When the New York Book Forum launched just months before the outbreak of the coronavirus in 2020, its organizers feared for its future. But the timing of the launch turned out to be fortuitous.
Janet McCarthy Grimm and Martha Hanson, the respective director and president of NYBF, agreed that the pandemic made spreading the word about the fledgling organization akin to wading in quicksand. “It was really challenging trying to connect with people who were feeling so disenfranchised,” said Grimm, formerly of Lindenmeyr Publishing Papers.
NYBF officially gained its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in late 2019, but its first year was devoted to putting the frame of the organization in place, Grimm said. Now, with four years of operating experience behind them, both women said there were some advantages to launching when they did.
The most important advantage, they said, is that as the pandemic wore on, people became more hungry for ways to convene and connect. And once offices began to reopen as the pandemic eased, there wasn’t that same sense of industry community there was before Covid. Enter NYBF.
“It’s really gratifying to see how people respond to seeing each other in person,” said Hanson, a VP at Simon & Schuster. That is especially true, Hanson said, for people new to publishing “who are looking for connection.” For newcomers and young people eager to see how the entire industry works together, NYBF is the perfect place, said Grimm, noting that a large number of NYBF members fall into that category. The organization now has more than 125 members and is open to anyone connected to publishing, including students.
NYBF has two related goals: to increase connections between different sectors of publishing and to build bridges between publishing and the general public. To that end, NYBF sponsors regular informational programs that are opened to all industry professionals as well as the public.
This winter, NYBF held panel discussions around the trend of deluxe editions, the growth of romance publishing, women publishing leaders, and sustainability in printing with a look at EUDR. One of NYBF’s biggest draws has been its Publishing Bootcamps, which take a deep dive into a specific area of publishing. Its third Publishing Bootcamp is slated for the fall.
Beyond professional development, the NYBF also offers fun and informal networking opportunities, such as the "Bingo Bash" it hosted in April. While its first programs were all online, it now includes a mix of virtual and in-person events, with Macmillan, Hachette Book Group, and Scholastic providing space for this year's winter/spring gatherings. Grimm said with most people in New York City going to the office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, NYBF schedules its in-person meetings for those days, adding that she expects the growing return to office to be beneficial for NYBC. The organization makes most of its programming available to watch on its YouTube channel or to listen to on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Underling all of NYBF’s efforts is the promotion of literacy. At its launch event in July 2022, the organization donated $10,000 to the Literacy Assistance Center. Since then, NYBF has supported various literacy initiatives and has developed close ties with Care For the Homeless, an organization that places books into the hands of children experiencing homelessness.
NYBF’s biggest social event and fundraiser to date was last year’s Sunset Social on the Hudson River. The 2025 edition is set for June 12 on The Baylander at the West Harlem Piers in New York. Admission is $100. Hanson said she hopes the outing will help the organization attain its goal for 2025 to increase its membership and to drive more people to its meetings.
