New BEA director Brien McDonald has announced key changes for the leading US book publishing trade show running from May 31 to June 2 at New York City’s Javits Center.
For starters, BEA is shortening its name in 2017. It is to be called BookExpo (“BE”?) rather than BookExpo America. This change reflects some criticism that the show has had a US-centric stance. While Frankfurt Book Fair and London Book Fair position themselves firmly as international events, BEA in recent years has had less traffic from abroad. Per McDonald, as quoted by Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly (and others), “Having ‘America’ in our name regionalized the show; we’re a global event anchored in the publishing mecca of New York City and the destination for all book industry professionals.” Not everyone buys this: Michael Cader at Publishers Lunch (subscription required) reminds us that the show was originally run by the American Booksellers Association.
The changes (other than the name) have a lot to do with deteriorating attendance numbers. Last year’s one-time move to Chicago saw a big drop in visitors, with the visitor count coming in at 6,314—down from 9,634 in 2015. Cader reminds us that 2012 saw 11,374 visitors.
The company now is talking of capping attendance at 6,000 badges primarily meant for booksellers and librarians. Since the conference is returning to the cavernous Javits Center in New York City, this could mean that BEA will have a lot of roomy aisles. In the past, non-publisher badges have numbered as many as 10,000. But organizers say their intention is to emphasize buying attendees and reflect the main mission of the trade show: displaying and selling the publishers’ wares.
Since BEA discontinued the uPublishU conference last year in favor of author programming in the exhibit hall, authors will find less reason to attend. Note, however, that the Author Market is expected to return as an area on the show floor in which indie authors can buy a table. The conference-style events on Wednesday—before the actual trade-show floor opens with its displays from publishers—will comprise programming that stresses an international slant, with a Global Market Forum. That’s a showcased nation or region, akin to what’s called a Guest of Honor at Frankfurt Book Fair and Market Focus at London Book Fair.
Bottom line: What’s on the rise with BEA? BookCon [Editor’s note: link is updated annually, so this link will not reflect 2017 information]—tickets go on sale today. Produced by Lance Fensterman for ReedPOP, this is the reader-facing weekend event (June 3–4) in which popular authors and film actors appear before a potential 20,000 or so attendees led by Millennials. BookCon is a gold mine for publishers, and we think that authors brought in to meet these enthusiastic book lovers will be the lucky ones at this year’s BEA.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
