My BookCon Experience
Did I conquer BookCon or did it conquer me?
This post uses affiliate links. If you purchase something from any of my links, I might get a small commission, which is no extra cost to you. This helps keep Beccaland free!
Please note that this post is too long for your email. Make sure you click “view entire post” to read all of this!
Bookcon is back, baby!
I know that I’ve touched on this a little bit in other posts, but basically, my entire personality and the past two months have been Jackson Wang and books, and you know what, I’m not even mad about it! I went to the Barnes and Noble Book Fest, which you can read about below, then hosted my first cupsleeve for Jackson Wang, attended Jackson’s concert, and now, we’re back with books again! ( I did slip in some fashion in-between ;) )
I am so excited that Bookcon is back. I have not attended it before, so this is going to be all about my first time attending. I will say in the past I’ve attended a ton of comic cons as well as beauty cons, so I’m not a newbie to conventions by any means.
I did share a post about how to prepare for your first book con, which I’ll share below:
So, I’m going to break down every single part of my experience, unfiltered.
I hope that this post can help you when it comes to attending your next book convention. If you’re any event organizer seeing this, I hope you take my feedback into consideration for your next event.
So let’s get into it! Before we get into it, here’s my vlog from day 1 (I’ll be sharing my day 2 later in this post)
My Experience
Ticketing
Getting the tickets for this was like getting Eras tour tickets; there was a low chance that I was able to secure them, but I somehow ended up with tickets for the entire weekend.
Weirdly enough, I had forgotten that tickets went on sale, and I was on my way to a work event in NoMAD. I somehow managed to sit outside at one of those outdoor tables and secure the weekend tickets for my friend, Erin, and me.
Reservations for Panels/ Signings
I’m writing this right before I go into battle again to secure my panels and signings. I am both excited and nervous. I saw a lot of people complaining about the VIP experience when it came to trying to secure panels and signings.
With any ticketing situation or launch, I decided it was important to pick priorities when it comes to these things. So I had chosen two priority authors, who are Chuck Tingle and Casey McQuiston. I also selected a couple of panels that I would like to attend, but my priority is to secure the signings and then the panels. It seems like a lot of the panels that I’ve expressed interest in do not require a reservation.
I joined the queue about a half-hour before the reservations began. Everyone attending has access to the ~free~ reservations (including all those VIPs who missed out during their VIP time slot).
I’ve been in the queue for 20 minutes so far, and a ton of signings are “selling out”, but I cannot look at what’s still available. It’s taking its sweet time and stressing me out. I still have a third of the way to go.
At 12:26ish, I was finally able to get in and make my reservations. By the time I was in the reservations, a lot of the panels that were no longer available, and a bunch of the signings for authors, had sold out. However, I was able to secure both Chuck Tingle and Casey McQuiston signings on April 18th.
That being said, a bunch of the panels that I’m interested in do not require a reservation, so I am planning on attending a few of them as well. (Editor Becca here, she did not attend a few panels.)
The Actual Bookcon Experience
Day 1
I arrived at the Javits Center about forty minutes before the doors opened for the day. Erin and I thought we’d be fine, but we were met with a never-ending line. It was the first of many for that day. The line moved more slowly than I would have liked. We arrived inside the venue at 10:30, which meant anyone in line near us had to practically run to their first panels.
I know Bookcon won’t probably see this, but I do think they should have allowed us to enter earlier and held us inside, or just made the panels a little bit later. Both the girls in front of me and I had panels for 11 AM. They didn’t allow us to enter earlier, but I understand that people behind us were able to cut the line if they had a panel to attend.
I only attended one panel all weekend, which was one called “Drawing Inspiration from Korean Pop Culture: A Literary Celebration.” It featured Giaae Kwon, Kat Cho, Lyla Lee and was moderated by Read by Tiffany. Bookcon said that we were not allowed to film/ photograph panels, so I have no photos of it, but I had a great time. I’ve seen so many people film the panels anyway…
During the panel, we mostly talked about K-pop, and I was living my best time. I bumped into a friend. So her and I were catching up, and I was telling her all about my experience at Jackson, which I’ll add below, since this month was all about both books and him.
What made me giggle is that one of the questions was if you could swap bodies with any idol for a day, who would you choose? Kat Cho chose Jackson! She said it was mostly so she could do flips!
