[5]Booksellers can register now for the American Booksellers Association’s exclusive programming for members who will be attending BookExpo 2018 [6] in New York City from May 30 to June 1.

The program includes the popular Celebration of Bookselling and Author Awards Lunch, two Publicists Speed Dating sessions, an opportunity to “Meet the Editor” at publishers’ offices around the city, and the ABC/CBC Speed Dating Lunch With Children’s Authors.

The Celebration of Bookselling and Author Awards Lunch [7], always a highlight for booksellers, will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30, in the Main Stage Hall of the Javits Convention Center.

The Celebration will feature the presentation of the 2018 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards [8] (including the new audiobook category!) as well as the introduction of Indie Next List authors and award nominees.

Reservations are free of charge and limited to a maximum of four booksellers per ABA member store location. Seat assignments will be e-mailed prior to BookExpo; following the lunch, a number of the Celebration’s participating authors will be signing exclusively for ABA members in the ABA Member Lounge (Booth 721) on the trade show floor. Preregistration for the Celebration of Bookselling lunch is required by Wednesday, May 16. Reserve a seat for the Celebration here [9].

Meet the Editor [10] will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 30, at various publishing houses around the city.

Booksellers will have the opportunity to experience the book editing process through in-person visits with editors at their New York offices. Booksellers will go directly to their assigned publishing house at 9:30 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 on their own to return to the convention center following the publisher visits. Booksellers will be randomly assigned and will receive their publisher information by e-mail prior to BookExpo.

Preregistration for Meet the Editor is required by Thursday, May 10. Preregister for Meet the Editor here [11].

Publicists Speed Dating sessions will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30 [12], and from 9:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on Friday, June 1 [13], at the convention center.

ABA member bookstore owners, managers, and event coordinators will meet one-on-one with publicists. Booksellers will visit five to six tables of publicists per day; booksellers that sign up for both the Wednesday and Friday sessions will meet with different publicists each day. During the timed “dates,” booksellers will have the chance to promote their stores and discover what publicists look for when planning author tours.

Here is a partial list of the publishers participating in Publicists Speed Dating; others will be announced as they are confirmed:

• Abrams
• Akashic
• Workman
• Auzou
• Blackstone
• Bloomsbury
• Candlewick
• Catapult/Soft Skull
• Chronicle Books
• City Lights Publishers
• Coach House
• Canongate
• Dundurn Press
• ECW
• Fabled Films
• Greystone
• Grove Atlantic
• Hachette
• Harlequin
• HarperCollins
• Haymarket Books
• Image Comics
• Macmillan
• The New Press
• Penguin Random House
• Scholastic
• Scribe
• Simon & Schuster
• Soho Press
• Sourcebooks
• W.W. Norton

Preregistration for Publicists Speed Dating is required by Thursday, May 10. Booksellers can sign up for the Day 1 session (Wednesday, May 30) and/or the Day 2 session (Friday, June 1). Preregister for Publicists Speed Dating here [14].

The ABC/CBC Speed Dating Lunch With Children’s Authors [15] will be held from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Friday, June 1, at the Javits Convention Center.

ABA members and friends of CBC who purchase tickets will enjoy a lively lunch with more than a dozen children’s book authors as they pitch their new projects. Tickets are $35 each. Space is limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Booksellers will receive their table assignments via e-mail prior to BookExpo.

Preregistration and prepayment are required by Wednesday, May 16. Order tickets for the ABC/CBC Speed Dating Lunch here [16].

More information about ABA’s programming at BookExpo can be found on BookWeb.org [17]. Tickets for the Silent Art Auction [18] to benefit American Booksellers for Free Expression and Every Child a Reader will go on sale in April.

Booksellers can register for free badges to BookExpo 2018 [5] by providing an ABA member ID number during the 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] [19] or call (800) 637-0037, ext. 7536.

Thanks to financial support 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). To access Hotel ABA reservation information [20], booksellers will need a BookWeb username and password (e-mail [email protected] [19] for login details).

Watch Bookselling This Week for more about BookExpo in the coming weeks. General questions about registration should be addressed to the BookExpo customer service team at [email protected] [21].