In our last edition of The Hot Sheet, we noted how this year’s BookExpo in New York City—the largest North American trade show for publishing—would be the smallest to date. Now we’ve seen it in action, and the numbers are in: 7,425 attendees. As Michael Cader at Publishers Lunch (paywall) clarifies, compared to the same categories of attendees, that’s 618 people more than Chicago’s 6,807 figure. But the full figure on all classes of attendees in Chicago was 10,745.
In more upbeat news, BookCon, which follows BookExpo, met its attendance goal of 10,000 attendees for each day. Since 2014, BookCon has served as the public-facing, fandom-happy event. While BookExpo looked oddly vacant, with much wider aisles and fewer exhibitors’ stands than in the past, the vast floor at the Javits Center teemed with enthusiasts during Saturday and Sunday’s BookCon.
The elephant in the room is described well by the Associated Press’ Hillel Italie: “Publishers have wondered for years whether the convention [BookExpo] was necessary in the Internet Age, when deals once negotiated at BookExpo are now accomplished online.”
And that point is amplified when you look at the show’s dwindling presence on the international stage. With only two trade-show days, BookExpo is less cost-effective for overseas exhibitors. Also, just this week, IPR License, a rights-trading platform, has announced buy buttons that publishers can place on catalogs, emails, and online rights guides to automate rights trading to a new degree. BookExpo’s organizers at ReedPOP say they have some sort of plan for “actively addressing these challenges.”
Bottom line: Even the Big Five publishers’ stands looked smaller and less showy this year. While The Hot Sheet has always been glad to see the energy of fandom at the BookCon event, the emphasis for the mostly younger, female, YA-interested attendees of BookCon appears to be (1) free stuff and (2) celebrities from YouTube, film, and TV. Case in point: Margaret Atwood appeared relative to Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale production (renewed for a second season) and with its showrunner, Bruce Miller. Is it about books and reading? That’s something we may only learn over time.
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.
