1. Rooms in New York are a lot smaller than you’re used to. I had stayed in NYC before but you never really appreciate it until you and three other women are staying in a tiny room with 300 books. Eep! We managed just fine, but it did take some creative thinking to keep everyone’s books straight.

2. Plan to spend time by yourself at the convention. Doesn’t matter if you are going with old friends or new but all of you will have individual things you want to do with each day so don’t be afraid to branch out on your own. Part of the fun is meeting up with everyone later and swapping stories of battles fought and book hoards won.

3. Take some time out to go to the education sessions. This is something I wish I had done more of, but the little I did see were really interesting and well thought out. Plus, there are occasionally some ARCs to be had at the end. For me, I felt like I didn’t want to miss out on anything happening on the show floor but I think I would have taken a bit more away from the experience if I had sat and listened a little more.

4. Anything involving YA will probably be a zoo. This I learned from the YA Editors Buzz Panel. I was one of the first few out the door and one of the first in front of the ARC tables and I was still trampled, only managing to get two of the books I was aiming for. Still great, but probably not worth the hassle since all of the titles are available on the show floor later and odds are everyone will be standing in a nice orderly line.

5. Give yourself time to rest. I went to NYC immediately after another travel adventure that involved being on my feet a lot and it took so much out of me, it’s ridiculous. I needed the down time at the end of every day or the whole experience would have been a bit of a disaster.

Overall, if you get the chance to go to BEA you should take it. There is a lot to be learned, and more great reads to find than you can possibly imagine.