Tips for YALLfest 2016

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on November 2, 2016 | 6 Comments


1337012544_yall-fest1

 

I posted these tips every year, but I wanted to repost them since it’s about that time again, and I also had some things to add!

This will be my fourth year attending the festival and I am SO FREAKING EXCITED. The past three years have been chaotic, but SO FUN! You can see my recap of the last couple years here.

Book a hotel in advance

If you plan on staying the night, PRE-book. In 2014, Octavia and I skipped pre-booking because we knew we were going to be driving through the night and checking in super early. That was a HUGE mistake! We had a hellacious time finding a place that morning. We had to call about 20 different places before we finally found one that wasn’t booked. It was an absolute nightmare! Definitely make the reservations in advance so all you have to do when you arrive is check in. If you plan to do what we did and drive through the night, try calling the hotel to see if they’ll let you check in early.

Leave plenty of travel time

Last year Aaron and I planned to drive down on Friday for the events on Friday afternoon. We left pretty much just enough time to make it down there – it started at 4 and I think we left at like 5 am, and it takes 10 hours to get down there. What we didn’t plan for? Blowing a tire. And of course, it happened on I-40, which is basically BFE and the exits are oh, about 978364 miles apart. We spent a good two hours searching for a tire place – mind you, this was driving FORTY MILES AN HOUR ON THE HIGHWAY (talk about scary!!!) on a donut – so by the time we finally got down there it was about 7:30 and we completely missed everything that happened Friday.

We are SO not doing that shit this year! I booked a hotel for Thursday night, too, so we’re going to drive down on Thursday and have plenty of time to make it down there and even rest after the drive before Friday’s events.

Arrive early to the festival

In 2013, we arrived in town right on time. HORRIBLE idea. Make sure to leave yourself at least 45 minutes just for parking. Seriously, it’s a zoo. The closest parking garage has itty bitty parking spaces (in other words, drive a small car if you can!). The first year it took me FOREVER to find a spot I could fit into (and that’s with a G6…imagine a truck or SUV), and by the time I did I was so frustrated I already wanted to leave. Then I was upset for the first couple hours because I missed out on authors I wanted to see. Don’t be like me! (Last year I parked on the roof, it was SO much easier.)

The first signing is at 11, but the lines for the 11 signings tend to start at 10 am. Your best bet is to get there BY 9 to find a parking space.

Plan carefully

The schedule of panels and signings is INSANE. Know going in that you won’t be able to see everyone. It’s just not possible. When you have 8+ authors in one hour and it takes 30-45 minutes (sometimes more) to get through one line….well, you can do the math. There are 50+ authors crammed into a 6 hour time span. Your best bet is to choose one priority author per hour. Then have a second, lower priority author to go to if you get out of the first one’s line in time. (Unless of course you have someone else with you!)

Print out the schedule in advance and prioritize the authors you want to see. Who do you want to see the most? Who can you miss out on? Be aware that you may wait in line as long as an hour, if not more, for a popular author. Plan waiting time into your schedule. Last year I wrote out authors I’d like to see, in order of priority, and chose one author per hour that I want to see the most, and it really worked for me. After that it’s whoever I had time for!

Something I learned very quickly my first year: It’s signings OR panels. There’s really no going to both, unless you have an hour to spare where there’s no authors signing. I’m always in line for so long waiting for authors that I’ve never actually been to a panel at YALLfest, other than stepping in at the last 10 minutes after all the signings were over.

Get into the lines early

Get to the lines as early as you can. If there’s an author you really want to see, and they’re scheduled for, say, noon: Get into their line at 11:40, earlier if you can. If it’s someone really popular, try to get in line at least an hour in advance. (i.e. If you know Alexandra Bracken is signing at 3 pm, be in line BY 2!) The earlier, the better. If you’re the first one in line, you can get in and out quicker, and have a better chance of seeing a second author in that hour.

Also, some of the authors have panels to go to, which means they HAVE to leave for that panel at a certain time, no matter how many fans are still in line. The closer you are to the front, the better chance you have to see them! There’s nothing worse than standing in line for 45 for absolutely nothing.

Bring a friend (or two!)

The best way to get more books signed is to split the load. Then you can knock out multiple signings at once! Figure out which authors each of you wants to see the most, and which ones you can get by without meeting (but still get a signed copy, of course). Then go your separate ways and find somewhere to meet after you’re done!

Don’t worry about being alone – there’s plenty of passionate bookish people surrounding you. Even if you’re shy I guarantee you it would take little effort to get a conversation going! (And don’t be afraid to jump into a conversation, nobody will mind!) BREAK OUT OF THAT LITTLE SHELL, BOOKWORMS.

Don’t stress

Like I said, don’t be like I was my first year. Don’t freak out if it takes you an hour to find a space to park. (If you got there early, it won’t matter!) Go in knowing that you may not get to see everyone you want to see. Don’t get stressed out if you miss an author. If you planned carefully enough, with any luck that won’t happen! But again, keep in mind that some of the authors have panels to attend, so even if you get into the line they might have to leave before you can make it to them. Every year I go, there’s at least a few authors on my list that I miss.

Have fun!

This of course is the most important part! I had a BLAST the past few years meeting bookish people (including Team Epic Reads and a couple bloggers!) and awesome authors and I am SO stoked to be returning this year!!

 

Who else is going this year? I’d love to meet up!

Jessi (Geo)

Posted in: Events | Tags: ,

Subscribe to Novel Heartbeat to get more posts like this!

6 responses to “Tips for YALLfest 2016

  1. Alison

    I’m so excited to go this year but I’m just worried about getting in line for wristbands. We plan to go super duper early to wait in line! Any advice for getting wristbands and when we should wait ?

  2. Emma

    Yeah I’m stressed about getting into the Veronica Roth signing, she’s one of my top priorities but so is Kiera cass who has signings right before her. Can I send my mom to get a wristband for me and she give it to me? Is that allowed? Also how far in advance do they give out wristbands?

    • I’m not sure, I’m so sorry! I’ve never attended a signing that required a wristband. I would say the earlier you get in line the better, since she’s a popular author and they’re sure to disappear quickly! If your mom can’t get you a wristband, maybe she could stand in Kiera’s line for you?

    • It says Veronica’s signing starts at 3 and it’s first come first serve. I guarantee you people will start lining up HOURS beforehand, so I would check as early as 11 to make sure a line hasn’t started!

    • dallas

      first hand advice, last year, on saturday, i was in line for a veronica roth signing scheduled for 12pm at 445 am and there were already 2 people in front of me…..so there will be a massive line for her…..be prepared.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.