BookExpo America (BEA) Starts Today in NYC and Runs Until Sat. 5/31 – Some Quick Links
What if the Jacob Javits Center in New York City basically turned into the world’s largest bookstore for three days? That’s about the best way I can describe BookExpo America (a.k.a. BEA), being held from May 29-31, 2014. I covered the show last year for The Imaging Buffet, and you can find my article here for a look at a bit of what I experienced.
I was especially impressed by the number of photo and art books on display from many different publishers when I visited the show in 2013. I learned from the show website that Christopher Bonanos, author of Instant: A Cultural History of Polaroid (Princeton Architectural Press) will be a guest at the show this year. As a child of the 70s when a Polaroid camera was always nearby, and as a professional photographer raised on 35mm, medium and large format film (and Polaroid instant film), the brand brings back so many memories, and I look forward to reading the book.
This is a show for “the trade,” which means that you’ll need to be a professional in the industry to attend on Thursday 5/28 or Friday 5/29 (see the links below to see the categories if you’d like to attend on Thursday or Friday). If your job title does not fit into one of those categories, or if you’d prefer to save quite a bit on admission to the show, you might consider attending “BookCon” on Saturday, 5/31/2014 for just $30 (advance purchase) or $35 for tickets on-site: https://www.thebookcon.com/. You will then have access to the show floor, autographing area (over 750 authors are signing books this year at the show) as well as quite a few special events that are happening on Saturday. And don’t forget the kids! I would guess that at least 25% of the show is dedicated to children’s books, activities, toys, games, etc. Tickets for kids 6-12 years old for BookCon are $5.
Below are some links related to BookExpo 2014:
• Main Show Page
• Show Info/FAQs
• Link to the 2014 Exhibits and Conference Pass Pricing Page.
• A list of guests who are expected to be at the show. The list includes John Grisham, Mario Batali, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Martin Short and Peter Rabbit, just to name a few.
• Exhibitor Directory
• Autographing Area Main Page
• The BEA Mobile App Page
• BEA on Twitter
• BEA on Facebook
• BEA on Instagram
• BEA on YouTube
• A great post about a young person’s BookExpo experience from her blog, Words Like Silver, with some tips for getting the most from the show. Other posts related to the Expo, including her recent “Armchair BEA” posts (because she wasn’t able to attend the show this year), can be found here.
Here’s a fun video from (and starring) some of the folks who produce the show. Don’t miss the adorable cat at about 2:30 who wasn’t showing off any books (but I’m guessing he or she is a fan of Grumpy Cat, who will be at the show on Saturday signing books in Chronicle Books’ Booth #2827 from 12:00-1:30pm).
I also highly recommend taking some time to visit the New Title Showcase, which is in the upstairs lobby area of the Javits Center. There you will find a huge number of hardcopy and digital titles on just about every subject you can imagine.
