BEA Preview 2008: L.A. Confidential

LJ's BEA breakdown of programs and events

By Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 5/1/2008

Once upon a time BookExpo America (BEA) (May 29–Jun. 1) was strictly a B2B affair between publishers and booksellers, with a few hundred librarians drifting through the aisles. No more! Librarian attendance has exploded in recent years, and BEA organizers have established a separate track just for librarians (eight sessions for a very full Saturday; see details p. 27–28). Please don't limit yourselves to those panels: there's lots of fun, cool stuff to see and hear. And having fun is as important as picking up info, placing orders, and grabbing books—unlike the American Library Association (ALA) conference, there are tons of freebies to be had.

Los Angeles has always been a mystery town, with PIs from Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in the noir days to Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins more recently slapping shoe leather on its mean streets. But navigating the show shouldn't be a mystery. Let LJ be your guide. Also, check the BEA and LJ web sites for last-minute updates and entry fees, show hours, breakout sessions, and more. Have a blast!

THURSDAY, MAY 29
9 a.m.–5 p.m.
A Day of Dialog for Publishers, Vendors, and Librarians (Los Angeles Public Library, Central Library); registration required
Join LJ at the Los Angeles Public Library for the annual Day of Dialog, a free, daylong program where librarians, publishers, authors, and vendors meet. Find out what the hot books and trends are for fall from editors at major publishing houses, including David Ebershoff (Random House), Morgan Entrekin (Grove/Atlantic), Sara Knight (Holt), Phil Turner (Sterling), and Claire Wachtel (HarperCollins). Pose a readers' advisory challenge to developers of RA tools, among them NoveList's Duncan Smith (EBSCO), Fiction Connection and Non-Fiction Connection's Melissa Kuzma (Bowker), Books & Authors' Marc J. Cormier (Gale Cengage), and Reader's Advisor Online's Laura Calderone (Libraries Unlimited). Get up to speed on digital audio formats and downloadable audio, with HarperMedia publisher Ana Maria Allessi, Random House Audio publisher Madeline McIntosh, OverDrive CEO Steve Potash, and Playaway cofounder Blake Squires. And hear about the comeback of historical fiction from Michelle Moran, author of Nefertiti and the forthcoming The Heretic Queen (Crown, Sept.), and others. Be our guests for coffee and croissants, lunch, and a wrap-up cocktail party. The perfect way to start your stay at BookExpo America.
Owing to space limitations, we will only accept registration from librarians, publishers, and vendors, in that order. Sign up today.
9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC)
A handful of nuts-and-bolts sessions tackle the business and technical side of the audio arena. Discussions cover a range of subjects from standards to digital channels to new business models. Register here.
6:30–8 p.m.
Association of American Publishers (AAP)
Dine with authors Kathleen Kent, John Scalzi, Kate Jacobs, and others, courtesy of publishers, AAP, and LJ, at the second annual librarians dinner. Seating is limited; contact tjordan@publishers.org.

