I have been dying to go to BookCon for years! I heard about it in 2014 but I was always working, busy, or unable to go for any number of other reasons. This year, though, some wonderful people bought some tickets for my friend and I to go (as she has also been wanting to go for years).

Words cannot express how excited I was to go to this convention. I worked it up so much in my head – starting way back in March when I found out I was going – that I was worried I would be disappointed. Thankfully, I was not. Walking into the Javits Center in New York City and seeing all the people and the big “Welcome to BookCon” sign was oddly emotional for me. That emotional-ness stuck with me through most of my first day at the convention as I attended panels and listened to authors talk about their books and their lives.

We started Day 1 of BookCon with a writing workshop presented by the MFA Writing department at Sarah Lawrence College. As much as I love workshops and writing, I am always worried about what I am going to get out of writing workshops. Typically, I sit there bored, with no inspiration, while some “seasoned” writer I have never heard of babbles on about how I should write what I know…So I was worried I wouldn’t really enjoy this part of my weekend. I was pleasantly surprised when I was given actual direction and prompts to guide my writing while I was there and spark a little bit of the inspiration that I typically lack. The workshop was focused on Sci-fi and Fantasy writing, so there was a lot of help with where to begin when it comes to world building (and destroying) and how to write about fantasy changes in the world and in people. There was also a free-write at the end of the workshop and allotted time to share what we worked on with the other people at our table. The people at my table had fantastic ideas and I was glad to be able to hear what they were working on and be able to give and receive advice on how to improve or direct those ideas. Overall, I left the workshop feeling really excited to go home and write more using the building blocks I had been provided.

Picture from the fantasy/Sci-Fi Writing Workshop

The rest of the weekend was filled with panels! There were so many interesting panels to choose from that we often had a hard time decided which ones to attend.

The first few panels we attended were based on the fact that some of our favorite authors would be speaking at them. There is something enlightening about hearing your idols speak. It makes them more real in your head. Specifically, hearing Cassandra Clare speak about her life and her friends (most of which are also authors) makes her much more relatable because you can see yourself and your friends getting into those same situations. For example, she told a story about a bat flying around a house she was renting and the ridiculousness that ensued from that and I found myself thinking, “Wow, that sounds a lot like a story me and my sister have about a bat”. You get to know more about the person behind the typed words on the page. With many of the authors that I got to see this weekend, It validated why they deserved to be my idols because of what they strive to do with their writing and in their lives, but it also showed me that even they aren’t perfect and that they make mistakes too.

Picture from The Dark Artifices panel with Cassandra Clare

These panels also introduced me to authors I didn’t previously know, but now I want to read their books. Kendare Blake was one of the funniest people I have ever heard speak and she described her books in such a simple way that I wanted to read them immediately. Tomi Adeyemi had a presence that was both extremely casual and mildly intimidating as she spoke about not just her books, but also about injustice and racism. These are just two examples, but there were so many authors that I truly enjoyed listening to and it made me want to run out and find their books and read them.

Picture from the Power Moves Panel. From left to right is Melissa De La Cruz, Tahereh Mafi, Kendare Blake, and Victoria Aveyard

We attended panels from topics including the balance of magic and power, how to write good romance, audiobook recording, diversity in books, publishing, toxic male syndrome, and bravery. Each panel was filled with new speakers, both known and unknown to me, ready to give insight into these topics. I learned so much just by listening to these people talk about their experiences that there is no way I could discuss every little thing in a single blog post. No topic was really off limits. They discussed injustice, race, politics, fear, and world events, just to name a few. Each person had a different perspective and view on the world that shapes their writing and I am so happy I had the opportunity to listen to each and every one of them.

Pictures of the stuff I bought on Day 1

There was a lot of miscellaneous activities found on the show floor. There were tons of booths from authors, publishing companies, vendors, etc. You could find free stuff, book signings, games, shopping areas…there was so much going on and we had little time to explore because we didn’t want to miss out on panels, but I still got a bit of shopping done. Two things that really stood out to me in this area were the Muggle Wall and the book board pictured below. The Muggle Wall let people write what Harry Potter means to them and the book board in the picture had people write the title of a book that changed their life. Seeing both of these things really drives home how important books are to people and what they can mean. A book can seem so insignificant to one person, but to someone else that book could mean everything. It also worth mentioning that the picture I have of the life-changing books board is only a small section of that board. It is actually about 5 times larger than what the picture is showing.

Photo of part of the wall : “Share The Book That Changed Your Life”

The only negative thing I could say about the whole experience is how hard it was to get tickets for book signings. VIP members got access to tickets hours before everyone else, and you could only purchase VIP tickets if you’ve attended the convention before. They saved a few tickets for standard ticket holders, but with everyone signing on right at 10am when those tickets became active, the chance of getting the most popular authors was very slim. It was kind of a bummer for me that I couldn’t get signing tickets for any authors that I liked, however, it was more important to me that I got to hear those authors speak during the panels. I feel like I got way more out of that than I would have with just a signing.

Overall, if you are a book lover and/or prospective author, I highly recommend you try and make it to BookCon. It was a wonderful experience and I plan to continue attending for years to come!