BookExpo Releases Author Autographing Schedules

Last week, BookExpo America (BEA) released author autographing schedules for both its traditional autographing area and for in-booth signings. The combined programs feature more than 700 authors and include luminaries such as James Patterson, David Baldacci, Tom Wolfe, Nelson Demille, and Mary Higgins Clark. Children's authors include Jules Feiffer, Walter Dean Myers, Robert Sabuda, R.L. Stine, Maurice Sendak, and Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket. In addition, there will be a wide array of new authors and personalities from the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, and sports.

Schedules arranged by date, table, and time; by author; and by publisher are available in PDF files on the BEA website, www.bookexpoamerica.com. For specific celebrity authors, a limited number of tickets are distributed on site on a first-come basis.

BEA has also set up Book & Author Salutes to help convention attendees know when certain book genres are most likely to be featured in the autographing area. Friday Salutes in the Autographing Area include Women's Fiction and Romance Novels, First-Time Authors, African-American Authors, Children's Books, and Graphic Novels and Comic Books.

Saturday Salutes include Health and Fitness, Best of Cooking, Nonfiction and Business Books, Juvenile Fiction and Nonfiction, Faith and Self-Help, and Mysteries. Sunday, the last day of the show is Author Day, dedicated to highlighting New and Mid-List authors, many of whom will be featured in autographing sessions in publishers' booths.

To support the Book Industry Foundation, BEA is once again offering the Gold Pass Program. A one-dollar donation per autographed book is requested in the Autographing Area, but attendees may choose to participate in the Gold Pass Program, which covers all of their autographed books with a one-time donation of $25. The Gold Pass Program also offers several additional benefits such as a Front of the Line Pass, a "one-time" pass allowing the holder to bypass the crowd and go to the front of any one authors line. In addition, the $25 Gold Pass contribution includes a membership in the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, a complimentary BEA convention collectible poster, ABFFE membership pin, and more. The Gold Pass can be purchased through the BEA registration form.