BookExpo To Welcome Publishers, Public

The reconfiguration of BookExpo and the expansion of BookCon are intended to build “an end-to-end solution where publishers can launch their titles to the trade and consumers all in one place.”

As spring puts on its annual show in Manhattan’s Central Park, the Shakespeare Garden is brimming with flowers and plants referenced in the Bard’s poems and plays. At the far end of the island, the lifeless grey stone of the Javits Convention Center is warming in the sun, awaiting the return of book world denizens.

It’s that time of year – the merry month of May – and BookExpo is nearly upon us. There are quite a number of changes to the leading US publishing industry event for 2017, including a name change that has seen “America” tossed aside. As Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer reports, BookExpo is now for publishers and the public.

“The reconfiguration of BookExpo and the expansion of BookCon [a convention-style event for book fans] is intended to build what the show’s executive leadership calls, ‘an end-to-end solution where publishers can launch their titles to the trade and consumers in one place: on one hand, BookExpo is being recrafted as a focused professional environment. And BookCon exists to connect fans, brands, and authors through authentic face-to-face interactions and unique experiences.’

“For years, organizers resisted calls to bring in the public, and when they finally did, I think they were a little unprepared for how successful they were,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “And I think they realized that all those years they were trying to prop up BEA as it was, may have been time lost in seizing the future. I think the changes are wise and necessary for BookExpo.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.