Sometimes being an avid reader leads to a lonely life. Often, friends get sick of the constant book recommendations, and Tumblr cannot seem to understand the “feels” in a text post. If you ever feel this way, then BookCon is the place for you!
For the past several years, readers and authors have been attending BookCon in NYC to celebrate the love of reading and writing. There are plenty of panels to listen to and plenty of authors to meet if you are willing to wait in line to do so.
There were many interesting events that BookCon organized, but the following were some of my favorites:
The Creative Journey Panel:
During this panel, three bestselling authors described how they feel social media impacts their process of writing. Austin Kleon, Jessica Hagy, and Elle Luna were able to fully capture the struggles that almost every modern artist goes through in a sharing-driven world.
Kleon was able to analogize the creative process to the ’90s movie Groundhog Day. He said, “The best thing you can do as an artist is pretend you are Phil Connors from Groundhog Day. You have no idea what success or failure is, there is only the day, and what you can do with it.”
All three authors were thought-provoking and supplied the audience with an understanding that even great artists have the same creative issues as everyone else.
Jennifer Niven Book-Signing:
With a long list of inspiring authors to meet, Jennifer Niven was definitely at the top! Ever since All the Bright Places changed my life, it h
as been a goal of mine to meet the mastermind behind the story. Ms. Niven’s signing drew quite a crowd of fans — all of them passionate about the heart-wrencing novel.
The line grew for hours while all of the excited fans clutched their books waiting to say a few words to their idol. When I finally made it to the front of the line, Jennifer Niven could not have been any nicer! Her welcoming spirit and warm smile genuinely resembled the attributes of Violet Markey from All the Bright Places.
Many fans were treated to a selfie with Ms. Niven, which she ultimately posted as a collage on her Instagram profile. It was so refreshing to meet such a sweet, talented author who clearly loved to interact with her readers.
Rotten Tomatoes Panel:
During this interactive panel, attendees were given paddles to express their feelings of whether or not a book-to-screen film adaptation was successful. Hosted by Grae Drake, audience members were encouraged to give a thirty-second spiel on whether the film was as great 
as the book and vice versa.
After their argument, the panel of respectable judges were able to agree or disagree with the audience members’ claims. In addition, the audience voted by holding up either the “fresh” or “rotten” paddle.
Some of the presented movies were The Lord of the Rings, Twilight, and The Mortal Instruments, which were all voted “rotten.” Although not everyone agreed on every movie, it was fun to see the varying tastes and opinions that the audience had.
For all avid readers and pop culture junkies, BookCon is the place to be. It adds a community-feeling to a pretty personal hobby, and it allows you to receive advice from seasoned professionals.
Although the convention will be moving to Chicago next year, when it returns to New York City, I will definitely be attending again!