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#BEA14 & #TheBookCon: Not Such a Great Marriage of Events
It's Book Expo of America time! And that means books galore, publishing panels, events, events, events. It's a busy time for those attending and working it and while there were many pluses from years past there were also hiccups as well with the creation of BookCon.
Post-Memorial Day weekend people in the publishing/book industry had to mentally and physically prepare to go into Jacob Javits Center with guns blazing for Book Expo of America. Book Expo took place from May 28th to May 31st, with the exhibition floor opening on May 29th for signings and events. This year I took a much more mellow approach than in previous years having worked the event and attended. I have to say this experience allowed me to get out of tunnel vision and get into the show more widely. I'd recommend this to anyone. Scope out the authors you're really interested in seeing or getting books from and go from there to panels or reviewing the exhibitors and what they're doing. Add that in by going to sit-down lunches with former coworkers and friends, viewing the entirety of the floor, attending panels all made it a much more full experience than standing in line after line after line or running all around trying to make attendees happy.
Let's talk scale. I've been going to Book Expo every year that it's been in NYC since 2003. This probably accumulates to six or seven times and in the span of one decade it has changed considerably, and, in some aspects, for the better. The single exhibition floor was put in place a few years back and serves as a better way to move from booth to signing to panels on the main stages and so on rather than splitting the difference.
The panels, I must say, were a bit disjointed to me in that they seemed very cursory. Understandably one has 50-80 minutes to educate a crowd on a specific topic and the info is really industry specific, however, in panels such as How to Market Authors Who are Inaccessible or How to Better Tag your Metadata, if you're already familiar with this and do it in your day-to-day job you more than likely learned nothing too groundbreaking. Yet, for self-published authors, as it was good to see, this is information that can be significant to how to better establish your platform and understand what's being done on the production side of your book.
Some more technical events happened on Midtown Stage and I was glad to go to one with a co-worker with the head of Adobe InDesign on updates on how to utilize this software to make ePub files in the new Creative Cloud. More technical aspects of the digital world may have you better suited to register for IDPF which often runs a day or so before BEA in Javits on the lower level.
Pavilions can be hit or miss. One can assume that many of the digital vendors are in the Digital Zone when others are spread out in other areas of the exhibit hall. Same can be said for university presses (whose appearances in booths at BEA have been steadily dwindling due to budgets and wondering if the reach is as wide as it is for trade). Vanity presses like Month9Books made appearances on BookCon day but there were many smaller booths that weren't around or were overwhelmed by lines winding through and around their booths from some of the major trade publishers.
When we discuss organization during the event, publishers seem to have gotten hip to the ticket craze. Even in-booth signings have tickets requiring this traded in for a signed book/blad/ARC. Learning from the overwhelming response to Rainbow Rowell's appearance last year Macmillan had tickets for those who wanted a signed copy before her signing guaranteeing you a book and hopefully a shorter wait. Random House had initiated tickets last year and signs held high with author pictures in addition to the listed time of their signings for easy location and no drama or worries.
The autograph area is always somewhat of a zoo, especially for big names like Libba Bray, Ann M. Martin, RL Stine, Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and others (yes, those are all YA authors and their lines were insane).
What else is of note is that more and more Book Expo seems to host additional celebrities in conjunction with established authors. Celebrities jumping into children's books or picture books, cookbooks, and memoir. Anjelica Huston and Neil Patrick Harris signed blads of their upcoming memoirs. Debi Mazar signed cookbooks with her husband Gabriele Corcos thanks to the popularity of their Cooking Channel show Extra Virgin. Dominique Ansel signed recipe cards and offered chocolatey treats for an ever-growing line for his "secrets" to his desserts. And Jason Segel co-authored a middle grade series with author Kirsten Miller for Nightmares a book based on a screenplay he wrote when he was 21. But the celebrities don't get all the love.
E. Lockhart's new novel We Were Liars cause chaos among bloggers and teens alike with the continued hype of this book. Ann M. Martin's return with a new series Rain/Reign had people of all ages lining up for a chance to see her. Carl Hiassan and David Mitchell, James Patterson and James Frey, Sylvia Day and so on.
