BEA 2009: Win!

Written with Liz Groh, BEA Master

This year’s BEA (BookExpo America) was a great success for the BookPros crew. Even though there were rumors that the show was less crowded, the attendance didn’t impact the success of our author signings at all. It’s still a huge show with plenty of booksellers, librarians, media and book lovers checking out the year’s new titles. We had a total of 22 authors in attendance, promoting 20 books covering all kinds of genres: Sci-fi, children’s, self-help, YA, nutrition, finance, biography, motivational and even sports! Our table was in a prime location—we had a better spot than Emeril!—right next to the table where Tomie DePaola, Dave Barry (on the left in the photo) and Julianne Moore signed their children’s books, and one table away from the incomparable Julie Andrews who also wrote a children’s book this year.

In previous years, we’ve done in-booth signings at our distributors’ booths. While those always went perfectly well, there is no question that the Autographing Area is the place to be. With so many people walking around and so many authors signing simultaneously, there was no shortage of people wanting free signed books. Our authors also did a great job of promoting their signings ahead of time—as usual, Thomas Pierce’s bright yellow tote bags promoting his book, The Last Rose, were everywhere—and many had lines waiting before they even arrived.

Those of us in attendance also had a bit of time to sneak away and enjoy the rest of the show, too. We went to a few seminars, walked the floors to see which books are debuting this year, and snagged some free ARCs (advance reading copies) on the way. Two of us (I won’t name names) added close to 20 pounds to our suitcases. Good thing we were well below the 50 pound limit to start off! A few of us also attended a Twitter Meetup (BEAtweetup) on Friday night at a really funky, eco-friendly club called Greenhouse (which was decorated to match its name). It’s always an odd experience to meet someone you’ve “followed” and “friended” online, but have never actually interacted with in person. Technology is an amazing thing!

All in all, BEA 2009 was a big success. Our authors had great signings, and each did a podcast interview on-site with BEA’s Emmy-winning interviewer, Les Shapiro. You can check them all out online at BookExpoCast. A big thanks goes out to all the folks at BookExpo America, Reed Exhibitions, BookExpoCast and the Official BEA Autographing Area for helping make this year’s show such a success for us and for our authors. And yes, we’re already looking forward to next year’s conference, which will stay in New York but move to mid-week: May 25-27, 2010. We hope to see you there!