ReedPOP Announces First Headliners for 2018 BookCon

In Feature Articles by Porter Anderson

Newly released details about the 2018 BookCon’s weekend author lineup shows a program geared toward YA and younger readers.

The Simon & Schuster stand at BookCon 2017. Image: Porter Anderson

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Tickets on Sale November 15
BookCon—”where storytelling and pop culture collide,” according to ReedPOP’s branding—has announced its fifth annual edition’s marquis names.

Set in 2018 on June 2 and 3, BookCon is the consumer-facing weekend event that follows the trade show, BookExpo, in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center.

BookCon is also introducing four writing workshops this year, as well as writing competitions, in an apparent move to broaden their offering to aspiring writers and self-published authors.

And while organizers in the past have spoken of wanting to expand its appeal to a wider age-range of consumer, these first announcements indicate that programming for BookCon 2018 is geared toward a younger audience.

Media materials released today (November 2) name the following personalities as headliners:

  • Actor and singer Taye Diggs (Rent, Empire)
  • Shane Evans, who is to release a children’s picture book with Diggs, titled I Love You More
  • Social media hit Zach King whose MG novel is Zach King: The Magical Mix-Up
  • Diane Guerrero (Orange is the New Black, Jane the Virgin), discussing My Family Divided, an MG nonfiction work about her experiences as the child of undocumented immigrants

Tickets for BookCon 2018 are to go on sale November 15 at noon ET. Information will be here.

The initial list of appearances for BookCon also includes

  • Bestselling Author Angie Thomas, whose debut novel The Hate U Give has spent more than 30 weeks on The New York Times’ YA Bestsellers List and will soon be adapted into a feature film starring Amandla Stenberg (Everything, Everything)
  • Victoria Aveyard on Red Queen novel War Storm
  • Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows, The Language of Thorns), promoting her upcoming novel King of Scars
  • Kami Garci with her new book Broken Beautiful Hearts
  • Jason Reynolds to discuss Long Way Down
  • Marissa Meyer, who will be onsite previewing the first book in her superhero series, Renegades

BookCon’s show floor is expected to have more than 250 exhibitors on its show floor, with a Downtown Stage venue for presentations.

In a prepared statement, Brien McDonald—BookCon event director this year after being BookExpo event director last year—is quoted, saying, “We created BookCon as the ultimate storytelling destination with unique and exciting guests and programming for all types of readers…This year we are looking forward to continuing to give fans access to their favorite authors, books, films and television series while further broadening our offerings.”

About the Author

Porter Anderson

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Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.