You know what that means, right?  It means that the time has officially come to start planning Book Blogger Convention 2012.

As you may have heard, we’re moving to Monday next year.  BBC2012 will be held on June 4th.  We’ve already crafted a loose schedule for the day and now we’re going to go about the business of devising what will fill it all in. This is where you all come in!  Do you have a topic you are perfect to present on?  Is there a hot button issue that needs to be focused on and discussed?  What about a workshop?  Got a workshop? If so create a panel or presentation for consideration.

We are currently looking to fill13 slots (1 @ 45 minutes, 3 @ 75 minutes and 9 @ 60 minutes) that focus on marketing, social media, technology, writing/reviewing, and other topics related to the publishing industry that affect book bloggers and blogging.  We are also looking for submissions that would appeal to a variety of audiences (blogger, industry professional, author, educator, bookseller) and expertise levels (novice, intermediate & professional).  It is our hope to craft a well rounded day of education for a wide range of participants.

ETA:  Please note, you must list all panelists participating in your session to be considered.  Proposals with panelists listed as TBD will not be accepted.

To submit your proposal please fill out our Panel Submission Form.

(big thanks to the folks at Kidlitcon 2011 for allowing us to adapt their awesome submission form!)

We can’t announce everything we’ve got percolating just yet but we’re going to let you in on a pretty big piece today.

We know that most everyone is aware that Book Expo America has shifted the week that next year’s show is going to take place. In 2012, BEA will be occurring June 4 through Thursday June 7th. Well, in listening to the feedback of previous year’s participants we’re excited to announce that the Book Blogger Convention is moving to Monday! For the 2012 event BBC will be taking place on Monday June 4th. We’re still going to be located at the Javits and are becoming an even more integral part of the larger whole of BEA, but we’re just starting to talk about hours and all the finer details so more specifics are yet to come. Please know that we didn’t undertake this decision lightly, we spoke with publishers, contributors, and bloggers to assure that moving wouldn’t adversely impact other events or plans. We’re quite pleased that the overwhelming response from all was a go for moving from Friday to Monday. So mark your calendars and start formulating your plans BBC 2012 here we come!

More will be forthcoming on registration, agenda, and programming as we have the information available to us. But feel free to let us know if you have any questions by sending an email.

We’re looking forward to another great event in the year ahead and hope to see you there!

We are pleased and excited to have you all join us!  Below is all of the logistical information we believe is needed to participate.  However, if you have any specific unanswered questions please reach out via email.

If you have registered as a full participant in The Book Blogger Convention you have access to all BBC events as well as the expo floor of BEA.  If you are interested in participating in additional BEA events that require a cost of admission (ie: author meals, certain educational tracks) you must add them to your registration separately.

Your BEA badge will also serve as your BBC badge.  Badges are available for pick up via BEA’s registration booths in the Javits Center during the hours listed here.  When you pick up your BEA badge you should be provided a BBC ribbon to stick on to the bottom of the lanyard that designates your attendance at our event.  In the event that your BEA registration attendant does not provide that ribbon to you immediately please ask as that is how we’ll know you are a valid registrant/participant of BBC when you arrive on Friday.  Should you be arriving on Friday, please come directly to BBC.  There will be a table set up for you to check in and claim your badge upon arrival.

Please note, registration for BBC is not automatically bundled into a registration made solely for BEA.  Meaning, if you’ve registered for BEA you are *not* automatically also registered for BBC. Further, we do not have the ability to provide gratis access to members of the press.  To that end, we will happily accept on-site registration.  Please be prepared to pay your registration fee ($135) in cash as we do not have the ability to accept check or credit card.

All BBC events will be held in The Javits Center on the first floor of Hall E.  Specific room locations and a schedule of sessions can be found on our agenda.   We have an exciting and full day planned so please be sure to take a look at our list of amazing panelists and moderators.

