RT Convention part III

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Last but not least: Book fair + Teen Day at the RT Convention.

We went down to the ballroom at like 7:30 and they were already working on setting up the fair. Immediately we started matching the books that arrived with the corresponding authorial name plates and arranging the books in nice stacks on the tables. Some of the books the authors sold at the consignment fair went missing along the way, and we couldn't find them for a while--see? Number of things that could go wrong? Any time I go to a book fair or convention from now on, I'm going to think of all the work and stress and panic that was put into making it so perfect that people think nothing's amiss.  After that we had our jobs assigned to us, and we wanted to get our books signed before the fair started in case we didn't get a chance later, but the authors were late!  With a few exceptions like...

(PS - yes, that's an Insurgent copy. I commented on that, and Veronica Roth was like, "Yeah, I should probably hide that, shouldn't I?"

Aprilynne Pike!

I got to see Amy Plum who was selling hardcover copies of Until I Die three weeks early.

And Ally Carter was one of the only authors that arrived early enough for me to get my books signed / get to meet her.

Then my friends and I were working at the check out line... which was absolutely insane after like an hour. I saw the line to get books signed by Charlaine Harris and Anne Rice -- no one was allowed within a ten feet radius of Charlaine Harris -- and the check-out line was three times as long as that. It was incredibly tiring as we didn't finish until 3:00, an hour after the fair had ended. I almost made myself hoarse repeating instructions, and my back hurt the rest of the day thanks to that fair. My friends wanted to avoid helping with line control, but that would've been better than what we ended up doing.

Fortunately my friend was lucky enough to have a job that wasn't too important, and she was able to take a break from her shift to get our books signed.




Afterwards, we helped clean up the fair, and from there, we went to help with last minute preparations of a giveaway for the adults that was happening at the same time as the Teen Day giveaway. From there we went to help with the Teen Day party which Melissa Marr was hosting. Melissa Marr also posted/tweeted a picture of my friends and I plus authors at the Teen Day Party:

She told Pat, one of the RT staff, to give the three of us bags for our work which was really nice.  This is what mine had:



When the party started, I felt like a guard dog. People literally were staring at us, and it felt like I was staring down an army as they waited to see if there were any extra bags being given away....

And after that, we left... and returned, only to have one of the RT staff tell us that "she didn't need any help" with the last party. That's how we left the convention. Dismissed.

Some of the day was good, some was bad.  This was like the convention itself.  Half the times we were accepted, half the times dismissed. Half the people remembered and liked us, the other half treated us like they didn't trust us. All in all, I'm not sure I'll return next year, but I am glad that I came these past two years.

(PS - There will be giveaways soon.  And I promise to count the blogoversy giveaway as well.)

One Comment

  1. I've never been to a convention, I wouldn't even know what I have to do! And you got so many books for free?? Oh my god, i'd love that so much!!! Though we don't have that many conventions here, in my country ^^'
    I'm sorry that you didn't feel all good though, but i'm sure it was worth it :)


    Ella
    Read Into Hiding

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