Neil Gaiman Interview & Get Your BookExpo Special Event Tickets Now!

Ticket sales for the BookExpo special events have gone through the roof this past week, so if you are thinking about getting tickets, get them now. Click here for tickets.

Meanwhile, I really think that the Children’s Breakfast lineup is perhaps the best we have EVER had. Sherman Alexie, Neil Gaiman, Judy Blume and Eoin Colfer – with opening remarks by Jon Scieszka.

Really, this is an impressive lineup and it will only further cement my fledgling best friendship with Neil Gaiman; I talked with him in Beijing, he did an amazing talk at NY Comic Con, and in the days leading up to NYCC, he even typed my name on his blog (and not in reference to a medical procedure). If this is not grounds for a best friendship, than what is? Really, I’m pretty stoked that I’m getting to host Neil at 2 events in less than two months, so listen to the interview and then buy some tickets to the breakfast!

-L

Great Programs for Indy Pubs at BookExpo!

Since I've been running BEA we've had a great relationship with the New York Center for Independent Publishing and Foreword Magazine, in fact these two groups do a ton of programming for Indy Publishers at the show. BooKExpo is a massive event and it's difficult sometime for a smaller independent publisher to finds its own community in the midst of a million square feet of insanity. So I'm really proud of the relationship we've built with NYCIP and Foreword, they've built a village for the hip, indy pubs at BEA.....

Check out some of the happenings at the show.....

L


During Book Expo America, be part of an informal Q&A discussion with publishing specialists. Space is very limited, so email smallpress@aol.com to ensure that you meet some of publishing’s leading authorities, and benefit from their expertise. These seminars are co-sponsored by the New York Center for Independent Publishing and Foreword Magazine, with support from Book Expo America and will be held at Independent Press Lounge, booth 5639. Please note these free events are only open to BEA attendees.


Friday, May 30th


9.00am: How to Get the Most Out of Book Expo: A Book Fair Briefing - Dan Poynter, Consultant, Publisher and Author of The Self Publishing Manual.

11.00am: How to Make Real Money Selling Books - Brian Jud, Book Marketing Works, Author of Beyond the Bookstore and How to Make Real Money Selling Books

Saturday, May 31st

11:00am How Publishers Can Maximize Sales Through Bookstores - Marcella Smith, Director of Small Press and Vendor Relations, Barnes and Noble.

12:00pm: How to Structure a Deal: Flat fees vs Royalties vs Profit Shares - Deirdre Smerillo, Consutltant, Smerillo Associates, former Contracts Director of Hyperion and Random House.

1:00pm: Your Book Is Your Hook: How to Increase Your Sales - Jennifer S. Wilkov, book consultant, marketing platform strategist and author of Dating Your Money and co-author of The Green Guide Girls: Guide to Book Publishing.

2:00pm: Publishing Law 101: Copyright & Contract Myths Busted & Sneaky Lawyer Tricks Revealed - Lloyd Jassin Esq., Specialist in Copyright, Trademark & Publishing Law and Author of The Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook.

Sunday June 1

11.00am: The Seven Keys to Marketing Books This Year - John Kremer, Consultant and Author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books

These programs are co-sponsored by the New York Center for Independent Publishing, Foreword Magazine, with additional support from Book Expo America.

Death Note Ticket Winners!

Last week, the New York Anime Festival, VIZ Pictures, and Fathom Event offered up some free pairs of tickets to the May 21st screening of the Death Note live-action movie in New York City. Yesterday, the winners were chosen.

Congratulations to Kelly Davidson, Dani Gavilanes, and Scott Von Schilling!

For all the entrants who weren't selected, if you'd like to see Death Note on the big screen, check out deathnotefilms.com for show times and locations. Also, keep on checking the Anime Festival's website and blog, too, as we'll have more contests coming to you throughout the summer!

PEN@BookExpo

Over the last year plus I've gotten to know a number of people at the PEN American Center here in NYC and I'm continually impressed with the work the do on a multitude of causes but notably freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I'm really pleased to be working with PEN closely this year on a few events at BEA and I'm certain it will be the beginning of a long relationship.

In getting to know Andrew Proctor at PEN we've talked often about what we can do together between PEN and BEA, and I'm a firm believer in building relationships with organizations you respect and believe it. PEN is one of those organizations.

Plus, the primary constituency of PEN (although they are expanding their base) are authors and each year BEA attracts more and more authors to the event - and not just authors with a forthcoming book, but authors that see the show as the community they associate with (I expect over 900 this year at the show) all this makes the PEN relationship even more natural.

So check out what we've got planned and buy a ticket to the champagne reception we've got planed for Saturday at BookExpo. Make a donation to PEN and come join us for a toast and some good mixing with a great organization. Buy your PEN reception invitation here.

Reception for "Something to Hide: Writers and Artists Against the Surveillance State."
When: Saturday, May 31What time: 4–5:30
Where: Petree Plaza
Hosted by: Roxana Robinson from the PEN Advisory Council and Jameel Jaffer, Director, National Security Project for the ACLU.

Meet and greet Judy Blume, Jim Crace, Andre Dubus III, Chris Lawford, Dennis Lehane, Azar Nafisi, and more, in addition to PEN and ACLU staff members.

