BEA Show Daily: BEA Takes Manhattan

Day 2

by Diane Roback and Jason Britton -- Publishers Weekly, 5/4/2002

Back in New York City for the first time in 11 years, BookExpo America opened yesterday with the kind of bustle and busyness--and near gridlock--that one would expect in the city that never sleeps. Many exhibitors' booths attracted overflow crowds; a few (most notably Random House) had taken less space than in previous years.

Speaking at the ABA Town Meeting, BEA's Greg Topalian said he had no attendance figures to release yet, but noted that general pre-registration was up 20%, ABA membership pre-registration was up 12% and "store count is higher than it's been in a long time. So far we're very pleased with the way things have gone."

Mary Norris, executive editor of Globe Pequot, said, "Everyone seems happy, having it in New York and with this kind of weather. Everyone wants to help the city out at this point in time. And it's great for the staff. We're in Connecticut, and we have a bus bringing down some staff members who don't normally get to go to the show.

"The aisles are narrower than at McCormick Place," observed Patty Berg, promotions manager at Workman. "But stores are bringing more people--it isn't just owners anymore. It's nice to be able to speak with the people who are actually working on the sales floor. And it's also nice to be able to show New York to booksellers."

Publishers were also enthusiastic about the opportunity to show BEA to their staffs. George Witte, editor-in-chief of St. Martin's, said, "I'm glad we can bring a range of editors and assistants. Our whole art department can go. Our publicity department gets to go instead of the top two managers."

Matt Gildea of Adams Media Corp., commenting on the heavy traffic, said, "It really helps having our booth right between Harper and Harlequin. People are upbeat and optimistic. It's good to meet with the independents and hear what's working and what's not."

"It's good to see the New York crowd feeling like the hosts of the event," said Dan Tucker, publisher of Sideshow Media. "And for the out-of-towners there's a feeling of solidarity with the city of New York." He pointed out one of the disadvantages of the hometown location for the many New York attendees: "I hate to go home and face piles of laundry."

Booksellers Weigh In

Connie Harper-Castle, owner of Literature & Art, New York City, said, "It's so great to have the show back in New York City and to see so many people I haven't seen in 11 years. I'm checking things out and happy that the Internet didn't make paper books disappear, as many people predicted."

Eileen Forado, co-owner of Time and Again Books, New York City, has been to many shows at the Javits Center but is attending her first BEA. "It's so huge, and it's wonderful to see faces from all over the country."

Bryan Lovitz of Atlantic Books, Montgomery, Pa., noted that "publishers seem rushed" and called the show "more crowded than usual." Commenting on the busy floor, Jan Iverson of Warwick's, La Jolla, Calif., said, "I was exhausted after two hours. There's a lot to take in. I have to take it in small doses."

Brooklyn bookseller Geoffrey Wisner of Indigo Cafe and Books found the New York location "very convenient. We're a new bookstore so it's just as well to keep it close to home. The store's owner and I went to BEA in Chicago two years ago, when we were about to open. Now, with a little more experience, we can be selective about the publishers we're seeing. We have a better idea of what sells to our market, and it's a little easier to focus this time around."

On his first visit to the Big Apple, Harvey Sandahl of Just Thinking Bookstore, Hastings, Minn., was enjoying the city as well as the show. Besides scoring tickets to The Lion King by standing in the cancellation line, he attended the educational programs on Thursday, calling them "informative," and said the show "feels as big as usual."

Nancy Beattie of The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, N.Y., deemed it a "good show. We do about 70 orders here, mostly the publishers we don't have reps for, so the show is very important to us." She commented on viewing the exhibit of September 11 photographs at the D.A.P stand for Here Is New York: A Democracy of Photographs. "It's a little sea of quiet, in the middle of this huge crowd of people--so different from what's on the convention floor. It's a memorial in and of itself."

Booksellers enjoyed being able to meet a range of people from publishing houses. As Tom Campbell, co-owner of The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, N.C., put it: "I get to meet editors, which is something different. More people are available."