Live From BEA
Booksellers, Authors Hook Up
By Sally Lodge -- Publishers Weekly, 6/1/2007 10:05:00 AM
Speed dating at BEA? You bet. In a clever spin on a practice prevalent in the singles dating scene, the Children’s Booksellers and Publishers Committee, a cooperative committee of the ABA, ABC and CBC, has devised a way for booksellers to get to know authors—quickly. Labeled "Speed Dating with Children’s Authors," the rendezvous will take place today, 10–11:30 a.m., at the Galleria/River Pavilion of the convention center.
Here’s how it works: 20 authors will spend three minutes at each of 20 tables filled with eight or nine booksellers. After starting each session with a brief presentation highlighting their past, present and upcoming work, the authors will—time allowing—answer questions from the retailers. "We are very excited about the program, and we think it will be a big hit," says Rebecca Miller, programs associate for CBC. To assemble the authors for this program, the Children’s Booksellers and Publishers Committee asked CBC member publishers to suggest authors to participate. "We wanted a mix of established and up-and-coming authors and illustrators, and we wanted to be sure booksellers got the chance to meet creators of a wide variety of genres, from picture books to YA books," Miller explains. A list of publishers’ submissions of potential participants was then circulated to committee members, who voted on their choices. Among the selected authors and illustrators who will be speed dating this morning are Harry Bliss, Doreen Cronin, Christopher Paul Curtis, Carmen Agra Deedy, Delia Ephron, Jack Gantos, Sara Varon, Sara Pennypacker and Howard Whitehouse. Booksellers attending the program will leave with giveaway bags containing an item—such as a bookmark or button or book—representing the work of each author.
