BEA is this huge deal in the publishing world where booksellers from around the country come to see what publishers have in store for their stores in the near future.
I began my weekend late Friday night by hanging out with Stephanie from Moravian Book Shop and Jill from Square Books. Moravian is the oldest bookstore in the world (and Stephanie is Laurie Halse Anderson's daughter!). Square Books is in Mississppi, and my fingers are crossed that I can visit there next April (hint-hint, Jill).
Saturday morning, I had breakfast with my fantabulous agent, followed by an exhausting stroll through the Los Angeles Convention Center, trying to grab as many free books as possible. Then I had an amazing book signing, where I got to walk out from behind a blue curtain to face a long line of people waiting for my autograph. Seriously, this job rocks! I met lots of cool booksellers from all over, and even had an unexpected visit from the teens of Vroman's Galley Group, hereby lovingly referred to as The Screamers! Here's a photo from the signing (courtesy of Love the Books? Meet the Authors!). And no, that's not Jeff Bezos behind me, but Ben Schrank, my publisher.
Lunch with Mr. Schrank was interesting. Great conversation, good Mexican food, and people dressed as pirates carrying books by L. Ron Hubbard (no, I have no idea what that was all about). That was followed by a meeting with Mr. Schrank, Don Weisberg (the new president of Penguin's Young Readers Group), and Barbara Marcus (P.Y.R's strategic advisor). People kept asking if I was nervous about the meeting, but they're a fun bunch of Penguins with lots of exciting ideas about the future of Thirteen Reasons Why!
Oh, and then I got an autographed copy of Holes. Woo-hoo!
By the way, am I the only writer who was unaware that publishers spend a ton of money on parties? I went to (read: crashed) the Little Brown party...held on top of a building in downtown L.A.!
The entire Andrea Brown Literary Agency crew was there, but here's me with my beautiful agent, Laura Rennert.
Then I attended a party put on by Publishers Group West, thanks to a generous invite from David Diaz. That was held in a dance club, the El Rey, where they hired an amazing dance troupe to perform. Here's Mr. Diaz, Vicki Arkoff, Jen Rofé (Jaeger), and me. Jen is an agent at A.B.L.A. and Vicki writes for MAD Magazine!!!
On Sunday, now completely exhausted, I drove to Morro Bay for a wonderful booksigning with Catherine Ryan Hyde at Coalesce Bookstore. Lots of friends came, as well as our parents, which capped the weekend beautifully. Here I am with the Coalesce staff and Ms. Hyde (to my left).
And then I slept harder than I have in a long, long time. So let me end with a second apology to anyone out there who heard me snore.
- Jay
Meet a Mermaid: If you happen to be in the Chicago area this Saturday, come say hi at the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair, where I'll be speaking and signing.
11 comments:
Hey! I kept running into those pirates, too. Very odd. Indeed.
Sounds like a great weekend! You talk about exhaustion - but look like you are having the time of your life! Enjoy it all!
You are a rock start, Jay. So glad that your book is doing so well.
I would've loved to be at BEA this year! It would've been so fun to meet Caryn! Maybe next year in New York!!
Rock stars DO NOT SLEEP!
I'm planning to attend the Printer's Row fair. What day will you be out? And where?
For some reason, adding the punctuation to the book title adds a whole new genere of possibilities:
Thirteen Reasons Why!...the game show!
Your cheeks must ache from three straight days of grinning. :)
Hey, now
You're a rock star!
Hold the phone...I just saw the Printers Row thing you wrote!
I'm in the Chicago area. If I can escape the rugrats, I'll come say howdy.
Turns out, when ya don't sleep...ya get sick. How come no one ever told me that?
Oh well, it was definitely worth it!!!
In Chicago, I'll be speaking at 2pm on a panel in the University Center / River Room (which, hopefully, I can find by then).
- Jay
okay so i just finished 13 reasons why. and it was an amazing book. i really hope there are more like it. I usually dont get into these kinds of books, but this book had me hooked from the get go. Amazing job!!!!!!!!!!!11
So, this is a very late comment, but I just had to leave a little message and say thank you :) I was one of the teachers who met you at BEA, and also the one who runs Love the Books? Meet the Authors! I thought that picture looked familiar. Thanks for posting it :) I am finally getting to read the 100+ books that I picked up there and am currently reading (and loving) yours.
Anyway, hope to see you at BEA in New York next year.
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