While Book Expo is industry specific with bloggers, librarians, booksellers, distributors, media, and others in the industry attending it does reflect the overall excitement and intrigue of an industry that aims to please it's best customers.
This year BEA's Power Reader Day became BookCon. Sadly, BookCon was not worth the hype and what anyone who attended last year as a Power Reader remembers was stripped from BookCon customers.
BookCon (formerly Power Reader Day) opened BEA up to those who weren't in the industry but who were book lovers. It allowed them to get access to an event they wouldn't have been able to see and get freebies and learn more in the same breath. BookCon tix were for one day, May 31st which overlapped with the final day of BEA and they were $30 for adults, $5 for kids. And apparently, there was no cap on how many tickets were sold or how many attendees could fit into Javits.
But let me back up. Javits for BookCon was not the same as Javits for BEA attendees like myself. Oh no, BookCon was cordoned off into a section a bit over a third of the size of the entirety of Javits' main exhibition hall. Many publishers/exhibitors were cut off from BookCon and many, many more BookCon participants were not able to see the rest of BEA. Bulky security in red shirts and black pants loomed over those areas that drew a line between the two conventions. Yes, we were segregated.
I don't know if all exhibitors were made aware of this or not but of those that weren't they seemed surprised, especially with so many families around and potential for sales. In terms of the scope almost 10,000 (or more if reports get solidified) people came to BookCon and in a space significantly smaller than all of BEA this proved a hard maze to navigate through. And it most certainly felt like a safety hazard.
Lines for panels happening in conjunction with uPublishU were not lines but clusters of people positioned in front of a door to try and guarantee them a seat. Others at the Main Event Stage wove through the ground floor and around the registration desks. The line for BookCon attendees to get in was reminiscent of several cronut lines back-to-back. It was insane and the separation to get tickets for autographs in the autograph area was not clear.
As a BEA attendee I had access to BookCon but it did not go the opposite way, which caused much concern and irritation among those who originally purchased a one-day BEA ticket to have that magically changed to this new thing called "BookCon." Friends of mine in attendance for BookCon only insisted that they would not return to BookCon as is. And that they barely got anything due to the numerous lines making it hard to even browse. Another issue seemed to be that there were more publishers selling things rather than giving them away. In the PW BEA Edition organizers wanted to see how BookCon fared in order to decide if they'll have BEA/BookCon happen over 4 days with BEA going from May 28-30 and then BookCon from May 30-31. This, I imagine, would give anyone working these days in both areas reasons to curl up and rock themselves back to sanity.
There are many improvements to be made for BookCon and one I strongly suggest is not having it overlap with BEA if it means cordoning off an area for the attendees and scrunching so many people into a small(er) space. Also, monitor sales! Exhibitor attendance for BEA has gone done yet that doesn't mean attendee numbers should significantly rise!
A highlight for me of BookCon were the panels. Namely the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign that had a packed house of intrigued and supportive parties. However, BEA also had a panel held at the same time questioning why there wasn't more diversity with African Americans in publishing consisting of agents, editors, and entrepreneurs. In the BEA program there was a list of some, yet not all BookCon events meaning you had to get the BookCon material day of to discern what was happening. And the apps! The BEA app nor the BookCon app speak to each other making it hard for those who are BEA registrants to be able to see everything in one seamless page.
Oh, I could go on, but a blog post should be but so long. Next year BEA will be in NYC again before leaving after several years in my hometown to go to Chicago. I don't know if BEA will return to NYC or stay in Chicago for awhile, but what I sincerely hope is that if BookCon stays it becomes better organized for the safety and happiness of those who love books. The last thing anyone wants to do is antagonize book lovers because they are what keep the publishing industry going.
Book Expo 2013: How's the Publishing Industry Faring Since?
Once again Book Expo was held in NYC during a hot (and semi-humid) few days. There was talk about the state of the industry and digital components (and vendors) had a key area in the Digital Zone. What is the state of the industry or really prospects on the state? Hopefully ever optimistic and growing.
