YALLfest haul
Signed books
Books I brought
These are the books I already owned and brought with me to the festival to get signed!
- Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (B&N)
- Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White (ARC)
- Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White (B&N)
- The Darkest Minds (paperback)
- Never Fade (paperback)
- Into the Afterlight (paperback)
- Through the Dark (paperback)
- Silver in the Bone (ARC)
- Sea Witch
- Sea Witch Rising
Bought at the festival
- The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning
- YALLfest button
- YALLfest pin
Freebies from the festival
- Love at Second Sight by F.T. Lukens
- The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao
- His Face is the Sun by Michelle Jabès Corpora
- The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor
- The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
- She Waits for You Beyond the Dark by Kristen Simmons
- Ex Marks the Spot by Gloria Chao
- Chaos King by Kacen Callender
- All Better Now by Neal Shusterman
- Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue by Kate Pearsall
- Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton
- The Floating World by Axie Oh
- Tons of swag! (which I thought I took a picture of before I put it all away, but apparently didn’t. Oops)
YALLfest recap
Yay for my 10th YALLfest! This was my very first year ever going by myself. My bookstabestie Christy sadly couldn’t go this year, so I flew solo. Which is fine, I don’t mind being on my own and I always meet new bookish friends at the festival!
This year I did something different – I did not get a hotel for Thursday night, instead opting to head down Thursday evening and sleep in my car on the way down to save money. I don’t think I’ll ever do that again! I’ve slept in the car before – I have plenty of room in the back with my seats down for a bed roll, and it’s been pretty comfortable in the past. But my back was already wrecked from the drive and I’ve been suffering from some insomnia all week due to new medication, and I slept like absolute trash. Which made the drive Friday morning even worse. So, next year I’ll just get a hotel like I normally do. It also makes it easier to get ready before the Friday events and I don’t have to rush. I broke one of my own YALLfest rules – always arrive early! I hated having to rush and stress. Never again!!
Friday
I didn’t get into Charleston until 1 pm; so by the time I checked into my hotel, showered and got ready, and drove to the festival, it was already 2:30. Then, I passed the street where the parking garage is, and by the time I circled back around (traffic was TERRIBLE), I’d wasted another 15 minutes. So, by the time I finally arrived in line for Alexandra Bracken, it was 10 minutes til 3 (she started at 3). The line was super long, and they soft capped it at 80 people – I was number 81, so I was stressing a bit at first. They ended up hard capping at 100, and I didn’t need to worry because I made it through just fine! Alexandra is a wonderful person and I enjoyed meeting her again! Also, she graciously signed all 5 of my books even though they say the limit is 3. Thank you, Alex! You rock!
After seeing her, I headed to the merch booth. They had a really cool black t-shirt this year, but all of the sizes except XS and 4XL were sold out. Womp, womp. Next year I’ll have to hit the booth as soon as I get there. (And show up early like I normally do!) Sadly, I missed out on getting tickets for Fierce Friday. I would have really liked to go, but oh well. Maybe next year.
When I got back to the hotel, I decided to find somewhere for dinner, because I was getting pretty hungry. I considered Door Dash, but decided to save myself $20 and go pick something up myself. There were a couple restaurants I wanted to try that were only 6-8 miles away – SOL Southwest Kitchen and Charleston Sports Pub. It said the drive was 20 minutes, so I decided to see what was around the area closer. I drove around aimlessly looking for a good 15 minutes before I gave up and just decided to go to Charleston Sports Pub, so I headed that way. On the way, I called them to place an order, but they said I had to pay over the phone. At this point I was already hangry, and traffic was AWFUL so I was stressed and frustrated, so I just said I was driving and couldn’t, and hung up. I would prefer to pay cash so I don’t have to put anything on my card, so I called SOL instead and placed an order with them.
It took me forever to get there. First, I went the wrong damn way on I-26. I SWEAR the GPS told me to go East, but it was supposed to be West. I was so tired that I probably just got it wrong. So I had to get off on the next exit and turn around, which added 10 minutes to my trip. Then I got stuck in a traffic jam. That I could have avoided by going the correct direction.
I was REALLY starving when I finally got to the restaurant, and when I handed the person at the bar a $50, she took so long to get me change that I thought she had kept it. Then she just handed me bills and no coins, which is not a huge deal, but was kind of annoying (and I was already irritated because she took so long to get change). Like, wtf? But, the food was delicious! I got their Chipotle Shrimp & Grits – it was grit cakes with smoked gouda cheese sauce, and the shrimp were in an absolutely yummy chipotle sauce. I also got their banana pudding (I am a sucker for banana pudding!)…well, it was made with ginger snaps instead of Nilla wafers!! I think it was the best banana pudding I’ve ever had, and I will forever make it that way now!
