BEA Bloggers Conference 2013 Call for Papers NOW OPEN

We are excited to get input for programming ideas from the Book Blogging community that support the BBC.  The way it will work:  Complete the simple on-line submission form, the BEA team will organize submissions for the Conference Advisory Board who will review all submissions, vetting  the submissions for sessions that will make up the BBC Conference program. We might even copy and idea or two for the BEA program!

2013 Call for Papers – Now Open!

Do you have thoughts on what would make an interesting topic, or who would be an engaging speaker, in next year's BEA Bloggers Conference Program? BEA Bloggers welcomes proposals for panel moderators, panel speakers and hour-long presentation topics relevant to book blogging community for its annual Conference Program Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC.
Deadline: Proposing a session: January 18, 2013
 
LINK TO BEA BLOGGERS CONFERENCE CALL for PAPERS SUMISSION FORM 

Bloggers Attending BEA

On a recent post, I noted the following:

• We made a number of mistakes with the blogger registration process in 2012.  The new process will be simplified, clear and transparent. 
• Bloggers will be able to register for BEA AND the conference for one low price.
• Any bloggers wanting to attend just BEA and not the BBC will have a discounted special rate.
• Bloggers wanting to register for a free media pass can do so, but will be subject to similar criteria as all working press 

This remains accurate, but in testing our registration system we learned that we need to make number of significant fixes in the process to deliver a simple experience.  Unfortunately these fixes will not be completed until the end of January (we are hoping to be surprised and it will be done earlier).  

Here is the process for book bloggers to register for BEA:

1. You are a Book Blogger, you want to go to the BEA Bloggers Conference (BBC) and BEA, great, we appreciate you!  There will be a direct link from a dedicated page for the BBC, the Early Bird Price will be $135.00 and includes the BBC AND your BEA pass.  You can add other events like the BEA Book and Author Breakfasts once you complete your registration.  Note - you must be an active book blogger to get this discounted rate, otherwise you will have to register in another attendee category then ADD the BBC as an additional event for $80.00 on top of the fee for category that would apply for your situation.
2. You are a Book Blogger and you want to attend BEA and NOT the BBC.  We appreciate you too, Registration = $104.00.  That is the lowest professional attendee price point (which is = to what booksellers and librarians pay)
3. Your are a Book Blogger and want to attend BEA as a working member of the media and are not interested in attending the BBC - we appreciate all bloggers!!!  Simply go to the Media Registration Page and choose Blogger.  You are subjected to similar criteria as any other credentialed media person.  If you do not qualify as working media, you will be notified directly within a week to 10 days.  

Note, the minimum price for the BBC, if you have not paid to attend BEA, is $135.00.  This prevents someone from getting a free a media pass then adding the BBC for $80.00.  We pretty much run the BBC at break even and that is why this is in place.

I will post again later this week with a link for panel submissions for the BBC.  

BEA Blogger Conference Update

I want to thank the BEA Bloggers Conference Advisory Board for our meeting last week.  It was

highly productive and we finished 5 minutes early!!   Here are a few items worth sharing with

everyone from that meeting:

• There will be a Call for Papers opening Early December and run up until January 15^th  It will be announced on the BEA website and through the BEAN and all of BEA's social media outlets.  People will be able to submit conference suggestions from a link on the BEA Book Bloggers page. 
• The BEA Bloggers Conference will Incorporate tracks into this year’s programming 
• Ideas included genre based, level of blogging, blogging interests

• Plan for more Networking Opportunities among bloggers either through a sponsored Cocktail Reception or an hour of free time either during lunch or as a coffee break
• We made a number of mistakes with the blogger registration process in 2012.  The new process will be simplified, clear and transparent. 
• Bloggers will be able to register for BEA AND the conference for one low price.
• Any bloggers wanting to attend just BEA and not the BBC will have a discounted special rate.
• Bloggers wanting to register for a free media pass can do so, but will be subject to similar criteria as all working press  

We are extremely grateful for the group of bloggers that are participating to insure we deliver an event that is created for and designed by bloggers.  While there were ups and downs in 2012, we hope it was apparent how much BEA values book bloggers. 

  

BEA Bloggers Conference Advisory Board: 

• Danielle Smith -http://www.theresabook.com/ - Children's
• Pam van Hylckama bookalicio.us/ - Book news and reviews the latest and greatest
• Jane Litte - http://dearauthor.com - Romance 
• Mandy Boles - WellReadWife.com - General  - Everything from YA to Literary Fiction
• Marybeth Whalen - www.shereads.org  Debut novelists and those writers who are not receiving the attention they deserve
• David Lee King, http://www.davidleeking.com/ - Librarian Blogger

Storm Won’t Stop Holiday Children’s Art Auction

Please check out the ABFFE Holiday Children's Art Auction,  Below is a link to a photo of the flooding - a great event and a great cause. 

