BEA to Focus on Russian Literature and Publishing Industry

Global Market Forum 2012 sheds light on principal emerging market in the fast globalization of the book

Norwalk, CT, March 28, 2012:  Russia, rich in literary tradition and known for being one of the most well-read societies, has a robust publishing industry and a growing digital audience.  Analysts estimate that the valuable Russian marketplace has consumer sales of $3.3 billion and is home to a diverse group of authors and dynamic publishing programs, offered by large, medium and independent publishing houses.  Russian publishers, authors and booksellers are finding new readers, new partnerships and they are creating an international buzz.

BEA’s Global Market Forum Read Russia – a one-day conference on Monday, June 4, 2012 - offers an exciting and broad publishing agenda that will introduce, inform and ignite interest in Russian publishing. Expert speakers, including the CEOs of the largest Russian publishers and distributors, will share their knowledge and insight on everything Russian, with sessions focused on writing and translation, educational and digital publishing, intellectual properties and copyright issues.

Each presentation and discussion will bring together key industry voices from both the Russian and US publishing communities. Sessions will be 50-minutes in length and allow time between for networking opportunities to build new business contacts! Agents, editors, publishers, booksellers and librarians, will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the many sessions, dialog and innovative directions of the Russian book and publishing community.

Under the headline of Read Russia, the professional program of the Global Market Forum will be further expanded by a rich cultural program between June 1^st to June 8^th, at leading cultural institutions and social venues across New York City.  Sponsored by the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication under the direction of Vladimir Grigoriev, the far reaching festival offers audiences outside the BookExpo America community the opportunity to engage in a cross-cultural dialogue with the new generation of Russia’s literary leaders and newsmakers.  This cultural program will also be a part of New York Book & Media which embraces all literary activity in New York City during the week of BEA and celebrates authors and literature from around the world. 

In addition to making available new English translations of contemporary and classic Russian literature, Read Russia will present a major exhibition on children’s book illustrations, a travelling film series, a new documentary television project about Russian literature, as well as a comprehensive literary showcase that will serve as the focal point of the festival.

Over 25 contemporary Russian writers will be in New York during festival week, among them Dmitry Bykov, Sergei Lukyanenko, Vladimir Makanin, Edward Radzinsky, Master Chen, Olga Slavnikova and Mikhail Shishkin. 

Announcing the BEA 2012 Editors Buzz Line Up

The BEA Buzz panels are some of the best and most exciting events at BEA every year.  There is no question that books featured on these panels are the ones that people will be talking about.  Do not miss out, join the editors of these books as they share their excitement and passion for some of the Fall's biggest potential breakout releases! Meet the authors at BEA!

ADULT EDITOR BUZZ

¡     The People Of Forever Are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu

Crown Publishing

¡     The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Random House Publishing

¡     In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

Simon & Schuster

¡     Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

Free Press

¡     Panorama City by Antoine Wilson

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

¡     A Million Heavens

McSweeney’s Publishing

YOUNG ADULT BUZZ

¡     Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group

¡     Skinny by Donna Cooner

Scholastic

¡     Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz

Penguin Young Readers Group

¡     What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

HarperCollins Children’s Book

¡     Skylark by Meagan Spooner

Lerner Publishing Group

MIDDLE GRADE BUZZ

¡     Malcolm at Midnight by W. H. Beck

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group

¡     The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

HarperCollins Children’s Book

¡     Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

Little Brown Books for Young Reader

¡     Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #1: Professor Gargoyle - Charles Gilman

Quirk

¡     With Love From Paris: Mira's Sketchbook - Marissa Moss

Sourcebooks

BEA Wades Into the Shallow End of the Public Pool

This is a note that BEA is sending to all of our current exhibitors today as well as posting it here:

BookExpo America (BEA) continues to exercise dynamic change to keep pace with the evolution of our industry and the opportunity digitization presents. Over the past year, BEA has transformed its exhibit floor—we are tighter, and more diverse. We have also transformed our attendee base with buyers that range from traditional book buyers, book club leaders, librarians, museum store buyers, specialty retailer buyers, and licensing and rights professionals.

