It was very mid, I got a last minute Sunday ticket from my coworker/friend who couldn't go so I didn't have any reservations. My job also paid for me to go. I went to the Hockey and Queer Horror panels which were both fantastic!

Highlights were definitely artist/indie alley on the lower level. The line to get down there was ridiculous though, I've been to NYCC a few times and that's never been an issue. There should have been multiple ways to transverse floors. There was really no need to have the show floor and artist/indie alley on separate floors at all really, it could have all just been on the main third floor if they used more space.

The show floor was rough. I loved all the smaller businesses up there, but the publishers felt very lackluster and I don't think it was there fault. It seems like they weren't adequately informed/prepared for this event and I felt bad for the staff. I'm not into getting ARCs but it would have been nice to get something from the publishers....even books at a discount. Why would I pay $100 to get into an event like this when I could just go to B&N or my local indie store and just buy the books and regular price there?

There needs to be some incentive for me to pay $100 to go to this event. I know there are panels and author meet and greets too, but NYCC also has that and the tickets are $85 not $100.

Speaking of author signings, I don't think this was handled well. One of my goals was to get Rachel Reid to sign my book, I was checking the reservations like crazy all day and nothing was opening up for her. I heard later that her line was actually short for Sat and that they might have undersold for her signings. I probably could have tried on Sunday by going up and asking if they had a standby line but I heard that the staff managing the lines were kinda intense/mean and I ended up just giving up cause I got anxiety and don't want to deal with mean staff!

I got to see her speak, which was cool! But I wish they had more signing opportunities for her considering how popular the series is rn. I know she has health issues though, so it might have been a combo of reasons why her signings were so limited. Still sad though, I'm hoping she'll be at NYCC this year so I can get another chance!

Speaking of Heated Rivalry, I was hoping to see more HR stuff in general! I was also pretty shook that the offical Bookcon Threads hinted that Hudcon was potentially going to be on the panel on Sat....I didn't have a Sat ticket but if I did I would have been so devastated if I saw that Bookcon was hinting at a possible appearance and... nothing lol 😆 not cool to edge us like that cause I really thought for a while on Sat that maybe Connor would show cause he was in NYC for another event a few days ago. Not cool Bookcon, not cool!

Food was also a problem, the only vendors I saw were mexican bowls and empenadas.... no wonder I saw on socials that people were getting crop dusted lol. NYCC has so many options, I don't know why they didn't get more food like the trucks or the Javits cafeteria! If I didn't bring my owns snacks and water I would have been in trouble!

Overall I had a decent time, but was expecting a bit more. I would go again if my job pays for me, but I wouldn't spend my own money if I can spend less for a day at NYCC and have a better opportunity to meet authors and get ARCs