Well now that almost two months have passed since BEA, Penguin Random House has officially merged, there've been layoffs at academic publishers such as Wiley and Pearson, and who knows what more may come especially with the DoJ agreement keeping Amazon from owning a good portion of the industry in terms of rights. But, as always around Book Expo of America (BEA) time the outlook for the publishing industry and state of books is optimistic and favorable. But you wonder is this because of the BEA crowd being booksellers, librarians, bloggers, publishing professionals, authors, agents, and the like or because now that there's a day for Super Readers as well extends to people who just have a love for books?
This year BEA was very giving. And while there were rumors of some houses having significantly smaller booths than last year I didn't see much that was different from the past two years before at Jacob Javits Center. Random House had a good sized booth away from the cluster of the big six which helped them move and start lines in the autographing area. And many signings had huge turnouts and waits, particularly those for Rainbow Rowell's latest, Fangirl. The acclaim for Eleanor & Park (St. Martin's Griffin) sent fans standing in line for up to an hour just to get a chance to take a picture of the author whose lovely smile and comical and searing prose was worth the wait.
Rick Yancy's The 5th Wave (Penguin Teen) and Sarah Maas' latest in the Thrown of Glass series (Bloomsbury YA) drew huge crowds and waits before hand as well. And that's just a bit of proof of how much young adult titles continue to grow favor and lines at Book Expo with YA authors being a good portion of those doing signings.
Scholastic Editorial Director and author David Levithan signed two of his new/upcoming titles, one of which is the gorgeously elegiac Two Boys Kissing (Knopf for Young Readers). Veronica Roth signed posters for Allegiant (Book 3 in the Divergent trilogy, Katherine Tegen Books). Marie Lu signed samplers for Champion, the last book in the Legend series and she'll be gearing up for her new series with Penguin due out fall 2014.
Algonquin had a YA takeover at their booth one of the days of BEA in celebration of their new Young Readers imprint that will have debuts this fall. Two of their titles were on the YA Buzz Panel. Hitting the 30 year anniversary it seemed apt that a new imprint could bring a new face to Algonquin. And one of the big draws and titles talked about on the Buzz Panel were If You Could Be Mine about two girls in a relationship in Lebanon and the MG book The Time Fetch. And even Tuttle Publishing which is known for it's books bringing Asian education and flair to the marketplace has YA books they were promoting alongside many of their popular cookbooks. And with Paleo becoming a bigger contingent in the cookbook scene Tuttle Publishing has that covered.
There was also the literary contingent with Andre Dubus III signing a new book out with Norton. Elizabeth Gilbert signing her new fiction title with Penguin. Giveaways for National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward's latest, a memoir entitled Men We Reaped about the men she's lost in her life and her life in the South. Colum McCann signed hard copies of his first book since he won the National Book Award in 2009, Transatlantic. Add in the talkative Adriana Trigiani and Jason Mott whose debut The Returned from Harlequin imprint Mira has been getting raves and there's a well-rounded amount of authors for a diverse audience. There was the hype for Burial Rites a debut from Hannah Kent and Wally Lamb's latest along with Son by Phillip Meyer. And Neil Gaiman didn't just have a children's book he was promoting and signing he also had an adult one (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) and drew a HUGE crowd on Saturday morning for his talk on writing and the business along with a signing afterwards.
Amy Tan was there to speak of her new book due out in November. Jim Carrey had a fast-moving line curling around Perseus's distribution booths for signing of posters for his first picture book for kids and Chelsea Handler was there for photo ops. Julianne Moore had another children's book she was promoting and Giada De Laurentiis signed her first children's book as well called Recipes for Adventure with an imprint at Penguin. But the biggest star seemed to be Grumpy Cat who had about a 45 minute wait for a picture beside him. But you could not touch the cat. At all.
So that's the fun stuff, but what about the business of publishing? How is that going? Ebook sales are rising but still do not make up a huge portion of the market. They take up 15-20% of sales in trade and many independent presses and small university presses are trying to find a piece of that pie. Making the Digital Zone and coinciding conference IDPF huge draws for industry professionals to get to know what's available on the digital side and how they can reap the benefits for low costs.
