This picture is from the BEA website here is the registration area.
My first impression walking the floor of BEA was heaven. Here is a huge building filled with books, book sellers, book publishers, book authors and book lovers. The air was filled the the scent of paper, ink and glue. There was a buzz of excitement or maybe that was just me running off of a huge dose of adrenaline, I may never know.
Here is a picture of some of the booths at BEA this picture is from the BEA website
My publisher, Raven Tree Press, had a lovely booth set up directly across from the autograph corral and I was in awe watching the people line up for my autograph. The kind comments and compliments I received from the people were very inspiring. They may never know how much their appreciation moved me, but it truly did. I signed 80 books in less than 30 minutes chatted with some of the great staff at Raven Tree and then proceeded to explore BEA.
One of the things you have to deal with as an author is rejection. I have sent out many of my manuscripts to publishing houses only to receive a rejection not knowing why they didn’t select my story. Walking through the booths at BEA I was able to look closely at the stories the editors were picking looking for things to improve in my manuscripts or for a possible publishing home for some of my existing stories. The publishing world is changing and we as writers must continue to change along with the industry or we will be left behind. Contrary to popular belief, publishers are not just in the business to reject you, they are looking for stories to print that will sell, it is up to us as writers to keep up with our craft in order to stay current with their needs. BEA offered me a great opportunity to do this.
After walking the show for a while, I headed out to the city to do a little sight seeing. I saw Times Square, Broadway, Park Avenue, and Central Park. I would have loved to have seen more but my schedule was tight and I was running on fumes with only about 3 hours of sleep in 24 hours.
There is an energy in New York that is contagious. It is an exciting city and the excitement of my first book signing and attending BEA will always be a wonderful memory for me. I wasn’t able to attend some of the events and I am sorry I missed them. Would I go again? Yes, but I would definitely give myself a little more time to enjoy it.
Suzanne Santillan
Writing on the Sidewalk
I’m so glad you loved NY & had such a great book signing experience, Suzanne. NY is the place I still call home even though I’ve now lived in France longer.
I enjoyed reading this post because your excitement & enthusiasm is palpable & contagious. So nice to read some good news!
Thanks Dana. BEA was a great experience and I am very glad I was able to attend.
Eeee!! This sounds so exciting, Suz! Isn’t it great to be surrounded by people who LOVE books?
Yes! It is very exciting to be with a group of people who love books as much as I do.
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