On May 2nd, I had the pleasure of attending Random House’s Open House for the Second year in a row. Upon entering they even gave me a gift bag with five books, including a signed copy of Jenny McCarthy’s new book, plus some other goodies. There was breakfast by KInd, too.  I had so much fun. I skipped the first session because I don’t care for Jenny McCarthy, but attended everything else.  The first panel I attended was by far the best. Gary Shteyngart was hysterical. Emma Straub was adorable. The guy from twitter was annoying. Did I mention Gary Shyeyngart was hysterical yet? The panel was on how effective twitter is for authors. The twitter guy asked some good questions, but didn’t know when his company was started. He said it started in 2008 when I had an account in 2007. I looked it up. It started in 2006. Fail twitter guy. FAIL!

Here’s the three of them! Gary did a funny kissing pose in one but I was too slow to take it and missed it.

Then I actually met him!! He signed my book, too. Emma signed my advanced copy Random House gave out, too, of her latest THe Vacationers out soon. I forgot to pose with her, though.

 

Lunch time with editors was next. There was another option, but I chose this one, like last year. This picture doesn’t even show all the people crammed in the room. There were tons more. It was interesting hearing people ask questions. I got to ask one! I asked what trends they were seeing and what trends they wish they weren’t seeing. Sadly, only one editor really replied. The trend he hated, he immediately said, was vampires. And, I concur with that. Too many books! The two biggest trends, and that have been combined, as well, are Young Adult and Dystopia, with YA Dystopia which I found true. I prefer the YA side, to be honest. Not big on dystopia novels.

 

Next panel was with renowned food critic and editor Ruth Reichel and her editor. Ruth just published her first novel (based on food!) on top of her memoirs she has already written. I was considering not attending this one, but it was actually entertaining. The editor was very annoying and gave a couple spoilers, but Ruth was a lot more friendly than she is on Top Chef Masters. She did a signing, as well, but I chose not to buy her book.

There was a very inspirational panel that moved me by speaker Panache Desai about finding your Soul Signature. I have pictures but they came out weird so they are not being posted. I purchased his book and he signed it “I love you”. I asked a question, too. It was great. Really moving.

This was the final panel. I can’t remember all of the authors names, only Maggie Shipstead who is the youngest blond. I bought her book, but there was no signing. Their panel was on summer reading and NONE of them had summer reading suggestions. Did they not know what panel they were going to be on?? It was good, though. Some people asked very good questions about their writing habits, and if they ever scrap bad projects.

I would definitely go again next year if I’m not in publishing by that time. Maybe even if I am. It was really nice. They even do a quick happy hour with open bar. It wasn’t that expensive either. Plus, after each session had a new, FREE, book to take. Limited supply, though. I got two out of three I think. There was even an on-going contest where five people won nice goodie bags.