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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2009 > June > 01 > Entry
Idle gossip and salacious rumors…
Yesterday I returned from Book Expo America in New York City. BEA used to be a four day book blowout. An extravaganza. A prodigious potpourri of publishing parties. Not any more…
The tone was somewhat muted. Here’s my take, my Book Expose’ America:
The publishers: Where are they? I kept looking for them. Random House has always had a huge presence at BEA. No longer. What was once a huge expanse of booth space teeming with publicists and sales staff was reduced to a lonely kiosk with a few signing areas for author autographing sessions. There was hardly a Random House staffer to be found. They were apparently hiding out in a meeting room in the basement.
Saint Martin’s had no booth. Neither did Farrar, Straus and Giroux. I guess they were in the basement with the rest of the MacMillan family of publishing imprints. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt did not have a booth. I did locate their meeting room in the basement and was delighted to have the best deli lunch ever. Pastrami sandwiches as thick as my wrists. What a delightful surprise that was!
The swag: BEA has always been the place to pick up promotional goodies. At past BEA’s (I have attended six in a row now) the abundance of books, posters, tote bags, and miscellaneous book ephemera was astonishing and mind boggling. That’s over now. I usually don’t burden myself with much swag so I didn’t care but it was certainly noticeable. The publishers have gotten downright miserly about the stuff. I heard a number of booksellers and librarians fuming about the dearth of goodies. That’s part of the fun.
The parties: BEA was always notorious for great parties. You might recall the party I attended last year in Beverly Hills for the billionaire Ted Turner. It was hosted by Larry King at his mansion. Prince threw a big party last year, too. This year there were a few parties but it was almost impossible to secure an invitation to one. From what I heard they were far from lavish. The New Yorker Magazine has always put on fabulous parties at BEA. This year they didn’t even have one. Sob.
The celebrities: There are always lots of big names at BEA. There were many there this year. Even so, there were fewer than usual. James Patterson was there again. So was Amy Tan. Pat Conroy was a no-show. His first novel in 15 years is coming out soon. Apparently Conroy’s health was not good. He cancelled his autographing appearance. I did see the pilot who landed his plane safely in the river last year. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
In lieu of the real books that were being promoted at BEA I think I’ll enjoy reading about some imaginary books instead. Check out the list by clicking HERE:
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: confessions of a galley slave
Comments
By H. Lee
June 2, 2009 11:22 AM | Link to this
Holy guano, that list of imaginary book reviews was dead on. Really funny. It reads just like some real book blurbs. I liked the “Whole Hog” one the best — it was larded with realistic details and sizzling with smarm. (Sorry.)By downsized
June 1, 2009 3:21 PM | Link to this
Hope you had time to take in some of the sites, Vick. You likely would have seen as many writers and celebs outside a Broadway play or Tavern-on-the-Green.