Ten CBA publishers were among those who gathered May 27-29 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City for BookExpo America (BEA), the largest gathering of book trade professionals in North America.

“BEA provides opportunities to interact with the broader publishing industry,” said Christianne Debysingh, senior publicist for Harvest House Publishers.

The annual event shifted to a mid-week pattern, with the exhibit floor open to professionals mid-day Wednesday through Friday. The consumer-focused BookCon, held Saturday and Sunday, May 30-31, was confined this year to one end of the BEA exhibit floor.

B&H Publishing Group was pleased with the show.

“Each year, B&H sees different opportunities in how to impact the market through BEA,” said Dan Lynch, publisher at B&H Kids. “This year, we have a large number of books that fit very well with this audience, so we increased our brand presence. All of our giveaway books just flew.”

Tyndale House Publishers focused on meeting with media partners, stores and other accounts. Participation in the Librarians’ Lounge was designed “to help us connect with the libraries that are in attendance,” said Michael Walling, Tyndale's trade sales support manager.

Most of the companies representing the Christian sales channel reported “solid” or “steady” booth traffic. The Abingdon booth, located within the Ingram Content Group footprint, had “good traffic,” said Trade Sales Director Russ Sellers. Attendees gravitated toward two October releases from the United Methodist publisher, The Fruitcake Murders by Ace Collins and Hidden Inheritance by Heidi Neumark.

“I’m happy to see other evangelical publishers participate,” said David Lewis, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Baker Publishing Group. “The show introduces us to a broader spectrum of readers. This year, I’m seeing a few more buyers from our CBA market.”

BEA always attracts an international audience as well. This year companies came from Turkey, Mexico, Armenia, Poland, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. China sent a delegation of government officials, publishing professionals and authors who gathered in a large, designated section at the heart of the exhibit floor. Small, red national flags dotted shiny white displays in this “global market Chinese forum.” In direct response to the Chinese presence on the BEA floor, free speech advocates gathered on the steps outside the New York Public Library to draw attention to censorship, labeled by protesters as the “dark side of publishing.”

Co-located at Javits were the BEA Bloggers Conference, Content and Digital Book Conference and Audio Publishers Conference Association (APAC).

In the continuing evolution of BEA, educational programming was limited to presentations and panels on the exhibit floor. Veteran blogger Michael Hyatt, former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson, appeared via video on the big screen at the new Content and Digital Stage. A full schedule of authors and celebrities spoke on other stages throughout the event. Twenty publishing technology startups were grouped together in Startup Alley, designed to bring together the “best of Silicon Valley and the book publishing industry.”

BookCon, advertised as the place where “storytelling and pop culture collide,” began with a tsunami of enthusiastic consumers who paid up to $35 a day ($5 per child) for the privilege of grabbing freebies, posters, galleys and ARCs.

“Publishers were flooded with people,” said Bob Wallace, a veteran marketer in Christian publishing. “Avid readers and books lovers waited in long lines to meet their favorite authors. BookCon was again a big success.”

Mike Berenstain, from the HarperCollins family of publishers, signed one of his Berenstain Bears titles, God Bless Our Country. During the two-day event, adults and children participated in literary quiz shows, met celebrity authors and interacted with publisher representatives and other content creators.

Next year, BEA is scheduled for Wednesday, May 11-Friday, May 13 in Chicago, which is the first time the show has been held outside of New York City since 2008. BookCon will take place Saturday, May 14. 

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