Yesterday I had an amazing time at the KidLitCon event in NYC! Friday was the Publisher Preview Day – and it was incredible. I was lucky enough to visit two publishing houses – Simon and Schuster AND Penguin.
Lisa Garofalo, our school librarian, traveled with me to NYC. When we got off the train at Grand Central, it was pouring! Luckily I didn’t have that far to travel as my first stop of the day was Simon and Schuster. I traveled all the way up to the 17th floor, and this was what was waiting for us…
Goody bags! Simon and Schuster had a great morning for us – we met children’s book author Meghan McCarthy who gave us a great preview of her new book, Daredevil – The Daring Life of Betty Skelton, due out in June of 2013. We were then treated to a full preview of books coming out this fall, winter, and summer! There are some great novels coming out – like 33 Minutes by Todd Hasak-Lowy, Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans, and Panic by Sharon Draper. All of these upcoming releases were in our Goody Bag of ARCs – along with a few others! Simon and Schuster also featured some great giveaways during the presentation. A fellow blogger sitting next to me – Jess from Alice in Baker Street – won some great teen titles and asked if I wanted them for my students since she was primarily a children’s book blogger! Thanks Jess! All in all – it was an excellent morning and everyone from the Simon and Schuster Education and Library Marketing team was amazing – thank you Simon & Schuster!
After a quick lunch, I was off to Penguin! Goody bags were here waiting for us as well! Penguin had a full, exciting, two and a half hour presentation for us that was incredible. First – the amazing Gayle Foreman was there to discuss her new novel, Just One Day. Not due out until January 2013, Gayle and Penguin gave us all ARCs and treated us to a great preview, a discussion about the storyline, and how she works with her editor. As a huge fan of If I Stay, I was thrilled to hear Gayle speak. After that, all of the divisions of Penguin gave us a preview of upcoming titles – it was overwhelming, in a good way! Some exciting titles coming out – 17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma, Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher, Crap Kingdom by DC Pierson (come on, just the title makes me want to read it!), Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff, Slated by Teri Terry, and the list went on! And surprise! Author Jocelyn Davies (A Beautiful Dark) was there as one of the presenters! We were then treated to a presentation by the Art Department about how covers are designed and made, and then three of the department heads talked to us about their jobs, the role of bloggers, book trailers, and more. And we had yummy cupcakes! The time flew by and my afternoon at Penguin was simply fantastic! A huge thank you to the entire Penguin team for the day!
Overall – I loved KidLitCon! I hope it stays in NYC next year! An amazing day and everyone involved in its planning – THANK YOU!
Mrs. L, EMS Blogger
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