Epic hockey romance summit panel!
Although BookCon 2026 was not a first time show, it had the feeling of one. The Javits Center North Hall did not exist the last time BookCon was held in 2019, but it was now the main location of the show. Considering that tickets for the event had sold out in half an hour – as did a second ticket drop – and 25,000 rabid book fans were planning to attend, as I approached the Javits on the morning of Saturday, April 18th, I already had a feeling that we’d be seeing something like the very first New York Comic Con back in 2006. That event was famously so overcrowded that state troopers were called in and shut it down.
BookCon ‘26 was nowhere near that level of crowding that I saw – but if you were reading Threads that day it sounded like it was. Complaints about horrible crowds, lack of ADA access, food running out, only one escalator…a disaster!
The reality was a bit different. People tend to use social media to complain about things, and conditions at BookCon were definitely overdramatized – but they had a point.
Many of the problems were surprising, given the six years that ReedPop had to revive the show. They ranged from the very serious – overcrowding – to the picayune but “they really should have known better” – the DJ at the fantasy ball didn’t know how to mix beats.
First a little history: BookCon debuted in 2014 and a total of six editions were held yearly until the pandemic year of 2020. The show was envisioned as a consumer-focused expansion of Book Expo, the trade-only annual publishing show for the US book market. Seeing as all the major publishers were set up for BEX, it made sense to keep them around for an extra day – or even co-locate the events.
I think I might have skipped a few prior BookCons, but it is safe to say that it never quite went smoothly. I had positive thoughts about the first one, but even then there were complaints about crowding for an attendance of 10,000. Others thought the show was crap. My memory is that subsequent ones were actually under attended and and profits were low compared to cost, probably what did it in.
The publishing world’s growing reticence to pay 6 figure amounts to set up huge booths and fly in authors to the Javits Center eventually killed off both BEX and BookCon, neither of which returned from COVID.
But, with the rise of romantasy, dark fantasy and other addictive genres, bookish events to cater to these fans have been on the rise, and ReedPop got the idea that it was time to bring BookCon back. Given the immediate sell-out, they were right! They even got the authors of the moment, Heated Rivalry’s Rachel Reid and Andy Weir of Project Hail Mary to bookend the show, so hot and relevant authors.
There were only two comics publishers on the floor, Yen Press and IDW. Booths were not cheap and there was very much the feeling of taking a chance on setting up. Folks I talked to at both booths said they did well, but I didn’t get the sense that that this was an instant must do stop for them.
I’ll tell ya who would have made BANK: Vault Comics. Dungeon Crawler Carl is everywhere and it’s going to become even more insanely popular as more media rolls out and the new book drops next month. Princess Donut was everywhere and if you don’t know who that is…..you will, you will.
I think comics publishers who carefully curate what they bring could do quite well at BookCon – attendees seemed open to finding new stuff – but it is such an expensive show to do, there might not be a point.
That’s because aside from the crowding issues, which I’ll get to, maybe the biggest problem at BookCon was that the content mix was really narrow. It was very much focused on romance with little room for mysteries, horror, manga or even, ya know, literary stuff. Perhaps the fact that these romance genres have the most passionate followings makes them a good foundation for BookCon’s return, but it doesn’t leave room to grow. According to statistics released, BookCon’s attendees are 93% millennial or Gen Z females, and maybe that kind of gender imbalance the other way isn’t necessarily ideal either.
Before I get to the crowding, I have to restate one thing I must have written here 100 times: THE JAVITS CENTER SUCKS.
It was not built for consumer shows. It was built for spendy B2B shows, and indeed most of the facility was taken up with some medical imaging show just getting set up that had wide aisles, and vast concourses.
The Javits was not built for the 250,000 guests at NYCC or the 25,000 guests at BookCon. The North Hall was built with big crowds in mind, and it has ample bathrooms, light, and wide aisles, but it does not hold 25,000 people. After the sell out and second ticket drop, Halls A and B were added for autographs, writers tables, and more exhibitors. Hall A is where NYCC’s Artist Alley is held, for reference, and you know how crowded that gets. There were pockets of NYCC-like crowds and it was never empty, but I didn’t experience anything I haven’t shoved my way through many times before.
