BEA BUZZ Books Announced

I am excited and especially grateful to the 3 committees that put in so much time and work to cull the submissions and select the books for each of the 2014 BEA's Editor Buzz panels.   There have been a number of the changes over the last few years that have made the process better and also made the books more accessible.  The biggest change has been going to 3 separate committees, 1 for each Buzz Panel.  No one is probably more grateful than the prior committee members who were tireless in their efforts and always did a remarkable job.  Just knowing the work that 3 committees put in to review the hundreds of submissions for this year, it made me wonder if we should have be testing for steroids on the previous committees because it was indeed a super human effort they put in.  Also we have been doing something else that is different that we never properly called out over the last couple of years by having the authors of all the chosen Buzz books appear together after the Editors Buzz on the Author Stages.  This gives booksellers, librarians, retailers, bloggers, reviewers and press so much more depth and perspective on each of these great books by also hearing from the authors themselves and better understanding why the Editors were Buzzing about these upcoming titles.  

The 2014 BEA Editors Buzz Forums and book selections are as follows:

ADULT EDITORS BUZZ ‘14

BEA Adult Editors Buzz

Wednesday, May 28

4:15pm – 5:30pm

Room 1E12/1E13/1E14

BEA Editors Buzz Adult Books – Author Stage

Thursday, May 29

10:00am – 11:00am

Downtown Stage

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Publisher: Alfred A. Kopf

Publication Date: 9/9/14

We Are Not Ourselves: A Novel by Matthew Thomas

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 9/2/14

The Miniaturist: A Novel by Jessie Burton

Publisher: Ecco

Publication Date: 8/26/14

On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss

Publisher: Graywolf Press

Publication Date: 9/30/14

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh

Publisher:  Amy Einhorn Books / Putnam

Publication Date: 1/15/15

Neverhome by Laird Hunt

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Date: 9/9/14

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League But Did Not Survive by Jeff Hobbs

Publisher: Scribner

Publication Date:   9/23/14

YOUNG ADULT (YA) EDITORS BUZZ ‘14

BEA YA Editors Buzz

Thursday, May 29

10:00am – 10:50am

Room 1E10/1E11

BEA Editors Buzz YA Books – Author Stage

Friday, May 30

10:00am – 10:30am

Uptown Stage

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: 9/2/14

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: 9/30/14

The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 11/4/14

I’m Glad I Did by Cynthia Weil

Publisher: Soho Teen

Publication Date: 1/27/15

King Dork Approximately by Frank Portman

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: 9/9/14

MIDDLE GRADE EDITORS BUZZ ‘14

BEA Middle Grade Editors Buzz

Friday, May 30

11:00am – 11:50am

Room 1E12/1E13

BEA Editors Buzz Middle Grade Books – Author Stage

Friday, May 30

1:00pm – 1:30pm

Uptown Stage

Zoo at the Edge of the World by Eric Kahn Gale

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publication Date: 8/26/14

Pennyroyal Academy by M.A. Larson

Publisher: Putnam Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 10/7/14

The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

Publisher: Algonquin Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 9/16/14

The Truth About Twinkle Pie by Kat Yeh

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 1/27/15

Life of Zarf by Rob Harrell

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 8/28/14

GUEST POST: Makenzie Lynch deals on the BEA Bloggers Conference 2014

We are very excited about this year’s BEA Bloggers Conference, taking place Wednesdsay May, 29^th before BookExpo America.

Last year was my first year working on BEA and BEA Bloggers Conference. It was an amazing experience seeing the blogging community come together, get up close and personal with their favorite authors, networking like mad and grabbing bags full of their favorite books. After last year’s event, our team scoured the blogosphere looking for reviews and feedback to continue to improve and evolve the event. If you have never been to BEA Bloggers Conference and you blog about books - it is not to be missed. We work closely through e-mail and lengthy phone calls with our talented advisory board (enhanced with a few awesome new members) to make this an event by bloggers and for bloggers.

