Thought BEA was hot this year, you should see the bill for air conditioning

Flying to Denver today to visit booksellers in the Mountains and Plains region. I can't wait to see the new Tattered Cover bookstore in the historic theatre the moved to last year. TC was the anchor for an entire neighborhood revitalzation, then the rent climbed beyond what was affordable for the store forcing the move. A victim of there own success, they moved to a historic landmark and former theatre. I'm hoping to get a good look around from Neil Strandberg (TC guru, former St. Paul resident like me and all around good guy). The rent problem TC had is not new for indy bookstores for example you can see it happening with Mitchell Kaplan's, Books and Books location in Miami Beach. That store helped to bring back from the dead the pedestrian mall it resides on and now rents are skyrocketing. Store owners that can buy (like Roxanne Coady at R.J. Julia) and charge fair market rent back to the store, have far greater control. I met a brand new bookseller in Seattle that was on the cusp of opening her dream bookstore and the fact that she had bought the building was such a strikingly smart move. And don't trust me, the expert, Len Vlahos from the ABA cheered her move. But I digress.......

Read in The Times today Spitzers attempt at a plan for rennovating and updating the Javits Center (this discussion has now spanned over two decades!). BEA will be back in NYC in 2009 and again in probably 3 years). The part that made me laugh was the closing paragrpah that stated if his $4 billion plan can't get support they'll look at a less ambitious plan that would entail, "repairing the leaky roof, installing new windows and overhauling the spotty air-conditioning system at a cost of $400 million"

I say we start an A/C relief fund right now in preperation for BEA in 2008. I'll even throw in the first buck!

More from a mile high this weekend.......

-L

PS - I forgot my usual mogging (my made up term for mobile blogging) disclaimer. I'm blogging via blackberry so no links and lots of typos. Please try to be understanding......
Lance Fensterman
Event Director BookExpo America
Blog:

www.bookexpo-lance.blogspot.com

203-840-5507 (office)
203-417-3607 (mobile)
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Who New?

A scant 3 months after the official end of BookExpo, I've added a few new pod casts I did from the show floor. They promise to be educational and unprofessional - but mildly amusing.......

Also, check the link to the right for more information on the Translation market the event BEA is launching with Miami Bookfair International.....

Also, are you using Google Reader? You should be. It's great and keeps me up to date on goings on even when I'm on the road. It's like email for the web, try it, you'll like it.

More soon,

-L

Brooklyn, Miami, Seattle - wait what day is it?

I'm blogging remotely so my usual disclaimer applies here - please excuse a lack of links, typos and general goofiness......

I spent the past weekend at the Brooklyn Book Festival and had a great time. BookExpo sponsored the opening night party and upon arrival I learned that I'd be speaking. No worries, my BEA cohort Steve Rosato long ago taught me not to choose my words too carefully as no one really listens at those reception speaches! I did get to meet Paul Auster who received the first ever Brooklyn Book Award and I must say he's a splendid guy. Johnny Temple of Akashik Books, who is the chair of the fest has become a good friend and I'm really proud that BEA was able to support the fledgling fair. Johnny also introduced me to one of his authors, Mike Farrell (aka BJ Honeycut of MASH fame). He's done great work in animal rights issues (and just landed a plumb role on Desperate Houswives) but of course I was in a tizzy because, after meeting Alan Alda at BEA in June I'm only a Gary Burgough away from a near complete MASH set!

The fair was a great mix of author events and mostly indy presses on display. It seems posied to grow and considering that NYC is without a major public fair (save the Harlem Book Fest) it seems needed. BEA helped to market the event and we plan to do some podcasts as well. In the course of promoting the event I got emails from at least 6 other public book fairs around the country asking about partnering with BEA on promotion. This got me thinking about the theme of my last post on how BEA can work to keep the lines between content creators and consumers porous. I'd love to explore ways that BEA can create a marketing arm to help promote and support these various fairs around the country. Afterall, anything that helps to get books into the hands of readers is the ultimate goal of BEA and its customers.

On a similar topic I was in Miami Monday for a press conference with Miami media to announce a new partnership between BEA and the Miami Book Fair. We are launching an event this November (the 8th to be exact) on the subject of translations. This is an exciting partnership and event that will focus on education this year and grow into much more in coming years. The U.S. Is not known as a country that is friendly to works of translation, yet every editor and rights agent I've spoken with are passionate about that concept. So in a more ambitious way I hope the Translation Market will begin to open up conversations on how we, as a domestic industry can create a more fertile enviroment for non English works. Furthermore I hope this event will grow into more than education and create an oppertunity for the business of translation and foreogn rights to be done. I'm extreemly pleased to be in a long term partnership with the Miami Book Fair.

Both The Translation Market event and the concept of supporting public book fairs around the country fit well with my vision of BEA offering information, events and connections throughout the calendar year.

Check out www.thetranslationmarket for details.

This morning I boarded a fight from Miami to Seattle and I had 7 hours to contemplate if there are two points further from each other in the U.S. I'm out for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association gathering. BEA is helping to support the local chapter of the Emerging Leaders with a kick ass party Wednesday night at Third Place Books. It should be fun and when I think about the changing face of our business, supporting young booksellers like the Emerging Leaders seems to be one of the best things BEA can do to help seed the new business models of bookstores. And when I say support I mean defray the cost of beer and the band. Yes, as Mrs. BEA would say, "Boy, your job is tough.......". I love what I do, what can I say!

