SubscribeBook Expo America (BEA – twitter hash tag #BEA10) is an industry event that happens once a year where everyone involved in the process of writing, publishing, distributing and marketing books comes together. This year it was held in the Jacob Javits center in NYC and, judging from preliminary numbers, had attendance around 30,000 people.
One of the most exciting things that I heard – at least in relation to readers – was that next year, BEA may open itself to readers as well as industry professionals and go back to a 3-day format (this year was two days) to allow for greater attendance and quality time. So, with that possibility and to memorialize a great event, I’ve decided to write a why is BEA important post.
BEA starts with a great number of boxes, crates, and people willing to build up booths. This process takes a full day.
Some of the booths are very creative – this one above was a giant typewriter. Most booths are traditional “storefront”-type setups but there were a few other creative booths. After things get set up, the doors open and thousands of people pour in. The scene looks like this:
Business is happening all around but what is most interesting to readers is the author signings, advanced reading copy (ARC) distribution, and general book discovery. James Patterson, Debbie Macomber, Mary Roach, Kristan Higgins, Cherie Priest, and hundreds of other authors were signing books. Below is a picture of me with Kristan Higgins, who is an amazingly nice person on top of a very good author. Book Expo is a great time for authors to get to meet their readers just as it is for readers to get to meet authors. Book Expo allows for a stage that provides a bit of clarity into the process of publishing. It is rare that the author, agent, publisher, printer, distributor, and bookseller are all in the same room. When you add readers to the mix, there is a near-heavenly synergy. Readers get to show their support (and flex their consumer powers) a bit by supporting the authors they enjoy and sending a message to publishers that print publishing isn’t dead yet.
The last, but still important, aspect of BEA is connecting readers to the reading media. While there will always be the NY Times Book Review, it seems as if major media outlets are slashing their book/publishing related budgets. Now, more than ever, we need services like The Book Studio, Shelf Awareness, Bookmarks Magazine, Good Reads, and LibraryThing to help us weed through the masses of books and find well-written books that are also relevant. Pictured below are Bethanne Patrick “The Book Maven,” a quintessential member of The Book Studio, and Robin Lenz, a member of Shelf Awareness.
If Book Expo does open itself up to readers and you are a book lover, I would highly recommend that you try to attend.
For those who couldn’t make it this year, here is a short summary of what I gathered from this year’s conference and how it affects you – the reader:
- Print books (also known as p-books) are not dead. They will remain a strong and driving force for many years to come.
- E-books are important to publishers and they want their books to work on all devices.
- There are a few tech companies that are moving into the book space. Expect some new devices and some new e-book marketplaces.
- Children’s books are going to be amazing in the future – between iPad apps and interactive websites, there are some cool things already available and in the works.
Should you have any questions, comment and I’ll do my best to answer them.
-Nick
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Hello readers and writers. My name is Nick Ruffilo and I am the CIO/CTO of 