I think many BookCon attendees hadn’t been to a con-environment before and weren’t used to the NYCC level crowds. That doesn’t mean that they SHOULD be used to them – we all hate those NYCC crowds – but if you want to meet a beloved popular author, you might have to stand in line. That’s kind of how it works.
Still, the folks running the show made many baffling decisions, like having only one escalator down to the lower levels, meaning you had to stand in line just to get on an escalator. Signing lines were not well policed. I was going to get in one only to be told by ANOTHER PERSON IN LINE, that I was in the middle, not the end of the line. There were none of the fun food carts you find at NYCC, just the usual bland, overpriced sandos and salads. ADA at the Javits is awful on a good day, and it wasn’t any better at BookCon – something that really needs to be addressed as so many disabled folks want to attend.
The ARC giveaways were a genuine disaster and that was on the attendees, many of whom seemed to think getting free books was the whole point of attending, and rushed the giveaways like their life depended on it. Apparently these ARC drops resembled rugby scrums, and some of them showing up on Ebay for $100s a few hours later didn’t make it seem much better. I do think that lines and expectations needed to be handled better but attendee expectations for what they are entitled to need to be managed a bit more.
I’m not sure the VIP experience was all it was cracked up to be either. I sat next to someone who had flown in from SoCal after purchasing someone else’s VIP pass for $400. This got them a CHANCE to register for more panels and signings, but NO GUARANTEES. She was a bit grumpy about the perks – which did include getting into the dealer’s room an hour early. But I understand that a lot of publishers and dealers don’t like VIP hours as they sell out of things so quickly and then have to stand there for another 8 hours.
I talked about the show to some random exhibitors who sold stuff (jewelry, stickers, games) who I didn’t know, and they all complained about the expense of a booth and setting up (Javits and its teamsters are EXXPENSSSSIVE) but all were glad they attended. But they did wish there was a more varied audience because if you weren’t targeting just that exact demographic, you didn’t get much traffic.
It does sound like showrunners were aware of the very obvious problems. There was a TalkBack panel (oh man) and one Threader captured some highlights:
USA Today has a frank discussions of the highs and lows, and Kristina Rogers told them,
“We heard the feedback clearly on the reservation system, ARC drops, and crowd flow. Some of it was demand outpacing our projections; some of it was decisions we’ll make differently next year. A community that shows up with this much passion is one we can grow alongside, and we’re grateful for it,” Rogers wrote. “We’re reviewing every piece of the weekend and will be working closely with our publishers and brand partners to improve how ARC drops, signings, and exclusives are handled on the floor, and will share more with our BookCon community directly in the months ahead.”
For what I feel is a wide-ranging and thoughtful take on the overall vibe, I’m going to quote a Threads thread from Risa Xu, an author. Quoted with permission:
Ok, this might be a ️ take. But I genuinely did have a fun time at Bookcon. Did I absolutely look at some of my friends early in the day and say “This is fucking insane”? Absolutely. Did a staff member yell @ me in a signing line that made me decide to bail because the vibes were just not it? Also yes.
But as someone who was a frequent visitor of Walt Disney World, I think I have the ability to quickly shift my expectations because I’ve learned how quickly they can ruin your day.
There are plenty of very valid critiques! The elevators and escalators not working? Definitely an issue. The lack of organization and communication between staff members? Yeaaaaah, not great.
And I will die on this hill but it definitely was oversold. This was my first con (that wasn’t an industry con that I was working a booth in) and so I truly didn’t know what to expect. But I managed my expectations as the day went on.
But if I’ve learned anything from my Disney Adult (lol) days, it’s that if you let that one single reservation or thing you want be THE thing that can ruin your day, the universe will absolutely ruin your day.
E.g. I was very much looking forward to trying to get “Taipei Story” ARC. I wasn’t even through the fucking main entrance when the drop happened, despite showing up at 9:30am.
As far as some of the critiques re: genre diversity, may I kindly offer an alternative take that the romance genre (and all its sub-genres) have historically been looked down upon as “not serious” literature? And we can let them have their moment?
Even now, with how big the romance genre is, people still frequently write articles using derogatory language. Mind you, romance is consistently one of the genres that helps keep publishing alive.