The reception immediatly follows the PEN Panel on the Surrvaliance State in room 404B (2:30-4:30)

A reading to provoke reflection on controversial post-9/11 government surveillance programs in the U.S. PEN has been challenging some of the most pernicious of these programs; we have been working with booksellers, publishers, and librarians to restore privacy protections for bookstore and library records, for example, and this month we joined other leading human rights organizations in filing a lawsuit challenging the Constitutionality of NSA telephone and internet surveillance. We would like to present “Something to Hide” in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union, with whom we filed this lawsuit and with whom we have been working to curb some of the abuses occurring under current U.S. policies.

Book Industry Characters - Talia Ross!

Meet just one of the many characters that make up the book world. Every few days I'll post a new profile of a Book Industry Character and to meet more, create your profile on myBEA. On myBEA you can organize your schedule and to-do lists, build your FREE custom Daily Planner and connect with other Book Industry Characters! Membership to myBEA is FREE to all registered attendees.

Who are you? Can I get back to you after my 30th birthday?

What role do you play in the book world? I am the Director of Library Marketing for Macmillan’s adult publishers. Translation: I connect books and authors with libraries

How long have you played that role? 4 years on August 11th

If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing? Working in the ER of the ASPCA

What are you reading? White Nights by Ann Cleeves and The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll

What's the last trip you took? I was most recently in Kingsport for the Tennessee Library Association and before that in Minneapolis for the Public Library Association and before that in Israel

What would the title of your life story be? Hmmmm…. Forbidden Donut. (I love donuts and wish I could eat them three times a day. Strawberry frosting kicks serious donut butt.)

Who would play you in the film adaptation? Claire Danes (I worshipped “My So Called Life”)

If you wrote your life story, what 3 adjectives would appear on the dust jacket to describe it? Ambitious, energetic and of course goofy

What's the worst part of your job? Sitting at my desk – I’d rather be on the road visiting libraries
How many BEA's have you attended? 4 or possibly 6

What’s your favorite BEA moment? When I scored an ARC of Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner – which I still haven’t read.

What's your drink of choice (latte, scotch, vitamin water, etc)? Diet Coke

What excites you about our business? Gory mysteries!

Superfudge!!!!! Catch The BEA Judy Blume Interview

I loooooved, Judy Blume books as a kid! Take a listen to our interview with her from the BookExpo Cast site.

Judy will be at BEA 2008 on Friday, May 30 at the Children’s Book and Author Breakfast. This breakfast will take place in the Concourse Hall from 8:00AM – 9:30AM. To get tickets and info, just click here.

-L

Final, A Podcast Player!

I finally got a nifty little flash player for the blog, look for this little guy often as I bring you some of the cool pre-show podcasts we've been working on.

I got to interview Dan Pink last week and we yakked for about an hour, it was a blast, and I really do think I have a future in talk shows - although Dan might feel completely different. The interview will be posted this week and I'll use my new flash super pod cast cool tool to bring it to you right here.

In the meantime, I'll warm up the crowd with my show preview chat.

MC CHRIS PERFORMS AT NYAF

A few days ago, I said the New York Anime Festival would be announcing its first 2008 guest this week. Well, not wasting any time, I'm very pleased to announce this guest -- mc chris -- today. mc chris calls his music "rap for dorks," but his blend of hip hop beats and lyrics paying tribute to anything and everything a geek could love really has to be heard to be appreciated. And, hey, you can do just at mcchris.com.

(Also, mc chris is a veteran of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Working at Adult Swim for five years, he provided the voice of MC Pee Pants in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Hesh on Sealab 2021, and various voices in The Brak Show.)

I'm very happy to announce mc chris's participation in the New York Anime Festival and chose specifically to lead off this year's guest list with him. mc chris isn't from Japan. He doesn't voice anyone in Ultimate Mop Daisuke DX. Instead, he's at NYAF because -- while not directly connected to anime -- he's a big part of anime fan culture in the USA. The New York Anime Festival definitely has anime at its center, but just as New York Comic Con isn't just about comic books, I really want to make the New York Anime Festival a showcase and celebration of everything that's a part of anime culture and anime fandom culture is both the US and Japan.

mc chris's concert begins at 8:30 PM on Friday, September 26 in the New York Anime Festival's Main Theater. He will be signing autographs from 3-4 PM on Friday and 11 AM-12 PM on Sunday in the Autograph Room. mc chris is holding a Q&A with fans from 4-5 PM on Saturday in the Anime Culture Panel Room. To attend mc chris's concert, you'll need a separate mc chris ticket priced at $10. Convention tickets and mc chris concert tickets are both available now at newyorkanimefestival.com.

In summation, you (and by you I mean all the fans who've e-mailed me since last April asking for him) like mc chris, I do, too, his music -- an amalgam of anime, fantasy, sci-fi, and video game themes -- is pretty frakking awesome, and it's even more frakking awesome that he's coming to NYAF.

First NYAF Guest Coming Today!

It's 1 AM here in New York City.  Today -- well technically yesterday -- was filled with preparing for my buddy Ed Stemkowski's birthday.  By preparing, I of course mean buying him a Gundam toy, buying myself a Macross toy, buying my girlfriend a Wii game, and then almost buying $100 worth of Gurren Lagann books at Kinokuniya.  I'll be heading to bed in a bit -- after Doctor Who -- and I hope I get enough rest because I've got a big day ahead of me.

1) I've got to buy those Gurren Lagann books.

2) I've got to meet up with Corinne Orr.

3) I've got to announce the first NYAF 2008 Guest.

Didn't I just announce the first guest with item number two?  Nope.