Fewer companies but more staff; store emphasis ‘very encouraging’ Signaling a positive outlook on the economy, Christian publishers increased personnel for the U.S. book world’s biggest event, held May 23-26 in New York City. Like last year, Book Expo America (BEA) drew about 17 Christian publishers to the event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Baker Publishing Group Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Lewis told Christian Retailing that the company added staff for BEA. “We had more appointments and needed help keeping a person free to interact with walk-up traffic,” he said. “After cutting back on staff during the recession, we once again fully staffed the booth for the show this year.” Mary Katharine Hunt, vice president of marketing for B&H Publishing Group, said that the company also increased its staff. The highlight of BEA was “seeing what is happening across the publishing industry, especially the big focus on digital publishing trends,” she said. Harry Helm, vice president and associate publisher of marketing for Hachette Book Group, said that the company “maintained its usual strong presence” at BEA. Hachette brought Jay Bakker to promote his fall FaithWords book, Falling to Grace, at the show. Other Christian publishers who exhibited at BEA included Zondervan, Tyndale House Publishers, Regal Books, Moody Publishers, Harvest House Publishers, Charisma Media, Kingstone Media Group and Barbour Publishing. There were fewer Christian publishers than in previous years. CBA Executive Director Curtis Riskey and CBA Business Development Manager Eric Grimm attended their first BEA. “It was encouraging to hear publishers recognize the value of bookstores in the publishing marketplace system,” Riskey told Christian Retailing. “While there is great concern, hysteria and hype about creating digital content and selling it through new technologies, there is also a real concern that without stores, the publishing industry will be squeezed and cash starved,” Riskey added. “The loss of ‘showrooms’—as stores were called in several presentations—could mean a greater loss of publishers’ sales and profitability. … The call for new business models that enable brick-and-mortar stores to compete was very encouraging.” Despite a return to a three-day format compared to the two-day 2010 show, BEA saw a decline in the total number of professionals in attendance, from 21,664 versus 21,919 last year, according to organizers. The 2012 BEA show is scheduled for June 5-7 in New York City.
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