After the panel, I had to hustle downstairs for my signing with Chuck Tingle. I am so sad that I didn’t get a chance to talk more to authors post-panel or get them to sign bookplates. I own a few of the panelists’ books!
BTW, this was on floor four, and I needed to get to floor one for the signing!
Meeting Chuck Tingle
The signage was not great for the autograph area, and I got lost. Thankfully, I texted Erin, and she directed me back there since she had a signing at a similar time. I personally think that there should have been more signage because it was hard to find! Once I got there, the staff directed me to the line, and I started to chat with people. Everyone was really nice, and eventually, as I got closer to the front, I saw that there was someone snapping photos for us. BookCon stated that we would not be allowed to get photos with authors, but pretty much every single author I saw snapped photos with readers!
Chuck was super sweet, and I had a great time talking to him. I told him how much I appreciate his unhinged horror and told him how much I loved “Bury Your Gays” and his other books. I actually kept bumping into him throughout the con, and we chatted a couple of times! He’s also pretty hard to miss. I also told him that I was planning on coming to his book tour, and he was so excited!
After I met Chuck, I had about three hours before my signing with Casey McQuiston. Since it was super crowded and almost impossible to get around the convention, I made the executive decision to stick to downstairs in the Indie Alley area and the exhibitor’s floor instead of going up to the third floor, which also had some vendors and the publishers. It was really overwhelming in general on each and every floor. There was so much I wanted to see, but once again, it was lines and lines and lines.
I started to explore and shop the vendors, and let me tell you, I had a great time. I actually made a BookCon wish list, and it was my goal to complete it. The items on the list were:
Bookish crewneck or sweatshirt
Book-themed hair accessories
Book-themed bag charms
Blind Dates With A Book
Cute Bookmarks
A Cute Kindle Case
Books from Indie Authors that I spoke to on Threads ( I spent a lot of time on Threads leading up to Bookcon)
There is a haul portion later on, where I’ll tell you about everything I purchased! So keep reading for that! I honestly had such a great time meeting indie authors and seeing all the cool bookish goodies that brands had to offer. I will say my first purchase of BookCon was an Alice in Wonderland necklace!
I did get overwhelmed in Indie Alley, and I needed a break. So I enjoyed my snacks and chilled in silence, chatting with the occasional fellow reader and trading bookmarks!
Eventually, it was time for my next signing!
Meeting Casey McQuiston
Since I knew where to go, I got to the area pretty quickly. However, I didn’t realize that the author signing area had two sides, so I eventually found my way to the correct line. Since I was around a half-hour early (we were allowed to line up around then), I ended up sitting down in line and chatting with everyone about Casey’s books. I seemed to be the only one meeting them for the first time. My fun fact is that “Red, White and Royal Blue” is their most popular book, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. However, I did watch the film adaptation when it came out.
Casey was so nice, and I was saying how much I appreciate the details they added to “One Last Stop,” about the subways, since I do take the lines mentioned in it. I told them they need to do more NYC events, and as it turns out, they are based here, but they did tease that something is coming soon, and let me tell you, I cannot wait!
I met up with Erin, and we hung out a little bit, and I continued to explore Indie alley a bit more, then I headed up to the third floor for the first time. I wanted to check out everything Bookcon had to offer, but I did, in fact, miss a couple of things, which is normal for every convention. I am deeply upset that I missed Audible’s whole room, and I didn’t even know about it until the end of the con. There were games and things you could play and participate in on the app, but they were not promoted well. I only found out because an attendee told me about it while in line. By the way, these included spin the wheel activies, where you could have won a free book!
The third floor is where a lot of the large publishing houses were, so the lines were insanely long, and this is where a lot of the advanced reader copies (ARCS/ARCs) were dropped at certain times. For me personally, after surviving the Barnes and Noble Book Fest and getting pushed and shoved for ARCS, it was not worth it for me to even try to get them. You can see the chaos in my footage here:
A lot of people online were complaining about their experience because their priority was getting ARCs or free things in general, which is going to lead to disappointment.
I also want to add that there are shitty people who go to the ARC drops to resell the items for hundreds and thousands of dollars online, and it really upsets me. So I can understand people being upset about all of that.
Conventions are all about getting to be around people with the same niche interests as you. It’s all about community, celebration, and shopping. I think a lot of people were under the impression that everyone and everything was going to be free, which is not the case.