Even with sales not taking a huge piece of the pie like expected ebooks are and will continue to be very important to the market. Kobo, one of the lesser known e-readers may soon be striking a deal with the American Booksellers Association (ABA) to distribute their ebooks exclusively with independent stores helping both parties in one swoop. One of the detriments of the indie store has been competing in the digital market and a contract with Kobo can improve that. I mean look at this New Yorker cover (below). Doesn't that say enough about the state of the indies? Especially indies in big cities like NYC where ones pop up but need a steady base of customers to continue to go to. And in places like Queens and the Bronx we do not have many if any.
From the agent perspective, especially if you follow the Twitter-verse and look at new books coming out in the Young Adult realm certain trends are slowing and others are surging. Amy Tintera's Reboot and T. Mike Martin's The End Games both play off of zombies, which may be the new "thing." Dystopian is losing ground but there are still new ones coming out like Joelle Charbonneau's The Testing series from HMH Kids. And aliens are making a comeback! (See the popularity of The 5th Wave and also Malinda Lo's sequel to Adaptation.) Maggie Stiefvater's latest in the Raven Cycle series was a huge item up-for-grabs and traipses along a new line of fantasy and mystery and the hunt for a mystical king. Whereas contemporary YA is gaining ground and will always have relevance (note what I said about Rainbow Rowell's line).
Mysteries and their big name authors like James Patterson and Preston & Child had ARCs flying off the floor. And with the Readers Day on Saturday people went buck wild about the freebies.
More MG is being sought by publishers and agents. More specific stories and non-recycling of themes we've seen/heard/read before. It's becoming harder to become unique if in certain instances trends are the thing but good writing is good writing and books is what excites everyone about BEA in the first place.
So what is the outlook on the publishing industry? Well, it has ebbs and flows as any business does. Super Readers on Saturday proved to be big fans and also those in education seeking out titles to give to students and promote reading. Books will always be a necessity whether for entertainment, inspiration, or education. And BEA tends to remind those of us in the industry how much people enjoy it and how important it is. Yes, people get very grabby hands at BEA and there is shuffling of bodies and pushing of arms and taking of items clearly marked for sale but in the grand scheme of things it's about books and book lovers and uniting them for a celebration of the industry not just an analysis of it.
Time will tell what the (immediate) future holds for publishing. A lot of predictions made don't come to fruition. A lot of sites in beta may or may not be the next huge thing. And many books predicted to be hits may flounder and those that barely got any publicity may surge due to word of mouth from various people in the community. There's no true tell-tale sign except that publishing needs to be malleable and change with the times while consistently seeking to produce great content and find the audience for it.
For next year and the year after BEA will still be held in New York City at Jacob Javits before going off to Chicago for a year or maybe more. It's been really nice having BEA in my hometown/backyard for the past three years straight and I'll continue to enjoy it no matter the locale.
Winner of "Herbivoracious" and my Twitter Giveaway!
Announcement of the winner of Herbivoracious and rules for my upcoming Twitter (500 Follower) Giveaway! Free stuff?! Yes! Free stuff!
Saturday was the last day you could put in for the Herbivoracious cookbook giveaway. I got the winner the old-fashioned way: I wrote the names down on small slits of paper, put them in a bag, shook it up, and closed my eyes as I grabbed a slip. And the winner is:
Carol Sue!
Major congrats! I'll be emailing you for your address and will send via USPS this week. Hope you enjoy it. And even if you didn't win, Michael has many recipes from Herbivoracious on his website where you can test drive some. If you like what you see/try than I highly suggest getting a copy from Harvard Common Press. It's a great book to have on-hand, especially for those, like myself, seeking to make more veggie heavy dishes with flair.
One giveaway ends and another begins. Yes, I'm feeling particularly giving now. Call it post-Book Expo warm fuzzies.
Since I'm getting close to the 500 follower mark (or have hit it by the time this posts) on Twitter I have decided to hold a giveaway for my followers.
