Cleis Press, founded nearly 30 years ago in Berkeley, Calif., by Felice Newman and Frédérique Delacoste, and its Viva Editions imprint are offering a wealth of author events, signings, and promotional activities.
With several Cleis/Viva authors at BEA this year, booksellers can take advantage of signings by Tina Gilbertson (Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them), Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson (Partners in Passion: A Guide to Great Sex, Emotional Intimacy, and Long-Term Love), D.L. King (Slave Girls: Erotic Stories of Submission), and Radclyffe (Love Burns Bright: A Lifetime of Lesbian Romance). In addition, Fran Smith will sign Changing the Way We Die: Compassionate End-of-Life Care and the Hospice Movement.
Cleis recently announced its new co-branded series with Penthouse, Penthouse Variations On..., which will be launched with a champagne celebration at the Cleis booth (1233B) today at 3:30 p.m. with special guests from Penthouse. In addition, to celebrate the new Lambda Literary Award nominees, former winner and former nominee Radclyffe and D.L. King will be signing at the booth today and tomorrow, and will invite visitors to enter a drawing to win an entire library of Cleis Lambda Award–winning titles.
Gilbertson, a licensed professional counselor, will have a drawing for a free therapy session with her to celebrate the launch of Constructive Wallowing, and there will be several giveaways from Viva Editions author Peg Conley (Imagine the Life You’d Love to Live) that will feature her watercolor artwork. These include greeting cards, postcards, notepads, and wrapping paper. The Cleis/Viva activities will culminate in the panel discussion “50 Shades of Erotica with Salon.com” that publisher Brenda Knight will participate in on Saturday, 4–5 p.m., as part of BookCon.
Knight, publisher of Cleis Press and founder of Viva Editions, looks forward to BEA every year. “It’s a big deal for us, and has been since the first year for Viva in 2008,” she says. “We have our most meaningful meetings there, not only with accounts, reps, media and rights agents, but we do a lot of deals at Book Expo with benefits rolling out for the entire year afterwards.”
Signing schedule (all in the Autographing Area) is Gilbertson, today, 10–11 a.m., at Table 8, and Michaels and Johnson, 2:30–3:30 p.m., Table 11 (earlier at the Cleis booth [1233B], at 10:30 a.m.); tomorrow, Smith signs, 10–11 a.m., Table 13; and King, 3–4 p.m., Table 14. Radclyffe signs Friday, at 2 p.m., in the Cleis booth.