And so the next change for BEA is to leap into Direct to Consumer engagement – D2C to bring even more value to our exhibitors and pave the way for new book lovers to become genuine book influencers. BEA will bring in consumer readers to discover books, and ultimately impact books sales for the whole trade. This will be done in 2 ways. One is BEA’s ambitious initiative to stream many of the author events and make them widely available via the web. The other part of our strategy will be to welcome consumers to BEA. BEA is going to partner with publishers, local booksellers, and libraries as well as other industry players to make a very limited and exclusive amount of tickets available to BEA for Thursday in 2012. Tickets will be exclusive and present a unique opportunity for tastemakers and passionate readers to get a glimpse behind the curtain. There will be more information coming as we work through the details and logistics, but this is a bold leap forward for the publishing industry.

BEA is keenly aware of the need to protect the traditional needs that BEA has always served as the singular gathering place for the industry. BEA will continue to prioritize the value of the B2B element of BEA, delivering booksellers, buyers that are new non-traditional buyers, providing world class education, being the largest rights fair in North America while serving all the relevant components of the publishing industry that need a place to connect. And now we will strategically bring in consumers to help position the brand for growth and help to positively impact the contribution to our vibrant industry.

 

Regards,
 

Steve Rosato

BEA Event Director

NEIL YOUNG TO APPEAR AT BOOKEXPO AMERICA

Exciting BEA NEWS!!!

NEIL YOUNG TO APPEAR AT BOOKEXPO AMERICA

Legendary Singer-Songwriter to Speak About Forthcoming Memoir

Norwalk, CT--March 19, 2012:   Officials at BookExpo America (BEA) have today announced that Neil Young will be appearing at the annual book industry trade show where he will discuss his upcoming memoir, Waging Heavy Peace.  The book will be published in North America by Blue Rider Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA), in fall of 2012.  BEA will take place in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center June 4 – 7, 2012 and Mr. Young is scheduled to speak on Wednesday, June 6 at 12 noon in the Special Events Hall.  The program, which will be called “A Conversation with Neil Young”, will follow an interview format and will be free to all convention attendees.  Seating will be provided on a first come, first served basis.  Lunch will not be provided but guests are free to bring their own lunch.   Mr. Young’s interviewer will be named in the near future. 

Widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation, Mr. Young is a singular figure in the history of rock and he has profoundly influenced popular culture over the past four decades.  He epitomizes the uncompromising artist.  In his book, Mr. Young will present a kaleidoscopic view of his personal life and musical creativity.  It is the year’s most awaited memoir and rights to the book have been sold around the world to a dozen countries so far including: Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain (and Spanish language in Latin America), Sweden and the United Kingdom. 

“I am profoundly grateful to Blue Rider and to Neil Young for making this stellar event possible,” notes Steve Rosato, Show Manager for BookExpo America.  “This appearance will be a highlight of our show and I am sure it will live on as one of our great all time moments in BEA history.   I have no doubt that on Wednesday, June 6 at 12 noon just about everyone in the Javits Center will be packed into the Special Events Hall!”

A Pilfered Post from Flavorwire Celebrating Jack Kerouac's 90th Birthday

Today would have been legendary beat writer Jack Kerouac’s 90th birthday, had he not passed away at the age of 47 due to cirrhosis. The de facto leader and most famous member of the Beat movement, Kerouac’s writings and ideas influenced an entire generation, and his poetry, novels, and letters continue to inspire people all over the world today. Though he had his own failings, the man’s writing is rich with bits of advice, Buddhism-tinged musings, and pithy observations about the nature of the world, and whether they all be wise or not, we’ve collected some of these to share with you on his birthday. After all, we could all do a lot worse than to emulate the idealistic, passionate Jack Kerouac.  Click here for the rest - it is wonderful: The best life advice from Jack Kerouac

Facing Future for BEA

Below is a link to a poll BEA has posted on Facebook looking for input as BEA weighs options for a venue other that Javits and New York for 2016. 

