Armchair BEA 2013 Wrap-Up

Armchair BEA badge
Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

Armchair BEA ends today, so instead of leaving BEA (Book Expo America) and the 90°F heat of Manhattan about now, I’ve been plopped on the couch in air-conditioned comfort for the past hour and a half. I didn’t have a lot of time to participate fully in Armchair BEA, but there’s always next year!

First, I want to give a shout-out to Mighty Bright. If I had gone to BEA in real life this year, I would have visited Booth 1012 to thank them for the Mighty Bright book light I received last year as a freebie. I have used it many times since then, and it still works beautifully.

2012 Mighty Bright booth display

Last year at BEA, I was invited to a lovely Blackstone Audio luncheon where I got to meet Ridley Pearson. I’m sorry to say I still haven’t listened to the audiobook they gave me (The Risk Agent), though, and the second in the series is coming out soon. I’ve been looking for alternatives to Amazon’s Audible for when/if I ever decide I can splurge on an audiobook download service, and I see Blackstone Audio (which was bought out by AudioGO last December) offers Downpour for $12.99 a month with what looks like a good selection of titles.

Photo with Ridley Pearson
With author Ridley Pearson at 2012 BEA luncheon hosted by Blackstone Audio.

This year, through Armchair BEA, I met author Tara Masih virtually via Audra’s blog, Unabridged Chick.

Audra of Unabridged Chick having dinner with author Tara Masih. Click photo to read Audra’s post.

Last year, I navigated crowds and lugged books around the Javits Center and only met a few bloggers at the Book Bloggers Conference because the schedule was so busy. On the plus side, I did get to visit with my daughter at the Workman booth and meet some of her colleagues at The Experiment, a publishing company whose books are distributed by Workman.

photo of Workman booth

This year, I met up with many bloggers through Armchair BEA, and there were no large crowds to wade through. Also, I won a prize on Day #1, but didn’t see it until the end, so I’m not sure what prize I’ll get yet. A big thank you to all of the Armchair BEA sponsors!Armchair BEA badge

If this is the first you’ve heard of Armchair BEA, you can learn more at Armchair BEA Central.

Thank you one last time to the Armchair BEA Blog Team for organizing this event!

a