Here are the rules:
1) You're automatically entered if you follow me on Twitter. No need to tweet or comment or anything.
2) Once I get to the 501 mark (as followers tend to waver 1 or 2 per day) I'll randomly choose a winner using Random Number Generator. I will only enter numbers 1-whatever # followers I have that day.
3) I will pick two numbers randomly. From there I will count the followers (yes, count) in ascending order (bottom to top) and determine which follower corresponds with that number. Hard work, but someone's got to do it.
4) If the number corresponds with a spammer or corporation or family member (sorry, but I gotta stay somewhat neutral) they will not be counted and I will randomly pick another number and find the follower that corresponds as long as they are an individual and not related to me.
5) I will announce the winners via Twitter and DM them. If they do not respond within 48 hours I'll repeat steps 3 & 4 to find another winner.
6) Once I get in touch with winner we'll discuss which prize you'd like and I'll get it ASAP. Meaning within the week if possible/available.
So I'm sure you're wondering what the prizes are? Since my website/blog is based around my love of the written word and baking it only seems fitting that the prizes reflect such. So, two lucky, random winners will get a choice between:
- A book (whatever genre) at a $25 (USD) value or less OR
- Dessert from one of the bakeries I have interviewed (check my baking page for direct links to interviews) at a value of $25 (USD) or less. Sorry to say that this doesn't count Cupcakes in Rome as she is located in Italy, however if YOU are in Italy you may be in luck! Please note that some bakeries only deliver to the NYC/tri-state area so we can try and work out another dessert if you have a hankering and are out of location.
I'll have another cookbook giveaway in August thanks to Tuttle Publishing for Bee Yinn Low's (aka RasaMalaysia) new book. So stay tuned!
Thanks for following and reading!
Book Expo 2012: Lots to Celebrate (and Learn)
This year Book Expo of America (BEA) was held on a timid weather week in New York City (and it was announced that Book Expo will continue to be held in NYC until 2015). There were many award-winning authors, publisher anniversaries celebrated, and much discussed in terms of what and how to bring books to consumers. BEA was held in conjunction with IDPF and BlogExpo at Jacob Javits Center in midtown Manhattan.
Last week the largest book convention for those of us in the book industry reared it's head again in midtown Manhattan. Book Expo of America (BEA) was held in conjunction with the newly purchased BEA (formerly Book) Blogger Convention, IDPF, and Blog & New Media Expo. And New York City will be the home of BEA up until 2015, which makes me particularly happy as it's been housed at Javits steadily since 2008 after it used to rotate locations between Los Angeles and Chicago. This year BEA focused on different ways of thinking. Publishers connecting with consumers directly and cutting out the middle man. Sessions have steadily been geared towards how to utilize social media to its highest potential and how to make books (particularly young adult and middle grade titles) that much more exciting and interactive for the end user.
Many articles in the media have touted Amazon as an enemy for publishers with low-cost products and small returns. Becoming the Walmart of the book world Amazon has it's own self-publishing imprint (CreateSpace), has launched it's own publishing sector, and is still one of the first places consumers go to purchase books at a deeply discounted rate with free shipping and many other goods available from clothes to music to appliances and various technology. And Amazon continues it's growth in the publication industry with the purchase of Avalon Books which specialized in romance and mystery titles.
In a market that is slowly on the uptick publishers are trying new ways and harder than ever to connect with consumers directly. Book Expo allows them this opportunity but many times it is press/media and booksellers that get more of the publishers attention. Book bloggers have been indelible in spreading the word about little known books becoming the next big thing. A prime example of this is The Hunger Games which is a true word-of-mouth success from book 1 to the final book Mockingjay released in 2010. As is there was a huge blow up in the media blogger realm when numerous book bloggers and other forms of press were denied press credentials months after registering for BEA. To Reed Exhibitions credit they reneged on the subsequent denials noting their mishap in cancelling registration for bloggers who had registered in January and February and not informing them until the day before Good Friday (when much Reed staff was already out of the office.) Next year I'm sure whatever stringent guidelines that make press press will be clearly outlined early on and handled much more swiftly post-registration. But this sent flurries throughout the blogosphere noting how important bloggers can be to publishers and how important they are to spreading the word about books many may not be aware of and providing a hardcore fan base for authors of various genres, particularly in the young adult (YA) market.