It took me an hour and a half just to go get food. I was exhausted by the time I got back to the hotel, so as soon as I went over my schedule for Saturday I passed out! I learned my lesson and will just splurge on Door Dash in the future.
Saturday
I was dragging ass Saturday morning, so once again I was running late and stressed. (face palm, self) By the time I got there, it was 8:10 and the Fierce Reads line was already stupid long. I need to do better next year for sure!
I met some new friends in the Fierce Reads line – Saylor, Brandi, and Melanie (who is an author)! I ended up exchanging numbers with the first two so we could keep in touch all day. I also got to see my YALLfest buddy Chris, who I met back in 2022 with my ex husband. They were instant buddies so we all hung out and chatted in a couple lines. He’s a super cool dude! I saw him again last year in passing a few times, so at this point we recognize each other and say hi when we pass!
9 am
The Fierce Reads line took FOREVER to start moving, and when it did, it moved stupid slow. There were multiple ticket choices, and you got to pick 3; plus the Cafe YA tickets were in the same line (for Bury Our Bones & Breath of the Dragon). I guess people were just taking forever to decide. Which is ridiculous, considering Fierce passed out fliers with the choices in advance and they had an entire hour to make a decision.
Melanie went to explore at one point and came back with tickets to Enchanted Hour (for Notorious Virtues), and Brandi didn’t want hers so she was gracious enough to give it to me!
Cafe YA was sold out by the time we got up there, which is fine because I had already decided to pass due to my schedule being packed at the event time. I really wanted the tote bag with Our Infinite Fates, Where Shadows Meet, and Soul of Shadow, but that was gone too. I ended up getting tickets for She Waits for You in the Dark and the Fierce Reads Recommends: Imaginary Worlds (Beasts We Bury because it was my #2, Chaos King, and Scorpion Queen), and I passed on a 3rd ticket because there really wasn’t anything else I wanted. Heir of Storms was my next pick after the tote, and it sold out super early, too.
After I got out of that line I went straight to the line to buy books, because Fierce Reads was having a deal where you could get an ARC when you bought any book. I bought a copy of Sarah Henning’s newest book to get signed so I could get an ARC of Floating World! Immediately after I went and got a ticket from the Simon booth for the 11 am All Better Now drop.
10 am
I headed to the Rebecca Ross line shortly after 10 (all the way over at the tent), and when I got in line they scanned my ticket and I got a wristband. I stood in line for a while, but it was still really long and wasn’t moving fast, so I decided to leave and go to my drops for She Waits for You and All Better Now, which were at 11 (alllll the way back at the museum). Fierce is strict about ticket drops – if you’re not there within 15 minutes, they give away the leftover books. I knew Rebecca would be signing for a while, so I wasn’t worried.
11 am
While I waited for the Fierce drop, I went to their photo booth. Which turned out to be a video booth, lol. I’ll be posting the video on Instagram!
I got that drop, went to get All Better Now, then headed back to Rebecca’s line. I had plenty of time. Saylor stopped by to give me a book she had, since I only had one book and she didn’t get a ticket.
Once I got out of her line around 11:30, I went over to Lit Alley to see what Schwab’s line looked like. It was pure chaos over there and I couldn’t even find her line. I asked a worker how long it was, because I only had about half an hour to spare, and she said there was no chance because it was about 200 people long. I desperately wanted Scorpion and the Night Blossom (my #1 drop of the whole day!), and it was dropping at 1. I had a little time to spare, so I decided to swing by the car to get rid of the books I didn’t need to carry.
12 pm
I kinda regretted going to the car, because it took longer than expected and I was later than I wanted to be getting into the Underlined line for the Dragons & Dystopia drop (where Night Blossom was). The line was already really long – they handed out tickets, and I was #68/100. I asked how many copies of each book they had, and the volunteer told me 33. My heart sank. I was sure I was going to miss out on Night Blossom, because it was the most popular of the drop (the other two books were The Last Bookstore on Earth and something that I’d not heard of, can’t remember what it was) and I thought it was the kind of drop where you choose which book you want. Until a volunteer came around and explained to us that we would be shooting darts for which book to get! It gave me a little hope that Night Blossom would still be there when I got up to the booth.
While we were in line, I was able to run over to the Penguin booth for their thriller drop. I really wanted When the Bones Sing, but it was gone already, so I got the Bittersweet in the Hollow sequel instead. (I also want to say: Penguin has their shit together!! They were so efficient and their lines moved super fast. Way to go, Penguin! Simon Teen was also great.)