BEA believes the timing will be perfect in 2016 to take BEA to another city, recognizing we'll continue with NYC as the anchor, but looking to rotate destinations once every 4 to5 years. Please weigh in on the following options for 2016, highlighting the pros of each: 

• Chicago: Strong history with BEA, Easy Flights, Great Convention Center, Strong Library Participation 

• Las Vegas: Many inexpensive Hotels, Inexpensive labor & drayage costs, Inexpensive Food & Entertainment, Easy Access for West Coast Retailers

BEA Poll On Facebook

BEA Bloggers Conference Update

Excited is a good starting point for describing how we feel about the changes we have in store for the BEA Bloggers Conference (nee the Book Blogger Convention) – which we like to call the BBC.  I’d like to share with you what we’ve been up to and also unveil this year’s program…

First, in order to know where to start BEA did a satisfaction survey to all prior BBC attendees to gain their insights and feedback on what they liked and what they’d like to see going forward.  We then consulted with Trish & Michelle, getting their perspective from the last 2 years.  We followed that by hosting an online focus group with a group of book bloggers to glean even more insights around the event in order to develop a solid program.  Once that was all completed, we crafted a draft of the program based on all of this research and went back to Trish and Michelle to review the program again to make more changes.   

Here is some of the key feedback we got in the process:

o        Sessions need to be shorter – Now all sessions will run under 60 minutes

o        Book Bloggers want more networking – New - there will be an organized networking lunch.

o        Bloggers wanted access to more authors.  New - We made the morning breakfast a continental breakfast where bloggers can network with each other and meet a group of great authors from a variety of genres from the BEA author submission list.

o        Bloggers wanted more access to BEA – We moved the BBC to Monday PRE-BEA.  Ending the program in time so bloggers can attend the BEA Buzz panel and then enjoy some time in the city for dinner or drinks.

We’ve worked hard to gain as many insights as possible to help shape this year’s events—it’s crafted based on what you’ve told us and the guidance from Michelle and Trish. A reminder that while we are not perfect, we will work our tails off to make this the ideal experience for all book bloggers.  We are open to feedback and look forward to continuing to work with you and Trish and Michelle.  Without further delay, here is the basics of the BBC program – full descriptions and speakers coming soon.

BEA Bloggers Conference Program 2012

8:00am                         Registration opens

8:45am-9:45 am Continental Networking Breakfast + Swag Bag

                                    Network with fellow bloggers and guest authors!

10am-11am                   Opening Day Keynote: Jennifer Weiner

MORNING SESSIONS

11:15am-12:15pm          Blogging Today: What you need to know and what’s next

Listen to a diverse panel of bloggers talk about the craft of blogging in today’s world and about what lies ahead

12:30pm-1:30pm            Let’s Talk Blogs! Networking Luncheon

Make New Friends: sit at tables identified by different genres and led by a blogging author from that genre (YA, SiFi, Romance, Literary Fiction)—you choose where you want to sit with those that want to talk about the same stuff you do!

Visit with Old Friends: sit at open tables with friends to catch up and talk about lots of different things

AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS

1:45pm-2:45pm	Critical Reviews	So You Want to Make Money?  Syndication, Monetization and Affiliate Programs for your Blog
3:00pm-4:00pm	Creating Community & Driving Engagement Content, Social Media, Vodcasts, Podcasts and more	Demystifying the Book Blogger & Publisher Relationship Panel with book bloggers and publishers discussing challenges and opportunities

 

CLOSING SESSION

4:15pm -5:30pm             BEA Editors Buzz


For more information visit: BEA Bloggers Conference

BEA Google+ Webinar - Shameless Plug or Life Altering Experience - You Decide!