BEA Buzz Panels for both YA and Adult books were huge draws for bloggers, booksellers, and fans alike giving attendees the inside track on what publishers are noting as their big debuts for the year. This included Kat Zhang's YA paranormal book What's Left of Me from HarperTeen and Shani Bioanjiu's The People of Forever Are Not Afraid from Hogarth (a division of Crown Publishers). Bioanjiu was also a National Book Award 5 Under 35 Honoree this year. But debuts weren't the only things lauded at Book Expo of America, prize winning authors like Junot Diaz, Mark Helprin, and Tracy K. Smith were on-hand for autographing. Pulitzer Prize winner Diaz spent hours with fans lined up to read an excerpt from his new collection from Riverhead (an imprint of Penguin) This Is How You Lose Her. He even said it was great to meet readers. "I'm like thank God," he said. The realization of meeting those who enjoy your work can be refreshing. Dennis Lehane (Live By Night) from William Morrow (HarperCollins) and native New Yorker Victor LaValle (The Devil in Silver) from Penguin they were appreciative of those lined up to meet them and of the compliments received and were happy to promote new work.
Book clubs are another big score for publishers and this year a speed dating event was held on Wednesday by The Book Report Network where leaders and members of book clubs could meet with publishers and hear about upcoming titles (in hardcover & paperback) they think would fit with book clubs. In meeting Erin Morgenstern for a signing of the paperback version of The Night Circus she had said that she thinks her book is great for book clubs. Being "fun" to discuss. Her editor was also quick to note that during Erin's tour they would be happy to speak more with those interested in doing Night Circus for book club discussions. Not only was Morgenstern there promoting the paperback version of her book but so was National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward for Salvage the Bones also in paperback. My book club is fond of books in this format and it is often when reprinted in PB that publishers add book club guides to the back to promote discussion. Book clubs can generate great sales especially if they meet regularly and have a dozen or more members. Many of the members of my book club have turned to digital means and so have a friend of mine with me being one of the few still pursuing the printed text. But the printed text still has a great ways to go before being eliminated and so publishers are aching for book clubs to "adopt" their titles.
And there were numerous celebrations! The arrival of Book Expo of America also initiates NY Book Week with lots of parties going on around NYC hosted by bookstores, publishers, authors, and bloggers. But within the realm of Javits Center there many anniversaries to be celebrated from Little, Brown's 175th to The New Press' 20th to Scholastic's Clifford the Big Red Dog turning 50 to Sourcebooks celebrating the quarter century mark. Russia served as the guest of honor at Book Expo this year and had a huge section devoted to "Read Russia" where champagne in crystal flutes was on-hand to celebrate new and established authors from their homeland introducing them to an international audience. Taunton Press had signings by cookbook author (and local foodie) Abby Dodge offering great samples of her orange sesame cookies. Tuttle Publishing had daily samples of desserts from Sushi Secrets and gluten-free items. HarperCollins had beer and cupcakes, Perseus had an open bar and there were wine tastings near the ever winding Starbuck's line and check in downstairs.
Discussions on Uptown and Downtown stages ranged from the Bellwether prize where winners Heidi Durrow and Hillary Jordan sat with veteran author and Bellwether judge Barbara Kingsolver to the always advancing digital age in publishing to applications that can help sell your ebook. Scholastic was heavily promoting their new series Infinity Ring that is both a print book and available as a game, readers can choose either (or both) formats to enter the world of this new middle grade series, each book written by a different author. The author breakfast and lunches welcomed (back) Stephen Colbert, Junot Diaz, Barbara Kingsolver, Zadie Smith, Chris Colfer, Lois Lowry, Michael Chabon and John Green to name a few.
