I'm Participating in the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon!!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda@ On a Book Bender and kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books team

I am so excited to be participating in this read-a-thon! This is by far my favorite r-a-t to participate in and they usually run three times a year. I wasn't able to participate in the first one that took place this year, due to school, but now school is out and I am ready to read!

I hope some of you decide to participate with me =D
To sign up, just visit the Bout of Books 10 Sign-Up. 

Preparing for BEA: What You Should Bring With You to Javits

If you are going to BEA for the first time you might not know exactly what you should bring with you to the convention center. Even if it's your not a first timer, I personally find it helpful to read other people's tips and tricks. This is why I am making this post. To not only mentally prepare myself for the excitement, but to also offer my own personal tips and tricks to those who will also be attending. 

Here is what I suggest you bring with you to the Javits Center.

Throwback Thursday: BEA Edition

This was at my first BEA and was also the first time I ever met one of  my favorite authors, Becca Fitzpatrick. I have never been so nervous in my whole life lol. 

BEA GIVEAWAY!!!

Yes, that is right! It is finally time to open up the BEA 2014 Giveaway!!

For those of you who have never entered this giveaway before let me explain what it is all about...

Throwback Thursday: BEA Edition

In celebration of BEA coming up I am going to start doing Throwback Thursday posts every week, but I am going to add a little twist to it. I am going to do a BEA edition of TT and showcase photos from past BEA adventures. 

This weeks picture:

This is my mom and I on our way to our first trip to NYC and our first BEA. We just entered the Lincoln Tunnel when we took this. 

Now, BEA is our annual mother/daughter trip. I cannot wait to go again this year with her. 

Preparing for BEA: What to Pack

If you are planning to go to BEA for the first time it is very hard to know what exactly you should pack. I know that my first time I brought so much stuff that I didn't need and I packed clothes that were way too formal. 

So, whether this is your first or hundredth time going to BEA here are my tips for what to pack...

Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend BEA: #1

Reason #1: FREE BOOKS!!

What kind of book blogger or book lover would I be if I didn't mention the number one reason to attend BEA as getting free books? A terrible one I think.
Your #1 excuse for ever attending BEA should be to get free books. You will come home with hundreds if you want to and from every genre.
All types of books are represented at this conference and you will get your hands on so many.
My first year attending BEA my eyes were bigger than my bags and I grabbed every book I could get my hand on plus standing in lines to get some autographed. I came home with 300 books that year.
Now I come home with about 100 and those are all books that I am personally interested in and not just books that were within reach. Each book I grab either sounds good, looks good, or I know someone in my family would love.
Plus I also keep you guys in mind for giveaways.
It may sound awful, but the number #1 reason to attend BEA is getting free books. I'm not saying it's the most important reason, I am just saying that if you are trying to justify this trip to yourself or your family then the number one reason that is going to convince you or them is the free books.

If this countdown reflected important to attend BEA it would probably be the exact opposite order it is in now lol.

Thank you to everyone who checked out my countdown this week. I had a lot of fun writing it!
Make sure to continually check into the blog, because from now till May 27th the blog will be all things BEA, with some reviews mixed in as well.
Make sure to definitely look out for my big BEA GIVEAWAY!! That will be coming your way very soon =D

Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend BEA: #2

Reason #2: Networking with Companies

I mentioned a good chunk of this in my 4th reason you should attend BEA.
The best place to go to get yourself or your blog ahead in the game is BEA, because there are so many opportunities to network.
There will be a booth for almost every publishing house you can think of and it is so important to go to them to not just get free books, but to talk to the people running them.
Ask if they have a book drop schedule, ask if they send bloggers books for review, ask if they have any internships or job opportunities. Network your butt off!
The more people you know the better your chances are of getting to work in the book industry. You need to start building your knowledge bank and this is the perfect opportunity. The people working the booths are there to answer more questions than "when is Jennifer L Armentrout signing?".
Take advantage of being in their presence. It is a little intimidating at first, but once you break the ice it goes great. You will be so thankful that you did it. And, if you get too nervous to ask a question, channel your inner me and just do it. OR come find me and I will help you through it lol

This week I am going to be sharing my top 5 reasons you should attend Book Expo America. 