I am also thrilled to announce that blogger and best-selling author, Maureen Johnson will be headlining the event as our Breakfast Keynote speaker. If her blog is any indication of the type of speech she will be giving, it will be inspiring and entertaining.

We are kicking our sessions up a notch, changing the format of our conference to include 101 & 201 Sessions in the morning that will focus on blog design and blog technology.

·      101 sessions are intended for bloggers with 1-3 years’ experience looking to build upon their existing skills.   201 sessions are for the blogging veterans (you know who you are.) We focus on finding awesome new features so you can stay ahead of the game.

After lunch, we will continue the conference with some general interest sessions including: 

• Blogging & the Law
• Podcasting/Vlogging
• An inside peak into the publishing process and where bloggers fit
• Taking your writing style to the next level

While I love self-improvement as much as the rest of you, I can already tell that my favorite part of the event will be the Bloggers Celebration at the end of the day. We have been lucky enough to secure the band Tiger Beat featuring Y.A Authors Libba Bray, Barnabas Miller, Daniel Ehrenhaft, and Natalie Standiford. At 4:00pm we willturn the BEA Bloggers keynote room into a bookish concert hall, complete with some beer, a popcorn machine, enough books to fill your swag bag and all those people you usually only see on Twitter. We look forward to seeing you there!

Transform or Die

BEA has been evolving on an annual basis for the past 5 years, with shifts that seem more incremental when comparing year on year.  However, taking in the view from 2014 and looking all the way back to 2009 - the evolution has been significant, dramatic and sweeping. BEA has indeed reached a point of Transformation that is positioning it to thrive and truly serve the most people best, meeting unique individual needs while making BEA extremely valuable for every participant.  The alternative for BEA was a slow death.  

This post was inspired by the video below: Transform or die!: Herman Toch at TEDxBrainport 2013  While it is not related to publishing, I see the parallels in how BEA is positioned at the transition/corrective phase from the old world on the way to New World/ Constructive Phase and feel validated with what we are doing with BEA.

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As BEA lives through the transition/corrective phase of its own transformation it is necessary point out some of the misconceptions that linger from old world thinking, to shed what is not true and genuinely no longer relevant.  I went way back to10 years ago compare BEA to the real old world days to demonstrate how much has changed 

• No one goes to BEA anymore. BEA has more and better attendees than we did in 2003 and even more than in 1999 when BEA was more than 300,000 sq. ft.  BEA in 2013 had 11,000 trade attendees (that does not include the Power Readers in '13) compared to just over 8,000 blue badges in '99 and 9,600 in '03.  While there may not be as many indies and Borders is gone - they have been replaced with more buyers from Amazon and other on-line retailers, big box stores and nearly 2,000 collection development librarians. The ABA continues to be well represented with 1,000+ of their members. That compares to 1,200+ in '03.  The high water mark in the last 10 yrs for the ABA was 1,800 in '05.  BEA is a far better deal than at any time in the last 15 years for seeing the whole US trade market.  This now includes many more international buyers, where on average 15-20% of all attendees are from abroad.  .  
• BEA is too expensive.  BEA in 2013 Choice Pricing and many different ways to participate, so it can be far less expensive to participate in 2013 than it was in 2003. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic's annual Consumer Price Index the cost per sq. ft. is nearly flat where it was $28.50 in '03 - that would = $36.17, which is just under BEA's average of $37.50.  In 2013 options include: a  turn key booth for $2,900.00 - labor, drayage & furniture is included, you can participate in the Translation Market for $1,775.00 or a Small Press for $1,975.00.  None of these options were possible in 2003 and make it so easy to take advantage and far less that it would have cost in 2003.  

There is a lot more to share on BEA's transformation that includes the re-invention of our consumer engagement that will need a dedicated post - look for BookCon.  It will protect the value of the B2B experience, it will create more and well defined opportunities to engage consumers and most importantly it will be a fan first experience - built around content for passionate fans.  There is the Translation Market to talk about, the programming from the BEA stages on the show floor, the uPubU Conference Program and the uPubU Author Hub.  Look for more details soon.