And while in years past Book Expo of America had been slim in pickings there was much available to take in and take home. BEA is an avid reader's playland and a future writer's inspiration. Meeting authors, publishers, agents, bloggers, and booksellers immersed in the same love is a great way to be reinvigorated and well informed. BEA provides a way to connect all facets of the industry to learn more about what is working, what isn't, and what the larger masses want in terms of upcoming titles and their platforms. Next year I imagine much of the conversations will be the same discussing the success of some strategies and the complications of others, but it's good to know that those within the industry seek to change the way literature is provided and taken in and that there's always a format for everyone. After all books should be celebrated and Book Expo of America is one of the biggest venues to do so.
Book Expo 2011: Come one, come all!
Book Expo of America was held in New York City again and proved to be as big an event as ever. In terms of giveaways it was more extravagant than last year with publishers celebrating with cupcakes (Wiley) and some with beer (HarperCollins). All had galleys or some kind of giveaways to entice readers and book lovers to stay at their booth or come by again.
This year's Book Expo of America (BEA) brought back memories for those of us who'd attended years prior. While last year was truncated both in size and scope and also in terms of what publishers offered, this year sought to improve upon that with many giveaways and choices and even a joint convention with the Book Bloggers Convention at Jacob Javits Center in midtown Manhattan. It wasn't as humid as last year but the sun was in full effect which made for a lovely week for visitors and natives to enjoy this event pre-Memorial Day weekend. Last year some notable trade publishers did not have booths. But this year they came back full force. When talking to one of the publicists with Scholastic she mentioned that a big complaint was that they did not have giveaways last year except for author signings in the autograph area, but this year they had a huge booth in the Children's pavilion and had many giveaways including a new book by Maggie Stiefvater (The Scorpio Races) along with galleys of the last book in her Wolves of Mercy Falls series, Forever, and Wonderstruck a new book from Brian Selznick with a lovely, durable tote to accompany the galley.
Hachette Publishers had many giveaways as did HarperCollins, Macmillan, Random House, Gray Wolf Press, Harlequin, Cleis Press, and Penguin. Authors in high demand and with huge lines included Colson Whitehead, Chuck Palahniuk, Tom Perotta, Ally Condie, Melissa Marr, Rick Riordan, and Scott Westerfeld among many others including celebrities with books out (or due out) like Duff MacGrath, Tyra Banks (yes, Tyra is in the book mix now), Julianne Moore, Diane Keaton, Jane Lynch, Michael Moore, and the list goes on and on again.
Tuesday was a mad house with ARCs (advanced reader copies) everywhere! At 9am sharp the masses tend to divide and conquer and get their hands on items that they hope will keep them from standing on a massive line later on in the day. In speaking with many people on lines that you, inevitably, stand on it's always interesting to talk to attendees about their excitement in meeting established authors or being introduced to new ones that they end up loving. These ARCs do a great job to promote debut authors and familiar ones while entertaining readers to no end with the amount they can get their hands on.
While last year's main "theme" was Books in a Digital World it wasn't the main element in panel discussions as it was last year. This year Book Expo was held in conjunction with the Book Bloggers Expo and BlogWorld in addition to the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) conference. Press who registered for Book Expo were able to get into some of the other events held at Jacob Javits Center that week. There was a section devoted completely to the rise and growing efficiency of digital publishing for books and the many companies offering services in conversion and distribution.
Self-publishing is also on the rise. I conducted an interview with actress and new author Tanya Wright on her new book Butterfly Rising published with CreateSpace (a self-publishing sector of Amazon) and author Maria Murnane (Perfect on Paper), and CreateSpace sr. marketing manager, Aaron Rosenstein, about what CreateSpace offers as a newer face in the self-publishing world and how it really caters to authors giving them back control of their work. Amazon has also grown in the publishing world with their own publishing imprints as their awards to find breakthrough authors has set them on track to publish many beyond those voted on by Amazon members/visitors. Amazon conducted many signings at their publishing booth and had a strong presence at Book Expo via CreateSpace.
