BookCon_NoDates

Well, well, as we predicted a few days ago, BookCon is becoming a major brand for ReedPOP’s  portfolio, and it’s getting a major boost with the announcement that this year’s New York Comic Con will have it’s very own BookCon @ NYCC.

The event — which will be open only to NYCC badge holders — will be held at Hudson Mercantile, an event space at located at  500 West 36th Street, right around the corner from the Javits Center.

Exhibitors will be the traditional book publishers who usually exhibit at NYCC, including Gallery, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Bloomsbury, Del Rey and others. Some of these are graphic novel publishers, so it remains to be seen if the comics end of things will stay on the main floor or get moved to the new venue.

BookCon @ NYCC will also have guests: Ann M. Martin (The Baby-Sitter’s Club series, Missy Piggle-Wiggle and the Whatever Cure), Danielle Paige (Dorothy Must Die, Stealing Snow), Chuck Wendig (Star Wars: Aftermath, Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt), Naomi Novik (Temeraire series, League of Dragons) and R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) who will be there flogging his new middle-grade novel Young Scrooge: A Very Scary Christmas Story.

More guests will be announced, but this is a definitely an a-list line-up.

“BookCon @ NYCC is a testament to the continued success of New York Comic Con as the Show grows beyond the Javits Center,” said Lance Fensterman, Global Senior Vice President of ReedPOP in a statement. “We are continuously striving to reach new audiences and provide more of the programming and events that Fans are looking for and the robust lineup of authors and events at BookCon @ NYCC will allow us to do just that. It’s a privilege to connect leading publishers and authors with throngs of NYCC Fans and to unite two great New York City events for our Fans to experience.”

There’s a good bit to unpack here as it sheds light on the future of NYCC. #1, it’s the first major step in spreading the show out to alleviate the floor crowding.

UPDATED: I’ve been informed that I misinterpreted this and the Hudson Mercantile will noly be the home for BOOK RELATED CONTENT: Panels, Autograph Sessions, and Meet & Greets will take place there, along with a bookstore run by WORD. All the publisher booths will stay on the main exhibit floor. So this is an attempt to move some of the people off the main show floor, while creating another branded area.  That’s the goal of these expansions.

Also, it’s a major step for BookCon, which will once again be held as a two day event following the 2017 BEA on June 3 & 4, 2017. Word I’ve been getting is that we’re going to see more and more BookCons following its successful roadshow debut in Chicago.

Hudson Mercantile is one of the numerous event spaces popping up on the West Side. It offers two floors of exhibit/event space, with a combined 11,000 sq. feet of exhibit space, and a 5000 sq. ft. roof top where we’ll all be begging to hang out.

This is actually a pretty small space, however, so expect tables not booths.

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Photos by Arnoldbrower.com.

 

 

2 COMMENTS

  1. https://www.comicsbeat.com/new-york-comic-con-2020-a-look-back/
    *AHEM* “Off-site events were also successful, although some events are difficult to tabulate:…”

    Further predictions:
    The Marriott Marquis will be used at some point, since the 7 train is accessible.
    Further analysis here:
    https://www.comicsbeat.com/nycc15-another-attendance-record-smashed-but-how-do-you-fit-more-people-inside-javits/

    And if the Governor can find the money, Javits will be doubled:
    https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/video-transcript-governor-cuomo-announces-7th-proposal-2016-agenda-dramatic-expansion-jacob-k
    https://www.comicsbeat.com/1-billion-expansion-of-javits-center-announced-by-governor-cuomo/

    Since you’ll need a NYCC badge to attend BookCon, the publishers will not relocate from the show floor.
    Judging by the space and blueprints, I suspect that both floors will be used for panels.
    (AND I WAS RIGHT, thanks for the update!)

    Meanwhile, construction continues on Hudson Yards.
    Within ten years, Javits will face a wall of skyscrapers along Eleventh Avenue, and to the south.
    https://www.comicsbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Javits-neighborhood-developement.jpg

    35 Hudson Yards, at 33rd and Eleventh, will have a hotel, and probably event space.
    There’s a 70-storey hotel planned at 35th.
    http://www.mckeanarchitecture.com/mobile/jht.html

    Another, Hudson Rise, is planned at 38th:
    http://www.6sqft.com/new-renderings-for-chinese-lantern-inspired-skyscraper-at-470-eleventh-avenue/
    (and another next door to that, at 540 W 38)

    The Culture Shed, on 30th, just north of the High Line, will have 170K sq.ft. of space.
    http://www.dsrny.com/projects/culture-shed
    http://www.rockwellgroup.com/projects/culture-shed

  2. Not an unexpected occurrence. However, I was doing it before they had the first BookCon in AZ. What I started at Phoenix Comicon was a similar approach. A focus on genre authors (in 2014 we had 70+ authors, three publishers exhibiting and several other publishers participating) with multiple programming tracks, an area dedicated to authors adjacent to Artists Alley. It was unoficially dubbed AuthorCon within the overall comicon. However, the powers that be decided to scale it back (about 60% of what 2014 was) while other cons (Emerald City, now NYCC) have started expanding their author based content.

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