6.10.10: To BEA, or Not To BEA…
Book Expo America is North America’s largest book convention. This year it was held in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Center. Unable to attend this year, I did sit in the first annual Arm Chair BEA and I found the gaggle of book-bloggers hashtagging on Tweetchat to be a lively and informed bunch, discussing topics like: “What publishers expect from bloggers and what bloggers think publishers expect”
Regarding the actual BEA, I spent the last week and a half corresponding with a handful of convention attendees. Among my contributing acquaintances, two distinct differences were noted between this year’s event and those of years prior: the convention lasted two days instead of three, and all the exhibitors were thrown together on one, big floor. A few folks I spoke to liked the packed, lively atmosphere and remarked on the “energy” present in the room; others found it chaotic.
“It was too crowded,” said Lilly, a book reviewer from New York state. “I preferred the way it was last year.”
Fiction author Mary Fagan had this to say of BEA on her Gather blog: “The experience, except for a few pleasant visits at the booths, was mega non-productive for me! I want to know what it is that authors can accomplish there. For the most part it just seemed like a hard-sell event – a pitiful and demeaning exercise for authors hawking books like used cars.” Fagan also reported immense difficulty finding booths on the provided map; “I’d arranged my list in order by booth number rather than alphabetically” she said, “– assuming (silly me!) the spaces could be readily identified.” The packed single floor apparently amplified the normal shortage of “resting spaces” in the center, and several attendees remarked that the wait time in line for various concession stands seemed longer than in previous years.
On the other hand, Seymour Morris, Jr.-author of American History Revised (Random House 2010) – left BEA encouraged.
“Unlike the past two years,” he said, “this year’s BEA Conference was quite positive and upbeat. There were fewer exhibitors, but everyone there was focused on books and I heard very little meow-meow about the ebook threat. Which is exactly how it should be: instead of complaining about external forces you can’t control, focus on your core business and do it well.”
Of the writers and publicists queried, I found that many felt the jostling, bustling aura of this year’s BEA was provoked—not by the lackluster attendance numbers from the London Book Fair in February–but by an op-ed piece penned in the New York Times by author and radio personality Garrison Keillor. “Call me a pessimist,” he wrote, “call me Ishmael, but I think that book publishing is about to slide into the sea.” Keillor proceeded to compare the growing number of writers with the declining number of paying readers. “And that is the future of publishing: 18 million authors in America, each with an average of 14 readers, eight of whom are blood relatives. Average annual earnings: $1.75.” In his piece, Keillor went on to lament that the grand age of publishing books was gone, sparking a host of ensuing rhetoric and apparently casting a bit o’ fanaticism onto the BEA convention floor.
John Stewart, the emcee of one of BEA’s author events had this to say in reply to Keillor’s piece: “Garrison Keillor wrote in a Times op-ed yesterday that the publishing industry is dead, and I thought, ‘Thank God, I don’t have to get up early tomorrow morning.” Maud Newton, writer, editor, and book critic also responded to Keillor’s rather dire prediction: “Writers of books will always need good editors. Self-publishing is not a new phenomenon. Cf. Benjamin Franklin. Yes, publishing will change, but it will also continue to exist.”
While I admired the optimism presented by many of the blogging industry professionals, the dwindling number of attendees is hard to ignore. BEA officials announced on June 2nd that the number of “verified industry professionals in attendance” for the 2010 conference was 21,919 – of which 8,047 were exhibitors. One must note that in 2009 there were 29,923 registered visitors. According to the BEA website, “this shortfall is largely attributable to the shortened schedule.” In 2011, BEA plans to revert back to the three-day convention model.
Unlike in years past, this year’s convention spared a good deal of focus for digital media and appeared to stretch out a tenuous finger of welcome to the avid inhabitants of Bloggerdom. The first annual one-day Book Bloggers Convention was held simultaneously to BEA just across the corridor in the same center; it was attended by a sizable list of book-reviewing bloggers, publishing professionals and authors. At BBC, Ron Hogan of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt spoke on “Professionalism and ethics in blogging” as well as “How to communicate with publishing companies, publicists, etc.”
An eBook-related press release from the BEA floor caught my eye: Baker & Taylor and LibreDigital, Inc. announced an expanded agreement to partner for the delivery of e-books – creating a one-stop, a “comprehensive suite of services for publishers.” As part of the agreement, Baker & Taylor – also the world’s largest distributor of books and value-added services to retailers, institutions and libraries – will offer its more than 30,000 publishing partners a full range of digital services from LibreDigital.
“Digital devices and new applications are creating unique opportunities in the publishing industry. Baker & Taylor and LibreDigital together present a white-label platform for the aggregation and delivery of digital media products,” said Tom Morgan, CEO of Baker & Taylor. “Whatever the content, whatever the device, Baker & Taylor and LibreDigital deliver.”
In spite of the negative aspects and dire industry predictions , many of the writers, reviewers and publicists on my contact lists – that were unable to get to New York for BEA this year – responded to my feedback query with eager hopes of attending next year.
“The book industry isn’t dead,” one of them told me. “It’s just on medication…”
Meredith Greene has been a reviewer for SBR/SFBR since April of 2009; a wife of thirteen years, mother of four and self-published novelist. She, nevertheless, finds time for poetry, blogs, home projects, and gardening.
Come on over and read what Meredith has to say about home, gardening, and other general musings in her column Greene Ink.
Visit Meredith’s website www.BelatorBooks.com.
