A This Is The First Time I Went To NYCC Recap

I wasn’t planning on going to New York Comic Con, also known as NYCC, ever. I just thought NYCC was just not for me – I’m not a big anime fan, a big manga fan, a big celebrities fan, nor am I a big cosplay fan. I had no reason to go to NYCC even though most of my friends go, until one day, Jon from Scott Reads It urged me to go with him. So I did because why not? And guess what? I am so glad Jon made me go. It was well worth the trip.

Although NYCC takes place for four days, from October 9 to October 12, I only went the first two days because by the end of the second day, I had everything I want [except for one book, but that’s a whole another story].

I arrived two hours early for NYCC because I heard it’s best if you arrived two hours early and asked a security guard outside the Javits Center if I was at the right entrance since I was Press. He said yes, I was at the right entrance (thank goodness) and I went inside into a crowd of people. I just stood there, having absolutely no clue about what was going on and where I was supposed to go exactly. Overhearing other conversations around me, I could tell that not only was Press in this crowd, but there were also VIP people and people with special access and some other people with different badges. They and I were all confused because it wasn’t clear who should be where. There were no signs about who should go where, just two big signs that said “ENTRANCE” and “EXIT” with people standing in front of both. How helpful.

Then about five minutes later, I saw a line forming on the left side without any explanation and people slowly walking pass the blocked area and onto the entrance to the floor using this line. I decided to get on that line because hey, maybe I can get in early, only to be turned away with no explanation. I went back into the crowd and awhile later, they slowly let us in after they tapped our badges, only to form another line right in front of the floor door.

I was one of the first people in the new line and looked around. The first thing I noticed was an epic dragon on the show floor. It looked so epic that I just had to take a picture of it.

Since there was a lot of time before the doors opened, I sat down and started mass texting other people that I knew were also going to NYCC to entertain me for the remaining time I had to spend waiting.

The security guard let us in a little early and I immediately hurried through twelve aisles to the Penguin booth to ask about An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (aka the book I neeeeeeeeded) and Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes, books I both needed for different reasons. I got all the necessary information and then proceeded to walk around, snagging some totes and books along the way.

To my surprise, I found out that unlike BEA, publishers in NYCC are close together in term of booth locations. Random House, Hachette, Tor, Penguin, Disney, and HarperCollins were in aisles next to each other, which made things very convenient. Some publishers like Bloomsbury and Macmillan wasn’t there at all though because apparently, the booth fees for NYCC is wayy more expensive than they are for BEA. Unlike BEA, NYCC also doesn’t have books everywhere, but still, THERE ARE BOOKS.

Another thing different about Comic Con compared to BEA is that in Comic Con, publishers were also selling books. In fact, the entire Simon & Schuster booth was selling books except for a very small section that was giving away an Adult ARC. Tor mainly sold books also.

I managed to see Jon, Grace, and Danielle on the first day. We hung out together and managed to find a small spot to sit, eat a quick lunch, and chat about books for a while.

At 1 PM, I stopped by the Harper booth for the Scratch & Win, where they give you scratchcards and you will win the book on the scratchcard. I was hoping to win a copy of Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost since that was the only book on the list of books that you can win that I want. I scratched my scratchcard and sadly got Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, a book I’ve never heard of, instead. However, I found a lady that won Up From the Grave that was willing to trade for it since she already has a copy of Up From the Grave at home. So a HUGE yay for that!

At 3 PM I headed back to the Harper booth for the Spin & Win, where you spin a wheel and win the book the wheel’s arrow lands on. Some of the books you can win are in the picture at the right. I managed to spin and snag a copy of A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas, the book I wanted to win the most because who doesn’t love fairytale retellings? Yes, some jumping did ensue when I got the book I wanted.

I left NYCC at around 3:10 PM, which is way early since NYCC ends at around 7:30 PM. I was already tired and had enough fun for the day. I slowly walked to the subway station six blocks away and walked home. Honestly, it was a real struggle walking for so long since I was carrying so many books. But hey, it was definitely worth it.
 

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Denton Little’s Deathdate by Lance Rubin
Blythewood by Carol Goodman
Ravencliffe by Carol Goodman
A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas
Stolen by Melissa de la Cruz
The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
Samplers: Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman & Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

I arrived at the Javits Center at 8:10 AM the second day, which was about two hours early. This time, I could immediately tap in and wait in front of the floor entrance. I sat down and discovered that surprise surprise, there was free wifi for Comic Con outside the floor! I proceeded to check out twitter and instagram. About forty minutes before they let us onto the floor, Lili from Lili’s Reflections met up with me in line and we proceeded to wait for the doors to open.

As soon as they let us in, I immediately raced for the Penguin booth to snag a copy of Gathering Darkness. After that, I proceeded to walk around aimlessly once again since I had nothing to do on my schedule until way later.

I played the Scratch & Win again and to amusement, this time I won a copy of Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost, the book I wanted the first time I played Scratch & Win and then traded for.

I spun HarperCollins’ wheel again, hoping to either get Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard or Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly and it landed on Double Winner’s Choice. Guess which books I picked. ;D

I then randomly stopped by the Penguin booth with Jon and spotted that Penguin was prepared to drop -gasp- An Ember in the Ashes among other books. I proceeded to lurk near the booth but not in front of it since Penguin was preparing to restock and didn’t want anybody blocking the aisles. As soon as Penguin removed the signs, I immediately snagged myself a copy of An Ember in the Ashes and Jon did some wild hugging. Meanwhile, I was busy squealing over the book and hugging it. You can say that my number one priority for NYCC was reached.

After that, I left the show floor at around 2:50 PM and I noticed that it was wayy crowded than it all day Thursday and Friday morning. I noticed that a lot of people were also coming in now, instead of right when the doors open. I could barely walk ten feet without stopping several times, waiting for some other people to pass through as I was leaving Javits. Getting home was again a struggle, but it was so worth it with An Ember in the Ashes in my life.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Alive by Chandler Baker
Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly
Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
The Fearless by Emma Pass
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Wiliams Chima
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Proxy by Alex London
Zodiac by Romina Russell
Dove Arising by Karen Bao

 
 

1. Unlike BEA, which I highly recommend you to bring a suitcase, you don’t need to bring a suitcase for NYCC unless you’re planning on grabbing every book you see and not just the ones you’re interested in. If it wasn’t for Jon sharing his suitcase with me during BEA (thank you Jon!), I would have died on the BEA floor. Meanwhile, I carried my own books during NYCC and made it home fine, but a tired from carrying all my books.

2. Talk to publishers! Compared to BEA, publishers are A LOT friendlier at NYCC. They actually look like they enjoy being there and not annoyed when you try to talk to them.

3. You don’t have to be like me and get there super duper early if you get in from the Blue Entrance, where Press and Pros are in this year. Meanwhile, if you are entering from the Green Entrance (3 day passes are part of the Green Entrance), you might want to get there early. Danielle, who entered from the Green Entrance, had to wait a longgg time and showed me pictures of how long the lines for the Green Entrance was. They were basically herding masses of people around like sheep.

 
And that’s it! I hope I did a good job recapping all things NYCC! Now to fall onto my bed and sleeeeep and sob study because boy, do I need all the rest I can get with all my exams coming up.