Bookcon… a retrospective

I waited on writing this for a few days because I wanted to sit with what I was feeling and analyze the why of the feelings.

And just in case you’re worried – no, this isn’t going to be a deep analytic session where I explore my psyche and past trauma, lol. Just some thoughts.

So I was lucky enough to be awarded a two-hour book signing spot at the RWA booth at this year’s BookCon, the first one they’ve had in over six years. I didn’t know what to expect, but I went in excited and hoping to sell some books. It’s beena rough year for sales for me and my bank account has suffered.

So I am a lousy picture taker – you all know this – so I don’t have any pictures to show you what I saw when I rolled up the Javits center, but suffice it to say – IT WAS AMAZING!

The line snaked out in two directions, from the front doors down to 31st street and around the avenue to the harbor, TWICE. Then from the front doors down to 35 street and around to the harbor, twice!!
IF you’re on tiktok you can go ahead and do a search of bookcon to see the posts of the people standing in line waiting to get it – your jaw will drop. These were 20k+ READERS!!! My people, lol.

SO when the doors finally opened, mass hysteria and overcrowding started. I want to discuss the poorly managed things first, then give a few shoutouts and kudos.

1. the lines for arcs – why publishers did this was annoying to me – there was no actual queuing manner, just people snaked back and forth, standing in front of author and vendor tables, waiting to get their free stuff. My RWA table was situated next to one of these small presses and they were giving out arcs every hour with the author signing them. So my table had hundreds of people BLOCKING my table, so you couldn’t see me or the other fabulous author I was with.
2. Food prices. $6.00 for a bottle of soda. Enough said.
3. Indie alley was situated in the basement and all the signs for vendors and arcs and booths directed you to floors 2 and above. Now, I happened to visit indie alley when I first arrived because I had some time to kill and there were readers down there, but most of them were checking to see the times TRADITIONAL authors were doing their book signings – the ones the readers paid to get into see.
4. Lack of signage. My RWA table was 559, and the signs above the sections simply labeled them in the 100s, like 400. 600, ext. No actual mapage about where our table was.
5. because of the lines snaking in front of our table for the freebies being given out next door, I sold a total of 2 books and I think one of them was really a pity sale. I am so glad I didn’t decide to stay in NYC the night before befcause I would have wasted hundreds of dollars on a hotel room and not made a cent in recovery. I paid $26 for my metro north ticket and $16.oo to park for the nday in the New haven station, With the $30 I made on book sales, I didn’t even break even.

The good…

1.Romance Writers of America is the BEST organization I have ever belonged to.The support, camaraderie, intelligence and just plain love that the members show for one another and others is simply awesome. If you are a dedicated writer of romance, you really should join the organization. There are so many benefits.

2. The readers. My heart actually swelled when I saw the thousands of readers waiting to get into the Javits Center. That so many people are dedicated to their favorite authors, their favorite books, even the genres they read, fills my heart to no end.\

I met a few people on the train going down to the event and they were so excited to be going, even if it was for the day. Some had panel tickets, some weren’t so lucky, but they were all simply tickled pink to be part of this wonderful event.

Am I glad I went? yes.

Did I learn a few things? Yes, especially that people want more free stuff than are willing to pay for at cons. That may seem a little cynical, but it is my experience, so don’t come at me.

Will I go again if given the opportunity? This one is hard because if I had a bigger name or was sponsored by a publisher, the answer would be yes because it would guarantee some book sales. But as a small, unknown indie? Probably not, unless again an opportunity arose like this year with RWA and I could go without having to pay a $5000.00 table fee.

Just my thoughts on a busy day….