Book Expo America

Last week I went to Book Expo America in NYC with a friend Janelle Hertzler. Janelle's book has recently been published and she had a book signing and a podcast interview.

It was an exciting week, though at times it was overwhelming - there's so many books out there already, why should I try to publish mine? But by the end of the show, I was inspired and now look forward to finishing and publishing my memoir.

Some celebrities are writers. This show had plenty of them:   

Barbra Striesand will be a first-time published author this fall with a book about designing and decorating houses. She was interviewed by Gayle King. I was impressed with Barbra's energy and creativity. She is constantly using her creativity in something - music/film/houses/gardens and now a book.  

Sarah Ferguson - Duchess of York signing her children's book.

People started standing in line at 1AM for her - I felt no need to do that, so I had a book signed by an unknown author near her that didn't have a line - hence this lousy picture. 

I'm now singing 'Jesse's Girl' after seeing this interview with Rick Springfield. He has a memoir coming out soon - "Late, Late at Night"

This was my most exciting encounter - Sarah Reinertsen!

She is a full-leg amputee that inspired me post-accident. She was the first female leg amputee in complete the Ironman in Hawaii. She was on 'The Amazing Race' in 2006. I followed her various races and triathlons and decided if she could do all that, I could at least run again. So meeting her was sweet! And I look forward to reading her memoir "In a Single Bound" 

Love this guy - Gary Vaynerchuk and his first book "Crush It." 

Somehow I missed his name on the schedule (it was huge) but about 30 minutes before he spoke I was scanning the show's twitter hashtag #bea10 and saw this: 

@grayvee Speaking at downtown stage on the main floor at #bea10 speaking at 3pm be there or ... I'll cry :) 2:34 PM May 27th

I went, as did many others, so he didn't cry - he was passionate as usual. I'm looking forward to his new book this fall: "The Thank You Economy." 

World's Most Tattooed Woman - Julia Gnuse, age 55

This is one-tenth of the exhibitors floor - yes, my ADD was in overdrive. There were many authors there that aren't celebrities (yet). I'm just as (or even more) excited to read their books. 

I came home with a 'few' books - for me, for my boys and some for gifts.

Each day I scoured the list for authors of memoirs that were signing and giving away books. These writers were always gracious and offered me good advice in my writing. I will be reading and reviewing these books (mostly memoirs) in the weeks ahead. 

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And now to introduce ... 

the most important author there!! 

She had people in line the whole half-hour of her signing time. Everyone loved her book, one even called it 
the most beautiful book at the show!

So if you don't have a copy of "Seasons of Solace" - now's a good time to get it :) Either for yourself or a gift for someone that is dealing with a loss. 

So if you would have been at the show - which genre of books would you have picked up? Is there one particular genre or would you have looked for books in different genres that sound/look interesting?