This year we are proud to be providing you a “Build Your Own Swag Bag” experience.  Upon your arrival swag donated by our generous contributors will be set out on tables in the main hallway.  You will be provided an empty bag to pick and choose the items you’d like to take away with you.  Items will be accessible to you throughout the entirety of the event, however, all will be available on a first come first serve basis.  We encourage you to leave yourself plenty of time to peruse items.

Finally, we are continuously updating the list of book Blogger Convention attendees on our blog.  If you would like to be listed publicly (your name and a link to your blog/website) please fill out this form and we’ll get you listed as soon as possible.

We are looking forward to hosting you as part of The Book Blogger Convention.

Here’s the link to our Cafe Press store!

Here’s some of the cool stuff you can buy:

These are some of the shirts for women. On the left is the fitted tee in a super cute green color, but there’s other colors to choose from if you’re not so much into the green. I love the long sleeved shirt – perfect for winter! And the tank top is cute too, and could probably be worn in New York during BEA! There were some days last year I would have done anything for a light tank top, so this would have been perfect.

For all of us who can’t go to the Book Blogger Convention because we’ll be way too pregnant or will have a newborn, HOW CUTE IS THIS ONSIE?! There’s also pink, green, and white. I wanted to feature the blue since I’m having a boy.

You can also get a bib, a little shirt, a little hoodie, and a teddy bear.

The dudes have some cool stuff to choose from too! These are just two options, a hoodie and a baseball jersey. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any speedos emblazoned with the BBC logo. Sorry about that!

Finally, there’s some accessories you can choose from, but the coolest is this tote bag.

Whatcha gonna buy?

This year, we asked Daniel Jennewein, Lenore’s husband, if he could create a logo for us. We’re thrilled with what he came up with:

Fabulous, no? Thanks again to Daniel for exceeding all of our expectations!

Go to the Promote the Con page to get the code so you can display this on your sidebar.

We’re excited to announce to you those members of the panel for the Practical Challenges of Blogging session. The following are the amazing bloggers who have agreed to join us:

Meg [Write Meg] – moderator
Jenn [Jenn's Bookshelves]
Raych [Books I Done Read]
Kristen [Fantasy Cafe]
Lenore [Presenting Lenore]

Please join us in welcoming these fantastic panelists! We’re looking forward to seeing them in May.

The organizers of the Book Blogger Convention are pleased that we can announce our fourth roster of panelists for 2011′s workshop schedule.

We’re excited to announce to you those members of the panel for the Technology for Blogging session. The following are the amazing bloggers who have agreed to join us:

Tyler [On Our Minds] – moderator/Vlogging
Michael [Books on the Nightstand] – Podcasting
Lindsay [Net Galley] – eGalleys
John [Edelweiss] – eCatalogs
Anna [Book Nerds] – Blog/Graphic Design
Shanyn [Chick Loves Lit] – Blogging Platforms
Jenn [JennIRL] – Social Media
Otis Chandler [Goodreads] – Online Libraries

Please join us in welcoming these fantastic panelists!  We’re looking forward to seeing them in May.

Another great roster of panelists coming at ya!

The organizers of the Book Blogger Convention are pleased that we can announce our third roster of panelists for 2011′s workshop schedule.

We’re excited to announce to you those members of the panel for the Blogging for a Niche Market session. The following are the amazing bloggers who have agreed to join us:

Florinda [The Three R's Blog] – moderator
Katie [Babbling About Books and More] – Romance
Sarah, Erin & Jenny [Forever Young Adult] – Young Adult
Amy [Passages to the Past] – Historical Fiction
Thea [The Book Smugglers] – Sci Fi/Fantasy
Rebecca [Rebecca Reads] – Classics
Jen [Jen's Book Thoughts] – Mystery/Crime Fiction
Jill [Rhapsody in Books] – Non-Fiction
Jennifer [Reading Rants] – Kidlit/Librarianship
Mitali [Mitali's Fire Escape] – Diversity
Cass [Bonjour Cass] – GLBTQ
Tanya [Dog Eared Copy] – Audiobooks

Please join us in welcoming these amazing panelists!

