refill on my coffee and maybe some donuts. The place I stopped was actually pretty legit. It was a huge “mini-mart” type of stop, with shops, gas, food, knick-knacks and what not, and it even had a krispy kreme (which was a shocker to me for some reason). Not that I’m saying I think Delaware is in the middle of nowhere (or maybe I am, hehehe). Anyhow, I was thoroughly impressed with the cleanliness and overall operation of the place. I got my coffee, gassed up and got some honey glazed donuts (of course) and was, once and for all, on my merry way to the BEA.

I arrived in New York shortly before noon. I was staying at the Holiday Inn right before the Lincoln Tunnel. Check in was pretty smooth, I had a reservation.

When I got in my room, I threw my bag on the bed, changed, brushed my teeth and headed over to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Now, originally I had planned to leave my car at the hotel and take public transportation into the city, but opted for driving in the last minute. It was actually a good call because the convention center ended up being just on the other side of the tunnel which, all in all, made for a less than 30 minute trip by car.

So I got to the BEA around 1:45, got my I.D. Badge and started walking around. I was amazed at how big this thing was. There were thousands of vendors and dozens of thousands of people everywhere. So, my first day there, I basically just walked around, got a lot of business cards, a map of the stands, which by the way was indispensable because trying to find a particular stand without the map was pretty close to mission impossible.

That first day I only stayed at the convention for about 3 hours then headed back to the hotel. I got a chance to see what the “infamous” New York traffic is all about because, even though I was only 30 minutes from my hotel, it took me 2 hours to get back there.

When I did, I ordered an “official” New York style pizza from some hole in the wall type place, watched a bit T.V. and then, went to sleep around 9.

DAY 2

Ok, there’s a lot to talk about on day two; however, I want to focus on two things: 1- Meeting my Createspace team 2- Meeting my Amazon team.

First up we’ll talk about the Createspace team; I met with Roy Francia, my publisher, in the Createspace Designated area. Now, you have to understand that by this point I have been talking to these people on the phone for months, but had never met any of them personally so, as you might imagine, I was really looking forward to the encounter. Let me just say this, in the last couple of weeks, certain people, whether they are agents or other writers, have suggested to me that I should have gone with this company or that company, but nobody in the Self-Publishing market beats Createspace. And I’m not even saying that because of their Pricing and/or Quality (2nd to none FYI). No, I’m talking about the superiority of their people. Truly, Roy’s team has some of the most amazing and professional people I have ever met. Truth be told, meeting them was the highlight of my convention experience.

Ok, now the Amazon team was there as well, My Amazon guy, Brian Mitchell, was also there with his team and WOW! These people, I can’t say enough about them. They taught me how to use the program Calibre; how to upload my books and navigate around my own Amazon.com account. Now, I have to tell you that I truly understand why Amazon is so ahead of everybody in the virtual bookstore game, and it’s because they have some of the most professional and courteous people I have ever met: The type of people that will go out of their way and bend over backwards for you. The greatest thing was that they made me feel a part of the Amazon family and I’m truly thankful to them for all their help and support.

My gratitude goes out to both teams; I couldn’t have done this without them. Thank you.

DAY 3

Now, there are literally dozens of things that I could point out about day 3; however, I want to tell you about the most amazing thing that happened.

After spending the day at the convention, I went to a Blogger party/mixer at the 101 Lounge. This is when the convention got really fun. At this party I met so many people I can’t even remember them all. I met Photographers, Designers, Bloggers, Writers, Agents, Publishers, miscellaneous Business people, Editors, pretty much you name it, and they were there. This party was amazing (off the hook) and I felt as though I were a character in THE GREAT GATSBY.

The best part of the night was just getting so many contacts from all around the country and even a lot of European contacts. The convention organizers really did an amazing job with this whole thing because at the mixer we had free wine and an exciting ambiance. It was a great party. Upon meeting quite a few people there, I teamed up with about a dozen Bloggers and we went to this Scottish Pub in Times Square (for the life of me I can’t remember the name) I want to say Finnegan’s, but I think that’s in my head because of some Family Guy episode. So, anyway we hung out, got to know each other and it was incredible. I made some life-long friends that night. And we did some adult rated stuff that you only write about in your Fiction Novels, jajajaja.

DAY 4 (FINAL DAY THERE)

WOW, so much to talk about I don’t even know where to start. This day began much like the others, I ate breakfast in the cafeteria of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center; and then I spent the morning with the Amazon team, not doing anything specific, just hanging out. Then I started walking around going to the different booths and stands.

I must say here, by now, and into my fourth day there, I felt this intangible vibe permeating through the convention; there was an indescribable feel in the “air” and one could sense that insurmountable forces are gathering. A tsunami of change is headed towards the publishing word. This convention wasn’t centered on big, traditional Publishing houses; the focus was on the Kindle and companies like Amazon; on the virtual bookstores and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

My take on it is this: I think we’re on the cusp of the rise in independent publishing and POD. Remember, as long as we live there will always be readers; however, the landscape of how we read is changing, and consequently, so are the players within the game. I predict that by next convention, the elephant in the room will be eBooks and POD, and Indie writers will be the ones riding that elephant. People like Amanda Hocking and others who are pioneering this uncharted and untapped terrain.


Valley of Steel on Amazon.com:  http://amzn.to/j1mALn