BookCon was “retired” in 2020. What can guests expect from this new iteration?
The biggest change is that we are leaning into BookCon as a consumer event, not an industry trade show. In the past, it was closely tied to BookExpo, but now we’re focused entirely on fans. We’ve expanded the experiential side with more immersive programming and opportunities for fans to connect with each other, not just the authors.
Was there any specific research that you did to figure out what fans are looking for from a conference, and how you could implement that?
In the time between 2019 and relaunching, we were doing research and trying to understand who the most engaged and passionate readers are, what they are reading, and what they want out of an event like this. We did a lot of surveying, not only of our current fans within our Comic Con ecosystem but also outside of that. That led us to build a show predominantly, at least in the first iteration, for millennial and Gen-Z readers who are deeply connected through platforms like BookTok. The goal was to create a space where anyone who loves stories—whether that’s fantasy, romance, literary fiction, or beyond—feels like they belong.
What are you most looking forward to fans experiencing at BookCon?
I’m most excited about a third space we’ve created for fans to gather in, called the Grove. There’s a book swap, trinket trading, and we’ve got a workshop stage and lots of little things planned.
