Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Author, Gary Vaynerchuk BEA 09 by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

Book Expo America '09

My first excursion to BEA was exhausting, exciting and enlightening. If you love books, and I do, then being in a space with thousands of books, publishers, authors is having a serious case of sugar overload.

Saturday, I was better rested, and prepared. I ate a big breakfast, brought my own cheaper lunch and kept my breath mints handy. My goal was to pick up books, engage some publishers, and meet some authors I would like to interview.

Most people have heard of elevator pitches The idea is you have to tell somebody, who you are, what you do, and why they would be interested in you or your product as you ride in the elevator with them. You have anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute (at most) to engage the person. The fun thing at the BEA expo was to create my pitch on the go. I modified it as I visited the hundreds of exhibits. By the end of the day I saw someone I wanted to meet and I was able to go right up to them and in 10 seconds they had my business card and a handshake agreement to be a guest on my show.

I met Kim Dushinski on Saturday when she signed her book, The Mobile Marketing Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Mobile Marketing Campaigns. My learn list included mobile marketing. The book fell into my hands like a gift from above. OK, I was happy. I picked up a dozen different types of books.

The thing about expo’s or conventions is that nothing you want to see next is on the same floor. Kim’s book signing was in the back and lower level and I had to meet someone upstairs on the other end of the Javits Center. I think I made my 10,000 steps that day. I had ten minutes with my friend then one minute to take a photo with David Mathison of Be The Media (a must read for artists and writers) and then I had to run all the way to the opposite side of the convention center on the lower level to hear another lecture.

I heard from the Frankfurt Book Expo people that China was entering into the book publishing field in a big way. The Asian market is a untapped one. I saw lots of self-publishing options and many electronic readers.

There are clear benefits for the upcoming author at the Book Expo. First, you can seen the up and coming trends for publishing. Are dogs out and farmers in? As a non-fiction writer you have more opportunity to spot these trends and layout your book plans. As a author you can have your own exhibit and promote your book and related products. You can meet many people in a short amount of time. You meet publishers first hand. It is an exhausting weekend but well worth the time and effort.

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Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.