I fully understand if you don’t read romance or any of the sub-genres and the disappointment you must feel at an event where it’s SO much romance. I think it’s on Bookcon to be better about communicating earlier on the lineup so attendees know what to expect.
But there WERE plenty of amazing panels across sci-fi, horror, general lit. One of my friends was able to snag a last minute signing with Jodi Picoult. Many of those panels didn’t even require a reservation.
So while the representation was maybe NOT as expansive as romance and all its subgenres, I think it’s a little unfair to say that it was *ALL* romance.
And so, I guess the final point of my little mini-essay here is that…
It’s all about perspective and your ability to shift your expectations. There will always be people or situations that make a day that you were looking forward to suddenly become absolute shit. And that is valid! You’re allowed to feel that and voice those opinions.
I don’t want people to decide to NOT attend next time and miss out on the wonderful vendors, indie authors, and other experiences because of what they’re reading all over socials. And I’d like to give Bookcon and staff some grace and time to learn from this experience—it’s the first time since the pandemic.
And if next year or the following, things don’t change after all this feedback? Then hell yea, we should absolutely be louder and continue to voice ALL the things.
This year? Let’s voice our concerns and hope they don’t fall on ears that are resistant to change. And see what happens next year.
I, for one, am very very grateful for this community. And I am SO happy to see that the literacy crisis is being fought predominately by women. I have never felt so safe in such a large crowd before. And I have severe crowd and social anxiety.
So thank you to every person who complimented my tattoos, picked up a pin or sticker from my (unpublished) debut novel.
Thank you to @jenniferkatereads for my Tracy Deonn signature. Thank you to @irritable.gal.syndrome for my photo card of my dog that crossed the rainbow bridge. Thank you to @valerieamarino for being my emotional support buddy. Thank you to every single person who made Bookcon feel like a safe and welcoming environment. *
* And if you were one of the people who were rude, physically fought people for merch or ARCs, are now reselling ARCs… I hope your coffee is always the wrong color, your pillow is always warm and lumpy, your books always come with the pages bent, and your Kindle doesn’t hold a charge anymore.
BookCon was not my scene, but in case you are just joining us here at The Beat, I’m fascinated by fan events and the sociology behind them. So BookCon was quite interesting to me, especially as the first few ones petered out and this one came in so hot. Comic book nerds have nothing on romance fans for cataloging and obsessing over minutiae.
I arrived very early Saturday, saw the Heated Rivalry Panel, and chatted with a few chums then hopped on the subway to go all the way to Industry City for BICS – a report on that tomorrow – which was actually only 40 minutes or so, pretty easy really. I came back for most of Sunday to see if people had survived the apocalypse and see the hockey romance panel, which included both Rachel Reid AND Ngozi Ukazu of Check, Please fame for an author face off. Ngozi had the line of the weekend for me when asked about how she felt about having been in on the queer hockey boom so early. “What do you mean? I feel like I bought Apple stock,” she said to laughter, adding “in 1982!” to wide applause. (Ngozi’s comic timing is flawless.)
I puttered around talking to people and sneaking off to an empty bathroom and manageable line at Starbucks and sat down to eat a spinach wrap in the nearly deserted south end of the Javits. That’s the funny thing – while everyone was complaining about crowds, there was so much room everywhere else! And the secret bathrooms were empty. One poor exhibitor told me she waited in line 25 minutes to use the bathroom, because folks were unaware of the other facilities.
BookCon will be back next year, April 16-17th, and it definitely needs work – and for the showrunners to be a bit more aware of the needs of 25,000 people – but it has a lot of potential. Queer hockey romance will not be as hot then, but something else will have taken its place. Books and reading are far from dead, and BookCon could become a place to celebrate reading and fandom. But it will take some tweaks to figure out how to squeeze it all in to what is perhaps America’s most problematic convention center. That’s the one thing no one can change.
Some photos:
Crowds at the Yen Press booth
The Top Shelf/IDW booth at BookCon
Hot Girls Read
If you asked me the vibe at BookCon I would say somewhere between hot girls read and show me your cat.
These folks were so nice and had such a cute booth I took a picture!
Meanwhile, at Interphex….
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