FRIDAY, MAY 30
7:30–9 a.m.
Random House/LJ Author Breakfast for Collection Development Librarians
What's better than breakfast while listening to great writers speak? This year's authors at the annual feast are Sarah Addison Allen (The Sugar Queen, Bantam), Janelle Brown (All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, Spiegel & Grau), Ethan Canin (America, America, Random), Debra Ginsberg (The Grift, Shaye Areheart: Harmony), and David Guterson (The Other, Knopf). Advance reservations are necessary; go here to sign up.
9:30–10:30 a.m.
To Read or Not To Read: A Discussion of NEA Study Results and The Big Read (Rm. 406B)
The National Education Association's 2007 report on reading was gloom and doom. Seems many adults and especially teens are so hooked on crackberrys and video games that books take a backseat. NEA reps Sunil Iyengar, director of research and analysis, and literature director David Kipen will rap on the group's counterattack called The Big Read.
11–11:45 a.m.
Conference Keynote with Thomas Friedman: Green Is the New Red, White, and Blue (Rm. 403AB)
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Steal This Book! Selling and Promoting Literature on the Edge (Rm. 404B)
Libraries mercifully are the great equalizers for promoting works by cutting-edge authors. But like bookstores, librarians might find some of these a hard sell. This panel will discuss promotion methods for getting edgy books into readers' hands.
1–2 p.m.
The Future of Reading (Rm. 403AB)
Despite what some overpaid computer company geek thinks, people still do read. Copyright Clearance Center's Christopher Kenneally leads an editor, publisher, author, and librarian (names TBA) on a discussion of how to approach moving from the old world of paper publishing to the new frontier of social networking and other hot tech trends.
1–2 p.m.
BISG Presents Book Industry TRENDS 2008 (Rm. 404B)
Get an early look at the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) flagship research publication Book Industry TRENDS 2008, detailing the overall size of the U.S. book market and growth projections through 2012. BISG executive director Michael Healy joins Albert Greco and Robert Wharton, both senior researchers at the Institute for Publishing Research @ Fordham University, and Jeff Hayes, research director, InfoTrends.
2:30–3:30 p.m.
Emerging Voices (Rm. 406A)
This session is a great place to scope out the next James Patterson or John Updike. Libraries are the country's greatest supporters of new talent, and these fledgling authors would love to court librarians.
4–5 p.m.
Authors and Their Online Communities: The Perils, the Opportunities, and What's Next (402A)
Moderator Patrick Nielson Hayden, senior editor, Tor Books, hosts Cory Doctorow, blogger, journalist, and author; John Scalzi, blogger and author, Zoe's Tale; and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, blogger, columnist, and author, all of whom became web celebs before landing book deals. They'll reveal how blogs, MySpace, etc., can generate notoriety leading to a contract.

SATURDAY, MAY 31
GRAPHIC NOVELS AND GAMES
10:30–11:30 a.m.
What's Hot, What's Good, What's Next in Graphic Novels (Rm. 406)
Graphic novels are possibly the leading weapon in the library arsenal to entice young readers. And librarians themselves are superheroes for being smart enough to offer them. Graphic novel expert Milton Griepp, publisher at ICv2, brings together panelists to dish on what titles have the longest legs and preview up-and-comers with promise.
1–2 p.m.
What Retailers & Librarians Should Know About Video Games and Gamers (Rm. 404B)
As with graphic novels, many librarians got their game on very early. For those not up to speed, Jordan Mechner, designer of the acclaimed best-selling Prince of Persia video games, discusses what booksellers—and librarians—need to know about video games and gamers, as well as his own book, Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel, which brings one of the most famous video games to the written/illustrated word.
2:30–3:30 p.m.
Building a Graphic Novel Section for Kids and Teens (Rm. 406A)
If you're clueless about graphic novels and need a primer, park yourself in here. Even if you already have a budding GN section, you'll get plenty of intel on how to expand, what publishers' rating systems really mean, and where to find reliable reviews (besides LJ, of course). Moderator Janna Morishima, director, Diamond Kids, and panelists Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC), Toon Books publisher Francoise Mouly, and Eva Volin, director of children's services at Alameda Free Library, CA, tell all.
3–4 p.m.
Sex in Graphic Novels (406B)
Graphic novels—especially Japanese manga—can be racy, causing problems in libraries on where to put them. Graphic novel outfit ICv2 presents panelists from the retail, library, wholesale, and publishing tiers to discuss the special issues of rating, labeling, and shelving titles with content for teens and adults.
4–5 p.m.
Graphic Novel Buzz: Editors Share List Highlights (Rm. 404B)
Calvin Reid, senior news editor at Publishers Weekly and a lifelong comics' head, leads editors on a tour of their new titles.
General
11 a.m.–noon
BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Book-Buying Consumer (Rm. 404B)
As observed in “What Boomers Want” (LJ 7/08), baby boomers, especially women, are the most lucrative consumers for everything, including books. But they're not pushovers; they demand service for their patronage and money. Carol Orsborn, senior VP and cochair, Fleishman-Hillard's FH Boom, leads Ellen Archer, just named president of Hyperion; Karen Murgolo, VP, editorial director, Springboard Press; Barbara Jones, More Magazine; and Thomas R. Troland, market analyst, Meredith Research Solutions, who'll provide insights.
4:30–5:30 p.m.
The Gen Z Reader: Understanding the New Reader of the Post-Electronic Age (Rm. 406B)
If you couldn't make Friday's Future of Reading session, this covers much of the same important ground. Moderator Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) is joined by panelists Tim Ditlow, Brilliance Audio; Charlie Schroder, marketing and development VP for Candlewick Press; Scholastic editorial director David Levithan; and author Lisi Harrison.