The New Title Showcase is where many self-published authors with more familiar services like iUniverse, Xlibris, and AuthorNotes had their books displayed, but sometimes these get lost in the crowd when it comes to being exposed to a new audience. This is where CreateSpace has more pull in its connection to a stronghold in the publishing and book buying world. Especially since they had a booth to display their authors and their titles rather than having their work lumped together on shelves making the choices akin to being in a bookstore for readers. And when you're on a schedule you may not have time to search through New Titles in the hopes that something may catch your eye when there are so many publishers, authors, galleys, and booths vying for your attention on the main floor.
Many of the Author Stages talked about anticipated upcoming books, ebooks, and also conversations with authors about their process and what's next. There were many "buzz panels" where editors talked about upcoming books they were excited about, many of which had galleys available and were being pushed from new YA series to "The American The Kite Runner" and so on.
Wednesday was just as busy but probably a bit more subdued in the fact that many people got key finds on Tuesday. I was able to navigate and got to meet some wonderful authors. Tayari Jones' new book Silver Sparrow came out last Tuesday and she signed copies of the hard cover.
Laini Taylor was around signing ARCs of her new book with Little, Brown Young Readers Daughter of Smoke & Bone where about a thousand copies were available. Tom Perotta signed for more than his designated time and was kind to each and every person in line who patiently awaited his signature on his new look at a world post-Rapture (perfect timing no?), The Leftovers.
Thursday is always the more relaxed day in that many people use this time to recover from standing in lines and carrying hefty totes full of galleys and new titles. There was less of a rush on Thursday and the doors closed at 3pm allowing exhibitors to clean up and pack up and attendees to prepare shipping and perhaps even enjoy the city.
The week of Book Expo in New York also marks New York Book Week and that means...after-parties! On Monday I went to the Teen YA Carnival in SoHo with author Shana Silver and heard a nice discussion with David Levithan, Kody Keplinger, and Torrey Maldonado among others on writing teen angst though this discussion turned more into their background and how that's helped their process in writing for a YA audience. There were some giveaways and a lot of books to get signed by these authors and others including Malinda Lo!
Tuesday's big after-party was in SoHo where many went to the Bookrageous BEA Bash at Lolita Bar where many authors such as Scott Westerfield, Lev Grossman, and Catherynne M. Valente were. There were numerous author talks in the afternoon and evenings and various events not listed in the New York Book Week guide attendees received along with the list of exhibitors, author signings, and coupon book for deals around the city during the week.
On Wednesday my friend Bonnie and I attended the first ever Goodreads Book Club event at Housing Works where Jennifer Egan's Pulitzer Prize winning book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, is the pick. Ms. Egan signed copies of her books and chatted with the audience while we were entertained by teenage band Care Bears on Fire. Good times. (All proceeds from this event go to Housing Works' mission of supporting AIDS research and individuals with AIDS).
Thursday, more events, but Anna and I attended Scholastic's ThisIsTeen event at the Scholastic store where Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, and Maggie Stiefvater briefly spoke on their writing methods and about their new titles. For Ms. Bray Beauty Queens has already gotten a lot of buzz and was recently listed as one of the "must" on Entertainment Weekly's 10 Must List.
The rapport with the authors was one of camraderie and comedy and it was a pleasure to hear them speak and then engage with them as they signed copies of their books as well as ARCs that may have been made available at Book Expo or to bloggers/press.
By week's end I believe I collected less books than I did last year. And having learned from years past I made sure to have a wheely suitcase along with me to prevent me from having a sore back and shoulders for days. Though, my feet are a whole other story.
I've met many wonderful authors and fellow book lovers/bloggers at Book Expo and am connecting with people more and more via Twitter each day based on our experiences.
For book lovers Book Expo is similar to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and us being Charlie or one of the other kids having the golden ticket. But I'll go with Charlie cause he was in awe and so appreciative of what he was able to be a part of. As book lovers, book sellers, publishing professionals, authors, publicists, bloggers, and so on we all come together at this huge event to learn more about authors, the book world, and the tomes we love or may grow to love. We post and report and review to share knowledge of what we deem good or bad and no matter what we're constantly entertained by what's out there for us to consume.
Here's looking forward to another Book Expo in New York next year. It'll be the first week of June, which hopefully means more sunny skies and brilliant evenings.