Some Thoughts on BEA in the Big Apple
This week we announced BEA’s plans to change it’s dates, days of the week and location beginning in 2010 for the next few years. Already PW is working on story with reactions, I’ve gotten emails and the various message boards are alive with bookseller and librarians chatter on the subject. I thought I’d try to add a few of my thoughts to the mix and add a little bit more depth to our decision (or as much depth as my NY Comic Con addled brain can muster anyway)
I kind of looked at the NYC decision as the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid of our re-imagination of BookExpo. It’s the shelter, housing, physical wellness. We need to know where the show is going to be and what location will best position the show to achieve our goals for the event (self actualization!) from here we can start to unveil the other thoughts and plans we have for the “new” BEA.
This fall we went through a process of recreating the event as if there never had been a BEA before. We asked ourselves if we were going to set out to build the preeminent North American trade book event what would it look like. The location seemed like an easy choice, you’d base it in the capital of the publishing world, just like the biggest gaming show is in Vegas and the auto show is in Detroit.
When we discussed when we would hold it, we looked at the history and the show was originally held on Memorial Day weekend as book shops were closed that weekend. Well, that is far from the case currently and in fact, my stores were always busiest on Saturday followed by Sunday. So why do we continue to ask booksellers to leave the store then? After booksellers, the majority of attendees are professionals and they are not typically working on a Saturday or a Sunday, hence why Friday is always the busiest day.
So it seemed clear that the major book business event should be based in NYC and held during the business week. This is not perfect for all and I know there are concerns, which I am not trying to dismiss, but it is the reasoning we put into the decision.
Another point however that cannot be overlooked is the ability to attract media of all kinds to the event. Publishers, booksellers and librarians alike, all need books to be sold and generating more media buzz out of BEA is crucial to the events vibrancy. Having a permanent home in the media capital of the U.S. will only aide us in generating consistent and meaningful buzz around books.
As I mentioned, this announcement is just the bottom of the pyramid we are climbing towards a very different looking BEA – a self actualized BEA, to continue my analogy.
Expect changes in booth strategy from our exhibitors that we plan to facilitate that will literally put authors on a stage front and center. Changes in the programming, the media coverage, the engagement of new media, the attendee mix and yes, I may even wear more bow ties.
The truth is our market is changing and I want to help lead that change and help all of our customers to do better business, not be an albatross that has outlived it’s time. In order to accomplish that, we need to make some bold changes, just as our market is experiencing bold changes. These changes will not always be the right decisions and the will not always be the popular decisions, but with your help and input our community will continue to have a vibrant marketplace where we gather to showcase the best of what we do and it will help raise the book in our culture at large thus help our business. No small task, right?
More in a few days on this subject……
-L
6 comments:
I am very disappointed to see that you are moving BEA to a midweek schedule. I am not given time off to attend and in the past have been very excited to spend the weekend at BEA. I am very sad that this year's will clearly be my last. Bad decision, guys.
Hey Lance,
I think these decisions actually make a lot of sense. You'll probably hear more from people who are disappointed with the upset to their status quo than you will from those who will benefit from the time/place changes, but I hope you can wait it out for a year or two until people realize how much sense this actually makes. Hope we get a chance to talk about it more at some point -- I'll be following the analysis and looking forward to further news about the new BEA. Hang in there!
NYCC 2009 was fun! NYAF 2009 will be great, but first...
My thoughts on BEA.
New dates---I agree with the change to the midweek schedule weekends are big money business days for book retailers. Weekend events would be great for BEA but I think that weekends are best for Libraries and Booksellers to hold their own events in their communities to reach out to patrons.
New ideas--- Is there anything planned at BEA concerning e-books? This could be a great way to get new authors products to the public. Writers submit a paragraph to a few pages of one of their books and put them where they can be easily accessed through password access on a new BEA website. Librarians can participate by supplying readers by posting this link to their Libraries site. Allow the readers to post comments and to contact the author. Ideally, this would become a grassroots endeavor to create a following for unknown authors and to increase readership at local libraries and booksellers. An incentive program would be necessary to make it worthwhile for them. (ex. Top Selling Author appearence to the Library or Bookseller that can distribute the most invites to the e-readers project)
You can also ask book critics and teachers to read the e-book entries. Book clubs can also be approached.
---Another idea
Young Writers Program
Inspiring the next generation of creators, artists and thinkers.
But this can become a series that spans NYCC, NYAF and BEA. I will leave you with that to wrap your head around.
The reason Friday is such a busy day when this BUSINESS MEETING is in NYC is that it is filled with publishing professionals that do not do any business at the fair, but Publishers (and rightly so) allow everyone to go to the fair and see what it is like. Those crowds sometimes get in the way of the business that is attempted and should not be a reason why we change any days or locations of the fair. Only sales directors, rights directors and publishers should have a say in when and where the show should be held.
1) Frankfurt, London, Milan, now New York. If it works for Toy Fair...
2) While I live in New York City, it's a major transportation hub, so it is cheap to fly, train, drive, or bus. How many professionals took the train to DC a few years ago and then took it back the same day?
3) New York is in the middle of a megalopolis. Writers can easily journey from Ohio, DC, Boston, and Philadelphia.
4) I use my vacation days to attend BEA. I pay my own way. I do it to see lots of great books, network, and pick up free books. It doesn't matter what days it is held, so long as I can visit each and every booth.
5) Leaving the weekend open allows for Reed to host a "book con" for bibliophiles. Take the NYCC layout, and replace it with bibliophiles. Romance readers, young adult, mystery, science fiction... Just imagine... authors being treated like celebrities!
The economy sucks.... why not consider moving it to some place that can really get many people to come. It takes me a whole day of traveling just to get to New York, another to get back. If I want to stay somewhere reasonably nice, its not cheap, and eat..... We're talking $2500 minimum and with the new schedule 3-5 days off of work for sure - can't afford it.... Let the publisher's spend the profits they make and travel somewhere else.
The American Library Association is headquartered in Chicago and that used to be where the midwinter meeting was held, but they change every year to make it more accessible to those who have travel problems.
While I'm thinking about it, librarians hold a lot of buying power - why not work together and have it in the same city and combine efforts??? For instance, this year it is in Chicago, July 9-15th.....
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