I understand that in the past, at Bookcon, they have provided more free items, but the last time that this event was hosted was in a pre-pandemic world. A lot has changed since 2019, so you cannot expect it to be the same. There is also a renewed interest in reading, thanks to BookTok.
At the end of the day, Bookcon is what you make it. So make it a good experience. You have the power to control how you respond/ react to things. You can let one thing ruin your entire day, or else you can turn lemons into lemonade.
Day 2
After surviving day one barely, I knew what I needed to do on day two. We arrived around 10 AM because Erin and I didn’t feel a need to be inside right away. The lines were a lot shorter, and there were far less people on Day 2. Here’s the full vlog from day 2, but I’ll be breaking down the experience more in-depth here.
For me, this day was all about doing everything I missed out on day 1. I ended up going on a mission to complete my BookCon wish list.
I did have two post-panel signings that I wanted to attend, but at the end of the day, I did not get to either, which is fine. However, carrying those books with me all day was not fun lol!
There were a few sellers whom I had seen the day before on floor three, and I wanted to go back to them to get the items I hadn’t grabbed the day before. This was a big mistake. If there is one piece of advice I can offer con-goers, it is that even if you’re at or close to your spending limit, buy the thing when you see it because if you wait, it’ll be gone the next day.
So make that purchase 🫶 or forever hold your peace.
I spent my morning in Indie Alley looking for all the authors I had interacted with on Threads! I was able to find most of them and purchase a few books. It was important to me to spend my money on indie authors, and that’s where most of my money went. I was glad that I saw a lot of them when I did, because so many sold out of their books. I am also thrilled that so many of these small businesses and indie authors ran out of books or items!
I did end up going to the fourth floor for something called “The Grove,” and this was like a chill area for people to recharge and rest. They had free activations all day long, and it was lovely. This is also where they legit had a trinket station, where you could trade and take trinkets. I hung out there for at least an hour.
They also had tarot readings, but I was not able to get one. There was also live music in this area throughout the day. They had a spot where you could purchase drinks, and there was also a book booth! Additionally, in this area, there was also a book exchange, so you could take one and leave one!
I moved around from floor to floor and eventually saw friends and ate. I did eat an Asian-food-inspired bowl, and it was fine. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t amazing. I do think the food options were seriously lacking at BookCon. It’s also worth noting that some of the food sellers sold out of food early in the day, so a lot of people missed out on eating in general. I brought snacks, and that is the only reason why I was okay. You were able to leave the venue and re-enter, which seems easy, but not when you’re carrying a ton of things.
On floor three, I did get roped into one ~traditionally~ published book. Someone at the publisher’s booth told me things were on sale, and I made a mental note about it and walked away. The book that caught my eye was “Savage Bloom” by S. T. Gibson. I ended up coming back and buying it for 50% off, which is extra awesome since it was a hardcover!
Everyone I spoke to at Bookcon seemed nice, including everyone working at the booths. I didn’t try for ARCs, but a publisher offered free books for the last half hour of the event, and I ended up getting two. A girl didn’t want the one she got, so she gave it to me, and I also ended up with an ARC for a book that comes out in May.
Overall, the vibes of day 2 were a lot more chill, and I think I had more fun that day, talking with authors and other readers.
The savior of the weekend was actually the La Croix booth. A lot of people were confused as to why it was there, and I do think it was an interesting fit for Bookcon. However, for their activation, you got a free can, and if you were in line, you also got a free hat and tote. They also had some seats, so you can sit and relax. I ended up only wanting a can of the drink, but the totes were cute. They also had a photo opp!
After BookCon, I’ve seen a ton of attendees express interest in the brand, which I love to see! In case you don’t know, I am a La Croix stan and always keep their tangerine or sunshine flavors at my apartment. After trying their LimonCello flavor at Bookcon, I 100% need to pick up a pack!
I did not get great footage of La Croix’s setup, so I will insert their reel here (credit to La Croix, obviously.)
Something else that I thought was super cool is that TikTok Shop had a booth, and they were doing a shopping livestream during the event, so I watched for a few minutes. It was just really cool to see. I’ve always wondered what studios like that looked like. I did not buy anything from them, but they did give me some free bookmarks!
For next year’s BookCon, I would love to see both pop up again, and I also think it would be cool to have a beauty vendor who specializes in sheet masks or eye masks to play more into the self-care aspect of reading. I saw one bodycare brand there, but I didn’t get a chance to talk much to them. I talked about creating a reader’s night in box in this post, so you can check that out here.