1 pm
Thankfully, there were copies of Scorpion & Night Blossom left when I got up there…but there were only 3 left and 4 people in front of me. I was trying not to panic! The dart board was magnetic and had the book pictures taped to it. There were two sections for Night Blossom (1 large, 1 small), one big section for Last Bookstore, and 2 for the other book. I watched in relief as every single one of the people in front of me aimed for the top left larger section for Night Blossom, and missed because the magnet weighed the dart down and it fell to the bottom section underneath. I decided to try something different and aim for the smaller section on the bottom right, because if I missed I would either hit the table it was sitting on, or miss the board entirely (in which case you still get a book, they told us). I missed the dart board ENTIRELY lmao, but I was lucky enough to still get Night Blossom because I came close enough to it! YAY!! I was ecstatic! I hope the person behind me saw what I did, because she also desperately wanted it.
After going through that line, I had to go back to the car, because my dumb ass left the Sarah Henning book in the car when I dumped the extra totes & books, and she started at 1. I also knew I had a drop at 1:30 I had to be at for Fierce, and my stupid brain was like “I have a 15 minute window,” not thinking at ALL about the fact that it was a multiple book drop. When I was done at the car it was 1:15, and I went over to hit up Henning and Schwab before the drop – a decision that would haunt me. I got there at 1:20, and her line was barely moving. I peeped the Schwab line and it looked like I had at least 15 minutes to spare. I wasted maybe 5 minutes hoping I could get through both lines before realizing it wasn’t going to happen, so I decided to go back to the drop first and come back. I booked it over to the publisher area (keep in mind, this is about a quarter mile away). To my dismay, there was a LONG line for that drop, and I don’t know why the hell I wasn’t thinking about the fact that you could choose between 3. Beasts We Bury was long gone by the time I got up there, and so was Scorpion Queen, so I got stuck with Chaos King (I haven’t even read the first book). I was so bummed. I wanted that book so bad. I have no idea what I was thinking.
After leaving that drop, I swung past Sourcebooks to see if I could get a place in line for the 2:25 drop of His Face is the Sun (my #3 of the day). Even at 1:35, it was already capped at 75 people. I was pretty bummed about that, too. I knew I was running out of time to get back to Schwab and Henning, so I sprinted all the way back to Lit Alley. There was another girl trying to get the same direction quickly, so we ended up having a cool moment and sprinting together, laughing and encouraging each other to keep going. I didn’t get her name, but thank you random awesome stranger for sprinting with me! It was strangely fun!
By the time I got there, red faced and sweating, Schwab was gone. I couldn’t have missed her by more than 5-10 minutes. Sarah Henning was thankfully still there, but there was no one in her line so I barely caught her. She was so nice, though! She gave me a mood ring and we had a laugh about me sprinting to catch her and how out of breath I was (I am NOT a runner, lmao). We chatted for a few minutes, too!
I wasn’t super heartbroken about missing Schwab because I didn’t care a whole lot about seeing her, but I was still pretty bummed about missing out on multiple in the same hour, including my #2 & #3 drops of the day. I wish I had gone to the drops first and then went for the authors, because I probably wouldn’t have missed any of them. Oh well. I’ll have be smarter next year, I guess. (As a YALLfest veteran, I should know better!)
2 pm
I knew Amelié’s line would be long, so I wasn’t in a hurry to get over there (she started at 2). I meandered back to the museum to check out the publisher booths. I stopped by a few and got some free swag, then decided to check to see if anyone was lining up for the 3:30 Otherworld Post drop yet. They were, so I was lucky I checked! I ended up meeting another friend in line, Adalyn (I don’t know if that’s how it’s spelled but that’s how it was pronounced), and she said she’d hold my spot while I went to see Amelié if I would return the favor for her to go get a drop at 3:15. Around that time, Saylor called to see if I needed her, because she had nothing else to do for the day. She came over to the line to hangout, and when I said I was going to head over to Amelié around 2:45-2:50, she said “you’d better go now because they may cap it.” (Which I did not think about, so thanks Saylor!)
I left my rolling backpack of books in my place for her to watch, and went ahead over to the theater for Amelié. When I got in line a worker told me that she was getting cut off at 3, because they didn’t have space for her and the next author. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to be honest, because the line was still pretty long. I decided to stay and try anyway, because she was my #1 author for the day. Luckily, I got through at 2:59! Whew! Talk about cutting it close. Saylor saved me on that one! Another instance of “what the fuck are you thinking, Jessi.” I don’t know, man. My brain was fried, apparently.