BEA as well as Reed as an organization present webinars with some frequency, but seldom on  a subject or topic that impacts my responsibilities.   I do not use this space and or take advantage of your attention for anything that is not newsworthy in relation to BEA or the publishing industry.  I am not going all ‘soft-sell’ here, but I am plugging our Google+ webinar because I am interested in learning more about Google+ and genuinely look forward participating in this webinar because this is going to make a difference in how BEA interacts with our varied audiences going forward.    

The reason I see this being important for people who frequent this space is based on a conversation with a good friend in the industry who is a senior marketing exec for one of the big 6 publishers.  Our lunch was as much about catching up, hear how his family is doing, ect… but I depend on his opinion (and many others) to make sure BEA’s shifts and strategies will continue to serve BEA's exhibitors and attendees.   I also depend on this feedback to hear what is going on in his world as major publisher, what is good – where is there opportunity and what is becoming irrelevant.  The biggest take away I got from talking with him, other than the smile of enjoying lunch with a friend, was the biggest change he is dealing with as a publisher is how books are being marketed.  There are more opportunities than ever before through the internet.  These opportunities are cheap, allow for experimentation and can be highly targeted.  That is why I see our Google+ webinar as news and a valuable use of my time or yours.  The opportunities for marketing are growing to be limitless but the infrastructure for delivering your messages and connecting will be places that we know like Facebook, Twitter and new ones like Pinterest and Google+ are going to be just as critical – so get on board or get out of the way, things are only going to go faster and I want to make sure I can intelligently use the options that are out there.  

March 15, 2012: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm EST Google+: Get On Board! Tips, Tactics & Applications for Authors & Publishers Best Practices for the Book Industry Sign up for this live interactive Webinar for only $25! Lynette Young, CEO of Purple Stripe Productions and one of the 50 Most Followed Women of Google+Speaker  Ellen Gerstein, Director of Marketing in the Professional/Trade division at John Wiley & SonsSpeaker Sally Dedecker, Sally Dedecker EnterprisesModerator Launched on June 28, 2011, Google+ is the latest attempt at social net­work­ing with approximately 100 million users and is now con­sid­ered a 'Big Five' social net­work. With fea­tures such as 10-person video chats called Hang­outs, the abil­ity to arrange con­tacts in Cir­cles, and rich mul­ti­me­dia pub­lish­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties with pho­tos, videos, and text makes Google+ the hottest place to be to get found quickly online. This one-hour Webinar will focus on the vital pieces of Google+-giving some tips & tricks, and sharing what other members of the industry are doing to stake their claim on this social network. Targeted to members of the book industry, this webinar will give publishers and authors new ways to build relationships with readers, new ways to build lists, and more. You'll learn how to establish a presence on Google+ or get tips & tricks to expand your presence of Google+. Learn more here. This Live Webinar is 60 minutes with an exclusive interactive 15 minute Q&A period at the end.
Sign up for this live interactive Webinar for only $25!
Please Note: You will need to create a ProLibraries account in order to register for this Webinar - there is no cost to create an account.

A Picture is Worth 10,000 Words Today

If the axiom of a picture being worth a 1,000 words is true, the BEA promo piece that is pictured below is worth 10,000 words.  BEA is a lot of things to a lot of constituents, but this image highlights all that is going on around BEA, with the show itself being the centerpiece that pulls everything together for a singular experience.  

I have stated one of my fears for BEA was being the jack of all trades and master of none.  This poster highlights how BEA's partnerships with the IDPF, PublishersLaunch and the BEA Bloggers Conference as well as the ABA & AAP deliver the Masters of their respective trades for those audiences while allowing them to take in the full BEA experience, making it the Essential Event for Every Book Industry Professional.   I am partial, but I love this image!! It is a simple visual that provides the the depth of opportunity that is BEA which almost defies explanation by words alone.