Another thing that I thought was interesting is that there was a brand selling spices inspired by books, and also someone selling chocolate inspired by books. However, they both told me that they were not able to sell at the event because of the Javits Center rules, which is weird to me. In the past, pre-pandemic, I’d attended many events at that venue, and they were allowed to sell food from booths. So I was and still am confused by that. Anyways, it’s haul time!
The Haul
I want to make this clear: I purchased a lot of stuff. This convention was not all about getting free items, although a few brands did hand out stuff for free. I am so happy that my money went to support small bookish businesses and indie authors.
I am going to break everything in my haul down into different sections!
I touched on this earlier, but I did have a Bookcon wish list, and I’m happy to report that I completed it. If you have already forgotten what was on the list, I’ll add it here again.
My Bookcon Wish List
Bookish crewneck or sweatshirt
Book-themed hair accessories
Book-themed bag charms
Blind Dates With A Book
Cute Bookmarks
Kindle Case
Books from Indie Authors
I hope you’re ready for this hell of a haul!
Freebies /Trinkets
Now, I knew going into Bookcon that I would have to purchase a majority of items during the event. I made sure I was prepared for it. However, I also knew there were a ton of people trading freebies or giving out freebies. So I decided to make some! I made Beccaland reading challenge bookmarks. I’ll be sharing the reading challenge with you soon! I don’t really have good photos of them.
There was a trinket trading station, and although I didn’t get the chance to trade with anyone from Threads, I did do a lot of trades! I also traded with vendors, which was so much fun! I made 25 bookmarks over the course of the weekend, and I’m happy to report that I added the few remaining to the trinket table. So, I hope they’re in happy homes! Without further ado, here is the trinket haul.
Books
I left this weekend with 11 new books. Let’s do a little book math so that I can break it down for all of you!
Books: 11
Free Books: 2
“Dekonstrucking The Kardashians” by MJ Corey
The books I got for free
Pre-Orders: 1 - This was one of the indie authors who sold out of books by the time I reached her.) The book is called “Capitana” by Cassandra James
Blind Dates With A Book : 3 - I will keep these wrapped until I decide to film unboxings, so I have no clue who published them. They are from three different vendors. The blind dates are from Lavender Moon Designs, Alex’s Bookshop, and Audio In Color!
Indie Published books: 5 (including the pre-order)
“Capitana” by Cassandra James (pre-order)
Traditionally Published Book: 1 AKA “Savage Bloom” by S. T. Gibson
Other Bookish Goodies
I purchased a ton of bookish items that were not books. So I decided to make this category cover all of that. So this section will include clothes, accessories, bookmarks, and more. So everything on my wish list will be featured here for the most part. There was truly a little bit of everything in this category.
The totes and hats were items that I received for free from brands attending the event.
Overall
I overall had a good experience at Book Con. I think there is room for improvement when it comes to the event, but overall, I had fun.
Can cons be a super overwhelming environment even for the seasoned attendees? Yes.
Do I think this kind of environment is for everyone? No, it can be a lot to handle, and that’s okay. However, they did have areas where you could rest if you got overwhelmed.
Were my expectations met? Yes, for the most part.
Once again, I went because I love to read and wanted to connect with the bookish community. I did not exchange social media with many people, but it was still so nice to talk to someone who loves the same books that I do. I wanted to learn about indie authors and brands. I was there for the community, rather than trying to get free things and meet authors.
I am very grateful that I live in NYC, so most authors come here. So I can understand people being upset about not securing reservations; however, I found that many authors, even when walking around the convention, would stop for photos and or sign things for readers.
Will I go back next year? Probably! Would I get both days, maybe? However, if I were to choose one day, I would have picked Sunday. Until next time!
BTW, if you’re looking for a way to tackle your massive TBR, thanks to Bookcon, here are a few challenges you can do:
Easy and Unique Book Challenge Ideas
Some of the items have been sent to me as samples, but all have been selected independently by me. This post uses affiliate links, so if you purchase something from any of my links, I might get a small commission, which is at no extra cost to you. This helps keep Beccaland free!
Love my content? Buy me a matcha! This is another way you can support my work without paying for a subscription. It’s an easy way you can give me a one-off tip to support me and my content.
To see more bookish content, follow me on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok! And remember, everyone is welcome in Beccaland.
omg your haul is TOO GOOD!!! Can’t wait to see you style your bookish gear