Friday, June 01, 2007

Another reason why small press is better

Today is the official opening of Book Expo America. We arrived at the exhibit halls shortly after they opened this morning and plunged into the crowds searching for the new and interesting. The number of people here is staggering. Trying to get through the HarperCollins area reminded me of Mardi Gras: you didn't walk through so much as you pressed through, surrounded by so many people on all sides that you could barely move. HarperCollins only had three YA ARCs available that we could see, and none of them appealed to us enough to take them, although Nightmare Academy did intrigue me a bit and I was tempted to take it. But we're trying not to overdo it and only take the books that we really want to read and review, after previous years when we've taken so many books that a back ache was the biggest thing we got from BEA. We also visited the Penguin booth where they had Seeing Redd, the sequel to The Looking Glass Wars. Although I did read The Looking Glass Wars, I thought it was excessively violent, and the sequel didn't appeal to me enough to want to carry it around.

After this largely unfruitful search through big-publisher land, we ended up after lunch in the small publisher area, where we had a great time. The aisles were uncrowded and we saw a lot of interesting things, which I'll be posting more about later. It's a shame that many people never make it to the small press area, because there was a lot to see and do there, but I'm selfishly glad, because it made the afternoon much more enjoyable for us.

We ended up our afternoon at the Candlewick Press booth, where as usual they bent over backwards to help us out. Candlewick is a great company and I like a lot of what they do. At my son's request, they promised to send us a review copy of Mythology, the upcoming new entry in the ologies series.

Also today we interviewed Shelly Mazzanoble, author of Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the D&D Game from Wizards of the Coast. Shelly was delightful and I'll be posting that interview soon.

Now I'm off to the autographing area for a couple of books, and then I'll be headed to the Kid Lit Drink Night. I hope to see some of you there!

13 comments:

Erin said...

Seeing Redd! More like seeing green! ;) I liked the first one VERY much as you know.

Ooh, I see you're reading the new Sisters Grimm book. I'm looking forward to that as well.

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot how much you liked that one. I thought it was pretty good, but not enough to make me want to carry around the sequel. I'll go back tomorrow and see if they have any more, and if so, I'll pick one up and send it to you.

Actually, I've finished the new Sisters Grimm book, but haven't had a chance to change my sidebar yet. I enjoyed the new book and will be reviewing it soon. And by an interesting coincidence, I ran into Michael Buckley at the Kidlit drink night this evening.

Right now I'm reading Erec Rex. And by another coincidence I met the author of that today at BEA.

Dean Lorey said...

Geez, I really wish you'd given Nightmare Academy a read. I honestly think you'd like it. :)

Dean Lorey
writer of Nightmare Academy

Unknown said...

Hi Dean,

You certainly are convincing! Wow, when I get a personal message from the author, I have to consider it. I'll go back and see if they have any more copies. If not, maybe they can send me one.

Erin said...

Oh, Sheila, you're sweet. You don't have to do that.

So cool that you met both of those authors!!

Dean Lorey said...

Great! Let me know if you get one.

Best,

Dean

Unknown said...

Erin: I did get a copy of Seeing Redd and I'll send it to you as soon as I get back from New York.

Dean: I also got a copy of Nightmare Academy and even started reading it over dinner tonight.

I'm now in the middle of three books! Erec Rex, The Penguins of Doom, and Nightmare Academy. Being at BEA, I always have books in my bag but not always the one I'm currently reading, so I keep starting a new one each time I'm on a bus or waiting for something.

Michele said...

I've got a feeling I've seen Nightmare Academy in the library recently...

Oh ! I just Googled for it and it turns out Frank Peretti also wrote a book called Nightmare Academy (it's the second in a series) - now I'm hopelessly confused ! Right. Quick check of Amazon shows me that Dean's book isn't out here in the UK until next March, so it much have been the Peretti book I saw... Ho-hum !

Erin said...

Can I just say, I wish I could give you a great big hug? :) :) :)

Unknown said...

You're welcome. I tried to get Shannon Hale's new book Book of a Thousand Days for you, but by the time I saw it, they were out of ARCs. I know you would have given me a bigger hug for that one. ;-) Maybe Bloomsbury will send you a review copy.

Unknown said...

Michele - how confusing!

Erin said...

Actually, I've already read and reviewed Book of a Thousand Days. :) Thanks for thinking of me though!

Unknown said...

Oh, I didn't remember that. Sorry! I just know you're a Shannon Hale fan so I thought of you when I saw it. Anyway, I'm glad you got it.