Back in April, I was invited to become an influencer at an infamous book festival, YALLWEST, located in Santa Monica.
This was quite possibly the most exciting thing to ever happen to me and when May 4 came around, I was up bright and early for the 2-hour drive to the festival.
I had attended book festivals in the past, like the LA Times Festival of Books, but YALLWEST was catered specifically for author signings and young adult readers. It was also my first time having media access, which essentially meant I had exclusive access to behind the scenes and a free pass to ticketed panels and events.
The festival itself was so organized, but the biggest tip for any signings, especially in larger ones like YALLWEST, is to be prepared to stand in lines. At YALLWEST, certain authors needed wristbands, and often, the times overlapped. My mom helped a lot with these lines, with the two of us going back and forth to ensure that I got all of my wristbands to meet the authors.
I also befriended a lot of people, with some of them even offering to get my books signed and vice versa. I had to really pick and choose which authors I wanted to meet versus which books I really only wanted signed and having these priorities helped ease my anxiety and how overwhelming it would’ve been.
I was so happy to have met every author that I wanted to meet and to have my books signed by them. One of the most popular ones was Jason Reynolds, author of “Stamped” (a book taught in Los Osos curriculum). He was very happy to sign copies of some of my English teachers’ books and he was such a genuinely positive person.
I also was pumped to meet Adalyn Grace, who wrote “Belladonna”, one of my favorite fantasy trilogies. She was really sweet and even included stickers and character art with her signature.
There were also panels that covered writing, characters, world-building, and more by many of the authors present at the festival.
Two authors that I didn’t meet, but did see at a panel were Tahereh Mafi, author of “Shatter Me”, and her husband, Ransom Riggs, author of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”. I remember that the first thing that came to mind was how ethereal they both were– I was actually speechless.
They both were so well-spoken and radiated such kind energy. The entire crowd was going absolutely nuts over them, myself included.
Alongside meeting so many authors, incredible people, and attending panels, I had so much fun with the atmosphere of the festival itself. Every vendor had fun games to win prizes, such as pins, stickers, bookmarks, and even receive advanced copies of books that haven’t been released yet. There were publishing companies such as PenguinTeen, who publish popular authors such as Sabaa Tahir, author of “All My Rage”, and Stacey Lee, author of “The Downstairs Girl”, both of which are books that have been implemented into Los Osos’ curriculum.
Book companies that create special editions, like Owlcrate, were in attendance, and even provided special goodies to the influencer team. Their copies are gorgeous and I was so lucky to snag one of “What the River Knows” by Isabel Ibañez, a young adult fantasy novel set in Egypt.
Another fortunate event that happened was interviewing authors. With my influencer pass, I was able to speak with Stacey Lee, who is one of my most favorite authors. She was so kind, funny, and engaging, and we were able to discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion in literature.
It was especially exciting because of how her books are taught at Los Osos, which she was so excited to hear about.
Having had the honor to go behind the scenes at YALLWEST, I am so excited for next year’s festival. There’s plans to bring even more authors, new panels, and even more vendors, ranging from other bookish merchandise companies to publishers, and you can count on me being there again.