Today is all about YALLWEST 2025!  This was my 2nd time going; my first time was back in 2019.  You can find that recap here. I also did their virtual events during COVID, and it was fun make the trip up to Santa Monica and to attend in-person.  It took me a few days to organize my thoughts, but it was really fun, and I’m glad I went.

Initial Thoughts

I got there about 9:30, and my intention was to walk around and check everything out.  Since my last/only in-person trip was 6 years ago, I wanted to check everything out before everything started at 11.

That was actually the most frustrating part of the day!  It was incredibly crowded and near impossible to walk through, so I looped around as best I could and got some coffee while I waited for the first panel to start.  It did get better as the day went on but it was pretty frustrating as someone who just wanted to walk around and check everything out first.  It seemed pretty disorganized to someone who wasn’t trying to get arcs, and in my opinion, it’s a matter of time before someone gets hurt just trying to navigate that area, whether you’re in line or just trying to walk around.  I’m not sure what the solution is, but I think the set-up they had needs to change.  Along with crowd control, and making sure the lines aren’t blocking basically the whole sidewalk.

The Panels

I did one panel at 11, Manuevering the Map, which was moderated by Marisha Pessl, and featured Kristen Ciccarelli, Tracy Deonn, Akwaeke Emezi, Hafsah Faizal, and Laura Goo.  I loved hearing the authors talk about how they created their worlds.  Tracy Deonn uses a spreadsheet to keep track of the lines of Arthur, while Hafsah Faizal uses email drafts for ideas.  Faizal also started with just vibes for A Tempest Of Tea.  And Akwaeke Emezi’s ideas start with daydreams and expand out from there.  That panel had a giveaway, so I ended up a pretty cool tote bag and a couple of arcs.  While I don’t seek them out, I’m not going to complain if they are freely given to people going to a panel.

The other panel I went to was at 4, Holding Space For Defying Gravity.  It was moderated by Jill Tew, and had Lily Braun Arnold, Chloe Gong, Tahereh Mafi, E.L. Starling, and Joseph Andrew White.  I have to say, E.L. Starling’s upcoming book sounds great, so I can’t wait to check that one out.  This panel was all about dystopia, and the one thing that really stuck out from that panel was when Tahereh Mafi was talking about hope, and how much we put on the next generation to solve things, but that the adults need to take on some of that responsibility as well.  At that point, we ran out of time, but that was a great note to end on.

The Signings

I did four author signings this year!  The Kristen Ciccarelli and Tracy Deonn signings were the main reason why I went up to YALLWEST this year.  I got The Rebel Witch signed when Kristen Ciccarelli made a stop at Mysterious Galaxy, but I didn’t realize I needed a copy of Heartless Hunter until I got to the event, and the store was sold out.  So when I saw she was going to be at YALLWEST, I grabbed a ticket once they were available, and I was set.  I was able to get the Legendborn Cycle signed as well, and hopefully when book 4 comes out, I’ll be able to get that signed.  Ciccarelli and Deonn were back to back (2 pm for Ciccarelli and 3 pm for Deonn), so I was able to get in line for Tracy Deonn once I got Heartless Hunter signed.

I also did two non-ticketed signings: I got If We Were A Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal and Throwback by Maurene Goo signed.  The Maurene Goo signing was at 2, so I got in line for her first, and then headed across campus for the Ciccarelli signing.  I figured the line for Maurene Goo would be shorter, which gave me plenty of time to get in for Kristen Ciccarelli.  Plus, it meant I could get in line for Tracy Deonn’s signing at 3, since I was already there.

The Rest Of The Day

I had quite a bit of free time in between the Zamika Jamal signing and the 2 pm signings, so I got some lunch, found a dry place to sit, and read while eating lunch.  I was not expecting rain, so finding a dry place to sit was challenging, but it was possible.  There were a ton of food trucks, and picking one was hard.  But I settled on Poutine Brothers, and got the Crispy Chicken Poutine.  It ended up being the perfect lunch for a cloudy, rainy day.  I did consider the In-N-Out Truck and the taco trucks, but I can have both tacos and In-N-Out at home, so why not go with something different?  I also got strawberry boba later and it was really good!  I stopped at the YALLWEST merch table, and got a tote bag and a notebook, and started the long drive home.  With a break, of course, because I hate driving, and I just really needed to get out of my car.

Final Thoughts:

• I was a little disappointed with the vendors/booths this year.  Other than a couple of library booths, a voter registration booth, festival merch, and two bookseller tables (Barnes & Noble and a comic book store), it was all sponsors, arc giveaways and tickets for sponsor-run events.  For reference, in 2019, Owl Crate and Book Beau had booths, but this year, there were no book boxes or book inspired/book adjacent booths.  I hope those sort of booths come back in the future.  For the record, there’s nothing wrong with going for the arcs and giveaways, but it’s not for me, and a little more variety would be nice.
• I kind of think the festival has outgrown the venue, at least as it was set-up.  I felt like, 6 years ago, there was a good variety of booths, and they were pretty spread apart.  But this year, it felt like there were too many people for a really small area.  A majority of the booths were set up on one walkway, and the venue is a pretty good size, but maybe the festival is limited as far as what areas of the school they can use.  I hope that’s something they consider in the future.
• The signings and panels were really fun, and that part was put together pretty well.  I thought the process for ticketed signings were so much better than it was 6 years ago!  It felt much more organized, and in my opinion, that was a really good change.
• Planning my day made it a lot more fun and a lot less overwhelming and stressful.

Overall, it is a really good event, and they had a ton of great authors and really interesting panels.  I got to do everything I wanted to do, and I’m glad I went.  I would go again, and I’ll definitely be checking out the schedule for future events.  Maybe one year, I’ll even check out out Fierce Friday.  Watching the stories come out of the Million Lives Festival on Sunday was surreal.  There are a lot of articles about it at this point, especially if you haven’t heard about what happened, but this USA Today article sums it up pretty well.

That is all for today, but I’ll be back soon.  Until then, happy reading!