BEA 2015: Tips and Schedule

It's that time of year again! The blogosphere is buzzing with anticipation over the biggest publishing event of the year. Book Expo America! Last year was my first time at BEA and I had such a good time. I learned some things though and I want to share them with you as well as my tentative schedule. 

1. Make a schedule. I made one last year and if I hadn't, I would have been lost. I'm planning on hitting all the major publishing booths first thing in the morning each day to grab their galley drop schedule so I can fill in. A lot of publishers will have these at their tables. 

2. Print your schedule out. Don't keep it on your phone. The Javits Center will literally suck the life out of your phone and if it dies then you're SOL on your schedule. 

3. Bring a portable charger. This was something I did not do last year and definitely regretted. Again, the Javits Center sucks the life out of phone batteries. So if you want to be able to use your phone to tweet the event, text your friends, etc, you're going to want to have a portable charger. 

4. Bring snacks. You're not going to have time to go eat lunch and buying food in the Javits Center is freaking expensive. 

5. Bring some cash and a rolling suitcase. You can't bring your rolling suitcase onto the exhibit floor, but you can check it on the first floor and go drop books off throughout the day (There's a fee for this, hence the cash). Don't kill your shoulders people. Books are heavy. 

6. Make friends! Introduce yourself to bloggers you may recognize. Most of us won't bite. Talk to publishers. Network. That's what this event is all about. 

7. For really popular books, get to the signing lines early. How early? It depends on the book. Last year, when they were doing galleys of Heir of Fire, I got in line about an hour and a half early. It took us almost three hours to get through the line and get our shiny galleys. So yeah. It can get pretty crazy. 

8. Don't take books just for the sake of getting books. I thought I did okay last year, but I STILL have books from BEA last year that I haven't gotten to and I feel horrible about it. So this year, I'm going to try to be way more selective about what I'm grabbing. 

9. Wear comfortable shoes. Don't be that girl wearing heels. I don't care if they're wedges. You are going to be doing a TON of walking. Be comfy. 

10. Bring your business cards. And then give them to people. Give them to publishers, fellow bloggers, etc. It helps you stay connected with all the wonderful people you're going to meet. 

Those are my top ten tips for BEA. Most importantly though, have fun! Please make sure if you see me to say hi. I love meeting new friends and chatting/fangirling about our favorite books. Plus hanging out with friends makes those signing lines go a lot faster. 

Here's my tentative schedule

All the galleys listed on the schedule are ones that publishers are going to be marketing at their booths according to Publisher's Weekly. I'm not 100% sure if that means they're going to have galleys or not, but I definitely plan to ask about them. 

Have you guys heard of any other signings/galley drops that I should know about? Please share and if you have a schedule together share it in the comments! See you guys in just a few short weeks!