SATURDAY, MAY 31
Librarians in the Spotlight
9–10 a.m.
New Technologies and New Literacies for Teens (Rm. 402B)
This YALSA-sponsored program tackles how teens' use of text messaging, MySpace, and other popular techno-communications can improve their overall literacy skills. Librarians need to know how to foster teen interest in online communities and use it to reach out to them.
9:30–10:30 am
How Libraries Buy: Librarians Reveal Their Methods for Collection Development (Rm. 402A)
Nora Rawlinson, librarian, former PW editor-in-chief and Hachette Book Group USA library services VP, and founder of EarlyWord.com, the Publisher/Librarian Connection, leads a librarian panel (with Phoenix PL's Kathleen Sullivan) on how they select titles for their communities. Librarians could benefit, but publishers and booksellers especially should attend to get the inside line on tapping into the $1.8 billion library book-buying market.
10:30–11:30 am
Bridging the Gap Between Publishers and Libraries: Standards To Help Manage Licenses and Use (Rm. 402B)
Licensing contracts are SOP and a big headache, not to mention confusing. It seems you need wings—or an attorney—to stay on top of them. Cosponsored by BISG and NISO (National Information Standards Organization), this session offers updates on the Shared E-Resources Understanding (SERU), ONIX system for Publication Licenses (ONIX-PL), Automated Content Access Protocol (ACAP), and Electronic Resource Management Initiative (ERMI).
11 a.m.–noon
Obscene in the Extreme: Why Books Still Get Banned (Rm. 402A)
Rick Wartzman, author of Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, leads a discussion on the history of banning books and what still fuels it in today's seemingly anything-goes society.
1–2 p.m.
Book Trip 08 (Rm. 402B)
A fresh-from-the-publisher release may look clean and crisp and have that wonderful new book smell, but it's actually an artifact that's been years in the making. In thisFriends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA)–sponsored session, author Jack O'Connell (The Resurrectionist) is joined by his agent, Nat Sobel, and Algonquin's Chuck Adams (editor) and Michael Taeckens (publicity), who'll track the gestation of a book from the creative process to finding the right publisher and from working with an editor through promoting the completed work. FOLUSA honcho Sally Gardner Reed moderates.
1:30–2:30 p.m.
What Librarians Wish Publishers Knew: What Makes Them Tick, What Ticks Them Off (Rm. 402A)
Nora Rawlinson goes a few more rounds with publishers, joined by Angelina Benedetti, selection manager, King County Library System, WA, and Megan McArdle, collection development specialist, Chicago Public Library. They will enlighten publishers on what they do right and where there's lots of room for improvement.
2:30–3:30 p.m.
Get Graphic @ Your Library (Rm. 402B)
If you couldn't make the other graphic novel panels, or are ravenous for more, this session offers an additional fix on what's hot, how to buy it, and where to shelve it. Get your geek on, baby!
3–5:30 p.m.
BEA's Librarian Book Buzz/Meet the Publisher Rep Reception 2008 (Rm. 402A)
Library marketing reps Talia Ross, Macmillan; Jen Childs, Random House; Virginia Stanley, HarperCollins; Heather Scott, Hachette Book Group USA; and Michael Rockliff, Workman, reveal what they think will be the season's hottest books for libraries. (A Meet the Publisher Rep Reception follows this program.)

Author Information

Michael Rogers is Online Managing Editor, LJ, and Editor, LJXpress