The Book Blogger Con is now seeking sponsors for our 2011 events. Here’s how you can get involved:

• Sponsor the BBC Blogger & Author Reception, to be held Thursday evening, May 26, 2011.  The reception is a wonderful time to meet your online pals IRL and mingle with bloggers and authors in a relaxed atmosphere. It was a highlight of last year’s festivities, and we know that this year, with your sponsorship and that bar we plan on having (sorry, folks, we know the soda didn’t quite do the trick last year), it will be even better.

• Donate items for BBC Swag Bags.  When else will you have the chance to put the books and bookish accessories you’re excited about in the hands of so many bloggers at once? Swag bag sponsors will receive display space centrally located to BBC events and if desired an opportunity to meet and greet participants as they grab their swag bag goodies. (In a change from last year’s proceedings, bags will not be pre-assembled.)

If you’re interested in these sponsorship opportunities or would like more information about how you get involved with Book Blogger Con 2011, shoot us an email at bookbloggercon@gmail.com or visit our contact page.

Not only is Sarah a pioneer in book blogging and a sassy, intelligent voice for the romance reading community, she is the co-author of Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. And that means she knows a thing or two about the industry and taking your blog to the proverbial next level.

No matter what kind of books you blog about, you’ll learn something from Sarah’s wit and wisdom, and we hope you’ll join us on Friday, May 27th, 2011.

First, a note on format:

Last year’s convention was comprised of two guest speakers and five panel presentations, creating a one-track convention in which all attendees participated in the same events. It was a great way to get BBC started, but we recognize the need for growth and a wider coverage of topics, so we’ve decided to make BBC 2011 a series of workshops.  We’ll still have a keynote speaker next year (she’s already lined up and we can’t wait to tell you who she is), but now we’ll be offering multiple topics during each time slot, and you will choose which workshops to attend.

Please take a minute to complete this short survey and tell us what you’d like to see at BBC 2011.

Thanks so much!

Team BBC

Because book blogging and publishing are evolving on a yearly basis we feel our logo should do the same.  This year, we’re opening up the opportunity for everyone to submit their logo ideas.  Email your version of the BBC 2011 logo to bookbloggercon@gmail.com by midnight EST on Sunday, October 17th to enter to win a free registration to this year’s convention.

Here are our guidelines:

• Black and white artwork preferred
• Logo must be in both web/print ready formats
• Logo must be scalable in size
• Logo must include the Book Blogger Con tag line “Read. Blog. Learn”

It is our hope to be able to select a logo from those submitted.  If, however, we are unable to do so we reserve the right to move forward via other means.

Though we’re not putting selection up for a vote, we will be sharing submitted logos here on the BBC blog.  We’re excited for you to help us in creating our 2011 identity!

Yup, you guessed it the Book Blogger Convention is back in action for 2011.  We’ve had a few months to reflect on last year’s phenomenal event and are starting the old gears turning for the next.  We’re in the very initial stages of organization but we do know some particulars that you can start factoring into your plans now.

First, and most importantly, we’re gratified to be affiliating with the Book Expo America again this year.  This year we’ll be working even more closely with Steven Rosato and his awesome team to put together a more streamlined and enjoyable experience.  They were so good to us last year and have been kind enough to take the BBC on again.

What does this mean?  As of right now the following:

1. The BBC reception will be held Thursday evening May 26th
2. The main event will be on Friday May 27th
3. For your convenience and to minimize confusion, registration will run directly through BEA (registration isn’t open yet but we’ll let you know when it is!)

We’re extremely excited to get started again this year.  As mentioned, we’re just in the very initial stages so we haven’t yet started working out the particulars of speakers and panels. That will come in due time.  We’re also going to be working on this blog to remove some of last year’s information and put updated content in for next year so please bear with us as we do so.

Please do subscribe to this blog and follow us on Twitter because we’ll be updating as news becomes available.

Save the date!  We’re looking forward to another successful year!