Right about this time next week, I’ll be on my way to Chicago for Book Expo America 2016, and I am feeling severely under-prepared! I’ve taken care of the things that had to be done well in advance–I have the plane tickets, the hotel room, and the roommate–but not much else, and I’m not confident of my ability to get much prepping done in the time that remains.

My Top 6 Reasons I’m Not Ready for #BEA2016

• WORK. I’m used to scrambling to get year-end audit work off my plate before I go to Book Expo…but the last few Book Expos I’ve gone to have been held at the end of May/beginning of June. The fact that this one is a few weeks earlier than usual throws a giant wrench into my routine–it lands smack in the middle of my month-end crush, which is already more crushing than usual thanks to two audits going on at once. Had I known about the second one before the end of March, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be making this trip at all.
• READING. It hasn’t gotten all that much of my attention lately (see WORK).
• BLOGGING. The ‘riting side of blogging has definitely suffered during the last few months, but the reading side has taken an even bigger hit (see WORK), and that’s left me feeling disconnected from my tribe. It would have been even worse without my marginal participation in BBAW, Bloggiesta, and the Bloggers at BEA Facebook group, but I’ve got lots of catching up to do in more ways than one!
• SCHEDULING. I’ve barely looked at programming, signing schedules, or book lists. I did sign up for the Reading Group Guides Speed Dating event on Friday (if you’ll be in Chicago then, today is the last day to register!), but other than that, I really don’t know what I’m doing yet!
• The BEA BLOGGERS CONFERENCE. Despite being a member of the Advisory Board, I feel like I’ve contributed very little to the conference process this year Unless I get a very last-minute request (which has happened before) I’m not on the roster to participate in any of the sessions, and I’m feeling ambivalent about attending at all. Some of the afternoon Table Talks sound promising, but they’re competing with the opening of the expo floor, so we’ll see how that goes.
• LOCATION. The fact that Book Expo is in Chicago this year has made attending feasible for many bloggers who can’t, or don’t want to, travel to New York City…but it’s also keeping some East Coast people at home. For me, it’s about two hours less on an airplane, but I’ll be honest–I’m sorry it’s not in NYC this year (and that I already know I won’t be going next year when it’s back at the Javits Convention Center). The city is my birthplace, and my parents grew up there–it always feels a little like a homecoming when I visit.

If you’re going to BEA, how ready are you?

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