-L
Lance Fensterman
Event Director BookExpo America
Blog:

www.bookexpo-lance.blogspot.com

203-840-5507 (office)
203-417-3607 (mobile)
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Poor Us - Is BEA Porous?

I read in The Times a few weeks back an account by a first-time attendee to Comic-Con in San Diego. She had a line that really intrigued me and crystallized one of the many goals I have for BEA. She said that Comic-Con kept the communication between fans and creators porous. That word struck me and the concept, again as a goal for BEA and perhaps my role in this industry, resonated.

The model for ideas and products currently rising is the outside in model - precisely that porous line between creator and user the Times author described. Fans (consumer, customers, what have you) telling creators (companies, industries, what have you) what they want. The concept of user generated content is based on this. Book deals for bloggers is an example. However BEA is based on the inside out model with creators pushing to purveyors what they feel the public will want. So keeping the lines between consumer/purveyors and the creators porous is an ongoing challenge for BEA. Ultimately our goal is to get more books into peoples hands - that benefits every constituent of the show so how we do that in a world of evolving communication is our challenge.

As for "porous", here is what I'm thinking: you've got the "book" on the one hand, and the "consumer" on the other hand. This was the whole point in the creation of the show, but at that point it was only the bookseller that provided the link (or the "seepage", if you will). Hence, it's a bookseller convention. But meanwhile, what has happened is that everything that is in between these two entities is just as porous and leads to the breadth and scope of business (both quantitative and qualitative) that is not only conducted at BEA, but which also takes the book to the consumer, and makes the show unique.

Obviously, this still includes the bookseller, but it also includes publicity, podcasting, rights, editorial, librarians, bloggers, book reviews, author launches, and the myriad of meetings and chance encounters with people far outside our immediate professional area of expertise that lead to the news and buzz and knowledge of titles that gets them on the bookshelves at bookstores. It's all that stuff that is porous. And this is partially why our podcasting and internet initiatives are so key ... if anything represents the porous world in which we live, it's the internet.

The porous connection and communication between creators and purveyors (thus ultimately consumers) and the maintenance of the porous communication are one of the unique strengths of BEA. Few other international book fairs (of the trade variety anyway) have that porous communication. By in large those fairs are insider affairs with creators doing business with other creators, which is an incredibly important part of the process, but my wish for BEA is that link from creator to the eventual consumer remains porous......

I've been going through a lot of strategic planning with the BEA team as of late and these sort of pie in the sky, off the wall ideas are what come out of that. Fret not, soon I'll be back to cracking jokes and telling tales of bookstore visits.....

-L

Slow Boat From China

I depart Beijing today, a few days early from the fair. My appointments are done and the lure of a labor day to recoup from my travels won out over another day of meetings......

Last evening I chatted with Jane Friedman about their efforts in China during a cocktail reception hosted by Harper Collins. The first of the Chinese classics they are publishing in the U.S. won't hit shelves until winter 2009. When I asked why, she said it's Chinese. They plan to earnestly translate the works and not rush the process. However Harper's plans are again indicative of style of U.S. publishing efforts in China; slow, small, scant revenue. But the Harper flag is firmly planted and relationships are developing. Nevertheless, patience only lasts for so long and its clear that Harper's (and every other pub as well) has hopes that the government will change it's policy against foreign publishers publishing direct and I'm sure the lobbying efforts will match it.

Also had a good talk with my friend Cyrus from Simon's international sales department. He indicated that he's done more direct selling this year than in years past. This is unusual as all books sold into China must go through one of only a few importers/distributors. Cyrus stated that retailers are meeting with and buying from S and S direct and the importers are simply rubber stamping the orders. Another quirk and end around the quirk of doing business in China.

Speaking of end around, I had a great night on the rooftop patio of the Bookworm Bookstore last night. It's an amazing store that Alexandra Pearson has built by creatively bringing English language books into the country. It is truly an Ex Pat haven stocked mostly with books for loan, a growing section of new books, bar, cafe and amazing rooftop patio. It was a perfect night in Beijing and even the moon made a rare appearance through the smog. I met a number of filmmakers, writers, translators, music producers from native lands like the UK, New Zealand, U.S. Canada and so forth living in Beijing for varying and crazy reasons.

As I was preparing to leave the Bookworm party, Neil Gaiman joined us on the roof and I slowed my departure to chat with him. He was in China for a sci fi convention where he spoke to about 5,000 fans and also indicated that he came to Beijing to support Harper's presence. We have a friend in common so we talked about China, BEA, bookstores and rabid fans (one of my booksellers in St. Paul had made it his life goal to that date to host Gaiman at our bookstore - which never happened but Gaiman pointed out his pub always made him go to Barnes and Noble against his wishes).

Gaiman had blogged before his trip that he'd be in Beijing and wanted to visit the Bookworm. Apparently fans had lined up expecting him yesterday only to learn he had not planned an official visit. So he was trying to track down the fans to send them signed books. He even called one of the fans on her mobile at the airport and talked with her for 10 minutes. I've met a lot of authors and few care about their fans as much as Neal. Cool stuff and a great last night in Beijing.
I'm happy to be heading home but will miss the energy, possibility and sheer discovery that Beijing (and China as a whole) offers. There is so much to learn about doing business in this country for publishers and the challenge is equal parts invigorating and maddening - not a dissimilar feeling I have about our little business in the U.S.

After a 14 hour flight and time change, I'll be back in New York in two hours. Cheeseburger on the grill and a cold beer in Borwalk by 10pm doesn't sound too bad right now.....

Bye from Beijing,

- L

--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld