Browsing BEA:
'It Won't Be Dull'
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (APRIL 2002)
As
the great mother ship BookExpo America prepares
to set down in New York City on May 1, and the wall-to-wall
lineup of bashes, fests, and sundry galas has us all
excruciatingly triple-booked, Publishing Trends
checked in with a number of show veterans to see whether
this year’s industry summit will be a whirlwind of activity,
or merely a light buffeting from all those air kisses.
In other words: Will anybody be doing any business?
Darn tootin’, if you ask Steven Rosato, Group
Sales Director and Director of Strategic Accounts for
BEA. He’s been talking up the fact that show officials
have been wrangling non-traditional booksellers with
the Gold Buyers Program, which has offered some small
incentives to lure retail giants such as Costco,
the Burlington Coat Factory, Marriott,
K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and others to the show.
We’re also told that Borders is set to conduct
one of its major annual pow-wows at BEA, and is dispatching
the chain’s entire buying group (upwards of 200 people).
Amazon is doing likewise, and Books-a-Million
has been seduced with the promise of a dedicated meeting
room, the result being a significant number of BAM attendees
as well. Adding to the anticipated hordes, Ingram
has cut a deal with its customer base, offering affiliated
retailers a $10 discount on their badge (which goes
for $110 until April 4, but is $150 on site).
On the exhibitor side, hopes are high over the cheap
“day” pass BEA has offered for $20, which is geared
to give NYC-area publishers a cheap way to empty out
the office and send more staff than typically attend.
S&S is taking full advantage of that option,
says Marketing Director Michael Selleck, so expect
lots of curious bodies on the floor. Mobilization also
continues apace on the library front, with Pennsylvania
Library Association past president (and rabid BEA
fan) Jack Burke chartering two buses for his
colleagues to attend the show, for a $15 fare. We’re
told 90 people are confirmed — and buses are full.
Despite the deals, however, Reed still seems
concerned about bookseller turnout, particularly among
Californians. There’s worry that if the show continues
to alternate coasts, as in the past, attendees may simply
take a rain check until it boomerangs back closer to
home. Independent reps also report a mixed bookseller
response, with many wary of the show “politics” and
smarting from the past indifference of booth personnel
to the lowly “blue badges.” And there’s the rising “body
count,” or the toll last fall has extracted from publishers,
sales management, and sales teams. “We have had eight
sales managers fired, ‘disappeared’ or ‘defenestrated’
since the New Year,” one rep tells us, “and we have
every reason to believe that this trend will continue
as blame for flat or depressed sales continues to be
parceled out.”
Depopulation may also be hitting the rights-trading
floor, but for a different reason. “Most publishers
want to have appointments in their offices,” says scout
Christina McInerney. “In fact, some have even
said they would prefer to meet the foreign publishers
in their offices over the weekend rather than go to
the Javits Center. I guess this attitude is determined
by what sort of space has been allocated for rights
sales. It doesn’t seem like many have made it an attractive
proposition.” For those keeping score, among McInerney’s
clients who will be trekking to BookExpo are Ediciones
B/Vergara, Verlagsgruppe Luebbe, Campus,
Het Spectrum, Sony Books, and Livres
de Poche. The only clients not attending are from
the Greek house Livanis.
Furthermore, according to one senior rights director,
several scouts report that even though they attended
the event previously, they wouldn’t be coming to BEA
this year because it followed too closely on the heels
of the London Book Fair. (They opted for London
instead.) On the other hand, some editors said they
were pointedly attending this year’s BEA because they
were on their way to NYC (some were even here) in September,
but never got to their meetings, so they’ll make up
for it in May. Meanwhile, out-of-town reps were relieved
that it saves them an air ticket to BEA, as they’ll
come to New York anyway for sales conferences.
BEA:
The Full Meal Deal
Despite
the jitters, some are predicting a full house. “I have
quite a few clients attending,” says scout Mary Anne
Thompson, “and I think people are making a real
effort to visit New York City.” Some of Thompson’s clients
who were already in town in the winter months are returning
for BEA, and some of those attending BEA will also be
back in September. Clients attending so far include:
Rocco, Belfond, Piemme, Scherz,
Droemer, Richters, Macmillan, Bruna,
Vassallucci, Kadokawa, and Grijalbo-Mondadori.
All told, it’s a “pretty good” head count of 22 people.
As for logistics, Thompson says, meetings for clients
pre- and post-BEA are slated for editors’ and agents’
offices, with a typical day’s schedule containing 6-10
meetings. During BEA, where most of the rights action
will take place, at least 10 meetings per day are expected.
She’s optimistic that heads of houses and senior reps
will make an effort to attend the show, at least on
Friday, and expects a larger international crowd than
in past years, when the industry had tired of BEA, citing
flagging energy levels and lackluster attendance.
For her part, Sarah Goodwin of Sanford J.
Greenburger expects an action-packed show replete
with “a lot of after-hours revelry and plenty of grist
for the gossip-mills.” As Goodwin says, “A lot of our
clients are coming a little bit before or after BEA
as well, so they know they’re going to get to meet with
absolutely everyone they want to. Usually, they would
have to schedule a trip to New York sometime during
the year, separate from the book fairs, but this year,
it’s an all-in-one deal.” She notes that all of the
agency’s big clients are attending, despite the proximity
of both the Toronto Book Fair and LBF. Echoing
other post-9/11 remarks, she adds, “If anything, people
are even more eager to show New Yorkers their support.”
The safest attitude? Go for minimal sales and maximal
parties. “We are guardedly optimistic,” says Christopher
Kerr of Parson Weems. “Fewer client publishers
will be exhibiting, largely because of poor bookseller
attendance in earlier shows, as well as concern about
NYC exhibit costs and union shakedowns.” Other booksellers,
he says, are already salivating over visions that the
parties will be on par with the last, decadent New York
BEA. (PT’s informal survey turned up numerous
bashes, most hosted by publishers.) But sales may be
scarcer than a taxi on 11th Avenue. “We write very little
business either at the show or around the show,” he
says. “However, we encourage our publishers to promote
‘Show Specials’ and we see some backlist business as
a result. Also, we hear, by the grapevine, that many
other publishers are privately offering themselves or
portions of their lists for sale. Whatever it is, BEA
will not be dull.”
©2002
Publishing Trends
