ABA Programming at BookExpo to Feature Return of Perennial Favorites

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BookExpo 2018 will kick off in New York City on Wednesday, May 30, with a full day of events and programming.

Part of the trade show floor at the Jacob Javits Convention Center will be open on Wednesday, and along with American Booksellers Association programming — Meet the Editors, Publicists Speed Dating, the Celebration of Bookselling Lunch, and the ABC/CBC Silent Art Auction — Wednesday will be a full BookExpo day.

The show floor will be open in its entirety on Thursday, May 31, and Friday, June 1. Last week, the BookExpo team announced a “reimagining” of the annual book industry event to deliver new value to attendees; read more about it here.

Programming on Wednesday, May 30, will include:

Meet the Editor

Back by popular demand, on Wednesday, May 30, booksellers will once again have the opportunity to experience the book editing process through in-person visits with editors at their New York City offices. Booksellers will go directly to their assigned publishing house at 9:30 a.m. to meet with editors for approximately 90 minutes.

The structure of the editor meetings will vary by publisher and are meant to give a behind-the-scenes look at the philosophy and process of book editing. Booksellers will be randomly assigned and will receive their publisher information by e-mail prior to BookExpo.

To complement ABA’s Meet the Editor program, BookExpo is launching “Editor’s Hours,” which will enable exhibitors to offer informal chats among booksellers and editors in the exhibitor booths. Publishers will provide BookExpo with the editors and imprints being featured, and BookExpo will promote them in a master schedule shared with booksellers. This will be held on all days of the show.

Publicists Speed Dating

Publicists Speed Dating sessions, an ever-growing program designed to connect booksellers with publicists, will be held on Wednesday, May 30, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Javits Special Events Hall and Friday, June 1, from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. in the Javits River Pavilion.

Each participating bookstore will meet with publishing staff from publicity and/or marketing for 12 minutes each, and each bookseller will meet with at least six publishers’ tables (assignments will be e-mailed ahead of BookExpo). These conversations are a chance for booksellers to promote their stores, as well as to discover what publicists look for when planning author tours. The event is limited to bookstore owners, managers, and event managers.

To prepare, booksellers can check out ABA’s webinar on “Creating a Press Kit,” which is available along with other educational materials on ABA’s Learning on Demand page.

In addition to ABA’s program, BookExpo has created the June 1 “Publicists In-Booth Meet-Up” event, which allows publishers to list their publicists’ availability for in-booth meet-ups in the BookExpo Connect app. Booksellers will also be able to upload their store profile to share with publicists in advance to make meetings more productive.

Celebration of Bookselling and Author Awards Lunch

This year’s Celebration of Bookselling Lunch, which will be held on Wednesday, May 30, from noon to 1:30 p.m., will feature the presentation of the 2018 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards and the introduction of Indie Next List authors and award nominees. Many of the authors in attendance will be signing in the ABA Member Lounge following the event.

Silent Art Auction to Benefit ABFE and Every Child a Reader, featuring the Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards

The popular Silent Art Auction of children’s book art will be held in the Javits South Concourse from 5:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30. Children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Bryan will be the honoree for this year’s Silent Art Auction, which will benefit the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) and Every Child a Reader.

Preceding the Silent Art Auction will be the 2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards ceremony. Co-hosts Selina Aiko and Sean Qualls will announce this year’s winning books.

The ABA Member Lounge & Galley Room

As always, the ABA Member Lounge & Galley Room will be the exclusive place for booksellers to relax, have a snack, and meet with their colleagues from across the country. The Lounge will be open to booksellers with ABA member badges at the following times:

  • Wednesday, May 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, May 31, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (closed from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m. for the ABA Annual Membership Meeting and Town Hall)
  • Friday, June 1, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Registration for Meet the Editors, Publicists Speed Dating, and the Celebration of Bookselling Lunch will open at the end of March; tickets for the art auction will go on sale in early April.

Registration for BookExpo 2018 is now open. To receive a free badge to the show, booksellers at ABA member stores will need to provide an ABA member ID number during the BookExpo registration process. Booksellers who don’t know their ABA member ID number should send a request with their name, title, and store name to [email protected] or call (800) 637-0037, ext. 7536.

Thanks to a significant financial commitment from Reed Exhibitions, ABA member booksellers can reserve rooms at the 2018 Hotel ABA — The New Yorker, a Wyndham Hotel — at a rate of $200 per night, including all taxes and fees (a $33 per night added value). The ABA member hotel rate is available for the nights of Sunday, May 27, through Sunday, June 3, 2018; however, the room block is limited and reservations will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The New Yorker Hotel is located at 481 Eighth Avenue in New York City, between 34th and 35th Streets. To access Hotel ABA reservation information, booksellers will need a BookWeb username and password (e-mail [email protected] for login details). The deadline to get this rate is May 14 or when the block sells out, whichever comes first.

As additional BookExpo programming takes shape, watch Bookselling This Week for details. General questions about registration should be addressed to the BookExpo customer service team at [email protected].