BEA 2009

I attended the Book Expo of America in New York City again this year, and like previous visits, it was an exciting place to be for a book lover. Most American publishers and many international ones come out and show off their latest offerings in their booths, many of them with authors that will sign books for you or just hang out and chat.  Deals are made as sales people and buyers and marketing-types walk the halls looking for the next big thing, and authors and lawyers and publishers hammer out rights deals and all that other stuff that goes on behind the scenes which ultimately delivers books into readers’ hands.  All of it creates a great buzz of activity that is pretty cool to behold.

Despite the rumblings and portents of the dire state of the publishing industry due to the economy and ebooks and bugaboos, the show was busy.  That said, it was definitely smaller this year than ones in the past.  Less booths, smaller booths and fewer freebies and books were in evidence, and many publishers were showing less titles and new releases but it seemed to be busier than I’ve ever seen it.  Almost every person manning the booth on the first day was engaged in a constant stream of meetings with people selling, buying, and discussing.  Even though it was smaller, it seemed more efficient and every publisher I talked to said that they were filling orders non-stop with old and new customers.  While I certainly didn’t talk to every publisher–probably not even half of the ones in attendance (its still a huge show)–all of them seemed very pleased with the way things were going, and most of them were publishing titles that will surely do well in the market.  I’m thinking that rumors of the demise of the publishing industry are a little exaggerated.

Some booths in particular really stood out.  Chronicle Books had a great big  booth that distinguished itself for its size and look, and for the titles it had on display–not to mention the sexy tote bags they were giving away.  Every time I went through it, it was packed with customers browsing and reps selling, and cool, shiny books displayed everywhere.  Parragon was the same way, with great non-fiction books and a friendly staff that were doing all they could to keep up with the flow of customers.  We have a relationship with some of the people at Parragon, and they confirmed what we saw–the show was awesome for them.

Some of my favorite booths at the BEA are the art book publishers.  Their books are always so beautiful with large covers tastefully (sometimes) giving glimpses of their contents.  The array of subjects are dizzying:  paintings of different kinds, sculpture, photography, mixed media, fashion and others. It’s all fascinating to me and when you put those beautiful books into a tastefully designed booth, the impact is visceral.  Abrams with their translucent white shelving and subtle lighting made a perfect tableau for their titles, while the understated elegance of the Assouline made their large-sized and often weird (in a good way) books practically pop out into the aisles visually.  Abbeville with their luscious fine art titles printed in huge books made it seem like you were walking into an intimate gallery of great art staffed with friendly guides to point out things of particular beauty.

I could go on, but I won’t.  It would get boring and you’d think I was a weird fanboy like the Moleskines booth folk thought.  In their case, I guess I am, which must have been strange to them since they’re notebooks.  But they’re good notebooks, dammit!  My role at the show this year was different than past times.  I was in charge, which adds a whole new dimension of stress and worry to the experience.  Despite that, I did enjoy the show, and what’s not to like?  A big convention center filled with wonderful books and passionate people that are pretty much there to shop and talk about books.  I don’t think anything could dull that experience for me, and I was also being supported by the greatest helpers a book buyer could ever hope for.  None of us were new to the show, and  1 of them did my job before me.  A smart, hardworking, fun-loving group makes any job a treat and this was no different.

We’ll see what the post-show apocalyptic internet oracles say in regards to the show.  It should be amusing given how far off from reality they were, but I suppose they can always predict the end for next year, or the year after that.  As long as they keep having the show, I’ll keep going, looking for cool books and talking to interesting people.  Who knows?  I might even get into the oracle business myself.  Although if I can suddenly see the future, I think I’ll use those powers in Vegas rather than internet proclamations.  I need more books, after all.