Each day I will be doing a countdown from reason #5 to reason #1. 

Make sure to continue to check out the daily countdown to the #1 reason to attend BEA.

Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend BEA: #3

Reason #3: Making Friends

BEA is such a perfect place to meet friends. You would think that since this is such a huge expo that there would be too many people there to try and make connections and there wouldn't even be time to try and meet friends, but there is so much time!
The first place to meet friends is at the book blogger conference. This is a conference only for book bloggers and is about everything that is book blog related. Here is the place you will meet a bunch of people with a common interest with you. They all love books, they all have blogs.
Now, sure they love books and they have a blog, but they won't all necessarily love the same books as you or blog about the same things you do. This is where the book lines come in.
There are a CRAP ton of books and authors at this event, and its hectic because you are running from author to author at certain times, but once you get to that authors line all you are going to do is just sit and wait for a very long time.
This is the time when people start to talk. You guys are now lovers of the same author! This is where I meet my closest friends, because then we have more in common than being book lovers and blogger, but we also like the same author. You will exchange business cards and will see each other all through the conference. You will do things for each other like hold spots while the other goes to find book drops for you both and will talk about all the other things book related that you want to gossip about.
I actually met two bloggers from Michigan (my home state) while in line and now we talk all the time and place to meet up at BEA every year.
It seriously is the best place to meet book friends. They are the best!

This week I am going to be sharing my top 5 reasons you should attend Book Expo America. 

Each day I will be doing a countdown from reason #5 to reason #1. 

Make sure to continue to check out the daily countdown to the #1 reason to attend BEA.

Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend BEA: #4

Reason #4: Learning the Trade

The next reason on my countdown to attend BEA is that you get the opportunity to learn more about the book trade. You get to see everything in action at this expo. You get to really see everything that goes on to make people attracted to your company or book and everything it takes to get it in a consumers hand.
You will also learn about the trends in the industry. You will figure out what hot new trends are going to be coming out this year, what people are writing about, and what to expect in the future. You can even take a guess as to what moves you should take to be ahead of the game when the time comes.
If you are at all interested in working in the book industry you can use this conference to learn about the trade you want to get into.
There are also possible job opportunities. You get to network with a lot of publishing houses and the people who are in charge of hiring interns and getting bloggers sent their books. If you are networking and making sure to meet this people you can create a lot of connections for your blog to review books for publishing houses and you can even land an internship.
Last year at BEA I happened to be by the Spencer Hill Press booth and they asked if I wanted to sign up to possibly get an internship from home. I said sure, and now I have been with them for about 8 months. I absolutely love my internship and I wouldn't have got it if I didn't attend BEA.
So, if you want to learn anything at all about the industry or want to get yourself or your blog ahead, attend BEA!

This week I am going to be sharing my top 5 reasons you should attend Book Expo America. 

Each day I will be doing a countdown from reason #5 to reason #1. 

Make sure to continue to check out the daily countdown to the #1 reason to attend BEA.

Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend BEA: #5

Reason #5: The trip

If anything, the reason you should attend BEA is for the trip. The expo is held in New York City and in a couple years it will be held in Chicago. If anything you should go to BEA to have an excuse to take a trip to a big city and explore it. 

BEA is an annual vacation for my mom and I. We look forward to it every year and when we go we completely take advantage of being in NYC. We go sight seeing, eat great food and explore downtown. Going to BEA isn't just for the actual event itself, but it presents a time where you can explore a big city and do things that you might not normally get the opportunity to do. 

My mom and I haven't figured out just yet what we are going to be doing during this trip to BEA, but I am sure that we are going to do some very fun things. 

So far we have the following things in mind: hanging out at central park, going to the NYC library, maybe do some Law & Order: SVU sight seeing, and finally checking out a club. 

This week I am going to be sharing my top 5 reasons you should attend Book Expo America. 

Each day I will be doing a countdown from reason #5 to reason #1. 

Make sure to continue to check out the daily countdown to the #1 reason to attend BEA.