3 pm
When I got back over and was looking for my place in line, I spotted Saylor walking with my backpack. I had a moment of panic, because I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t in line anymore. It turns out they started the drop WAY early. Luckily (again lol, I guess my luck was making up for all my misses the past hour) Saylor was able to grab one for me! I was like, “dang they let you take two?!” and she said she just grabbed another while they weren’t looking. You’re a badass, Saylor. XD
I thanked her profusely – that was incredibly awesome of her – and told her that I wanted to do something to repay her. She reminded me that I got her Ross book signed for her, so we were even. I am so grateful she was there!
We had a whole hour to kill until Enchanted Hour (which Saylor also had a ticket for), so we got into a random line not even knowing what it was for, lol. It ended up being a romance drop at Penguin. During that line I ran over to Fierce Reads to see if there were any totes left with the 3 books in them that people didn’t claim. At 16 minutes past the drop they give the rest away, so I went over at 3:15. I should have gone earlier. (AGAIN, what was I thinking?! Wtf?!) There was a line of about 10 people, and they only had 4 totes left. Another miss.
I did go over to Simon and snag a sinfully delicious sticky bun, though!
The romance drop sadly didn’t get started early like the Otherworld Post one did (only because I wasn’t there, I SWEAR), so we didn’t get through it til 4. I grabbed Ex Marks the Spot, because that was the only one that sounded interesting (it’s rivals to lovers!!).
4 pm
I stopped by the Sourcebooks tent to see what the Magic 8 Ball Hour line looked like, and it was already long. Saylor got into line with me, and we held each other’s places while we took turns going to Enchanted Hour to get Notorious Virtues. They had yummy drinks, too! I skipped the cupcakes because I had the sticky bun. I also grabbed a random book that Saylor had given me a ticket for.
The line took FOREVER. I couldn’t see the table, so I didn’t know if they were doing the magic 8 ball or the origami fortune teller. We were about 20 people from the table when they announced they only had fantasy left, and maybe a dozen people away when they ran out entirely. I was getting ready to leave, and Chris (who was in the line ahead of us) came walking up holding out His Face is the Sun and HE GAVE IT TO ME, YOU GUYS. Because he knew I was bummed that I missed it. *cries* It was the sweetest thing ever and it made my whole day! THANK YOU, CHRIS! You’re fucking awesome!
I wandered around aimlessly trying to find the line for the Position of Lead panel for a while, and asked if anyone had Beasts We Bury and would be willing to trade for something. No luck, unfortunately, but it was worth a shot.
For some reason, I had it in my schedule notes that there would be leftover ARCs in that panel, but they only had Fortune’s Kiss cards. Honestly, I may have accidentally moved that line in Google Sheets from another place and didn’t realize it, because the mobile sucks and I kept rearranging random things on my schedule by accident.
5 pm
When I sat down to watch the panel and realized how tired I was, and decided to go ahead and leave. I wanted to drive a few hours before getting a hotel so I wouldn’t have to pull all 10 hours on Sunday. I also wanted to grab dinner from the Pub I’d missed on Friday.
It was 35 minutes away. I placed a to go order when I was 20 minutes away, and this time I just used my debit card because I have it memorized. They told me it would be 45-50 minutes. When I got there I waited for 15, then decided to go in and see if it would be ready soon. It was already sitting there, after 35 minutes. My fries ended up being cold, which I was not thrilled about at all. Good thing I didn’t show up after 45 minutes. They still tasted good, at least. The burger was thankfully still warm, and it was delicious!! I got the Southerner, which had their house made pimento cheese and a sauce that they called peach jam, but was slightly spicy and smelled like it had horseradish in it. (Whatever it was, it was AWESOME.) I think it was the best burger I’ve ever had!
In conclusion
Here’s what it looked like in the past:
2013: saw 8 authors (missed 2) // brought 20 books
2014: saw 5 authors (missed 8) // brought 34 books
2015: saw 7 authors (missed 4) // brought 21 books
2016: saw 11 authors (missed 1) // brought 28 books
2017: saw 16 authors (missed 0) // brought 25 books
2018: saw 16 authors (missed 0) // brought 42 books
2019: saw 9 authors (missed 2) // brought 18 books
2022: saw 3 authors (missed 2) // brought 16 books
2023: saw 6 authors (missed 0) // brought 5 books
Authors I got to see:
- Alexandra Bracken
- Rebecca Ross
- Sarah Henning
- Amelié Wen Zhao
The only author I missed was Schwab, which I didn’t really care that much about anyway.
Previous years’ recaps
- YALLfest 2023
- YALLfest 2022
- Missed 2021 – was on my honeymoon
- Missed 2020 – canceled due to COVID
- YALLfest 2019
- YALLfest 2018
- YALLfest 2017
- YALLfest 2016
- YALLfest 2015
- YALLfest 2014
- YALLfest 2013
Extras
Leave a Reply