Thursday, May 20, 2010

No B.S.?

On Sunday I leave for New York to attend Publishing University, which is sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers of America (IBPA). PU takes place Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday. Following the two day PU is Book Expo America, the largest gathering of book stores in North America. Basically the authors and publishers are trying to entice the book stores to carry their books. The kick-off speaker Tuesday night is Barbra Streisand, of whom I have been a fan since 8th grade. Babs has a book coming out this fall, thus her willingness to make a public appearance despite her extreme shyness.

So here is how it works: anyone with a badge to book expo can get in to see Babs, though it is first come, first served and seating is limited. No problem with that as I have an author's badge (God that sounds good to say!) Yesterday I found out that you have to pick up your free ticket to get in, and here is how you do that. You go to the Javits Center (17 blocks away from the hotel where PU is being held) between 1-5 on Monday or 8-5 on Tuesday, and when the tickets are gone, they're gone. Okay, so basically anyone attending PU will not be able to get a ticket. But the absurdness gets worse. The line to see Babs can begin cuing at noon on Tuesday, and the doors won't open until 4. Any people not in their seats by 5:45 will lose their seats, and the talk begins at 6:00. So basically even if I managed to get a ticket to see her, I would have to miss all of PU's Tuesday afternoon sessions to stand in line. Not! Sounds like a lot of B.S. to me!

1 comment:

Mrs. Wryly said...

With all of the those rules and with the convention being about the writers trying to get a break to enhance their livelihood and career, how big of a draw will Babs be?

I don't have any idea. Just askin'