 Picture of flooding across from the ABFFE offices

For further information, contact:

Chris Finan, ABFFE, (917) 509-0340

Storm Won’t Stop Holiday Children’s Art Auction

            NEW YORK, NY, Nov. 7, 2012 – Hurricane Sandy has driven the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) from its office building in lower Manhattan, but ABFFE is continuing its preparations for a Holiday Children’s Art Auction that will launch on eBay on Nov. 27.  The storm pushed more than four feet of water into the lobby of the building in the South Street Seaport, damaging electrical equipment.  But the ABFFE staff is continuing to solicit donations of art for the auction, which supports ABFFE’s efforts to defend the free speech rights of kids.  “Sandy was a setback, but we have a lot to be grateful for.  Our office itself was not damaged, and the art that we had already collected is safe and sound,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said.  “We are confident that we will be able to launch on time.”  The deadline for submitting art has been extended to Nov. 21.  Art can be sent to the American Booksellers Association until the ABFFE office reopens. 

            The Holiday Children’s Art Auction is the online version of the auction that is held at BookExpo America, featuring original art from the book industry’s leading artists and illustrators.

            More information about contributing to the auction is available online.  A donation form has also been posted.            Contact Finan by email, chris@abffe.org, or by phone, (917) 509-0340.

               

Sandy - Life Resumes, normalcy to follow

I was compelled on my drive to work today to listen to Bruce Sprinsteen's 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).  I don't know why but the chorus popped in my head with the lilting chords that start the song with Bruce whispering Sandy.....it is a story of love lost that no doubt played out in Bruce's youth like so many people on any of the boardwalks and shore towns up and down the Northeast coast.  While youth is lost to time, it is the physical places that  anchored us, letting our memories to come to life when we go back to the towns, beaches, bars and stores that have been hit so hard by Sandy.  

People affected by Sandy from New Jersey through Connecticut and beyond are working hard to fix, replace, rebuild and make things the way they were before Sandy hit last week.  One place that I am particularly fond of is the Bank Street Books in Mystic.  I go up to Mystic with my family a couple of times of year and Bank Street Books is always a stop, where my boys 'borrowed' Charlie (resident dog of Bank Street) for a walk several years ago and still talk about.  Bank Street saved their inventory but still were flooded and have had to close while they have the floor replaced among other repairs.  I you can help out in anyway, please donate to the Relief Fund that has been set up for Bank Street Books.  Hopefully all repairs will be done and they are planning to re-open on Monday. 

Paypal link for Bank Street Books in Mystic, CT

Powering Up BEA with Power Readers

While BEA is still 6+ months away, planning is at its peak right now with an intense effort to insure BEA is proactively focused on what the industry needs and delivering value to all of BEA's participants.  A big transition in 2013 for BEA will be opening wider to consumers which BEA has dubbed: Power Readers.  

Before detailing plans around Power Readers, I want to emphatically point out that BEA's core remains as a trade event.  BEA will always be the B2B marketplace and biggest stage for the publishing industry in North America.   BEA has undergone significant changes over the last few years - as has the publishing industry.  BEA is not simply a reflection of those changes, but is proactively addressing the new challenges facing publishing with solutions highlighted through the conference program, a marketplace for the latest in digital innovation, opening international markets through the Global Market Forum program and being the single most impactful launching point for a new title anywhere.

Power Readers, here are the basics:  BEA will promote to consumers to attend exclusively on Saturday June 1st who will be badged as Power Readers.  Power Readers will pay to attend.  Exhibitors will be permitted to sell directly to anyone during BEA as long as they are registered with the state of NY and collect taxes (instructions for registering with be provided).   BEA will offer a solution to sell books through an approved vendor, those details are in the works.  There will still be a significant amount of booksellers and librarians that want a Saturday to attend BEA as well as it is cheaper and more convenient for them.

Power Readers will make BEA will be a pop culture event that is a compliment to the industry's trade show.  This will open new promotional opportunities for publishers. Power Readers will change how media covers BEA, bringing more focus and attention on the latest titles and highest profile authors.  Publishers will be able to  connect directly with consumers and consumers will have access to their favorite authors on a scale that was never been available to them in one place at one time.