Quiet But Productive MBA

A speech by former Vice President Walter Mondale, on hand to promote his new autobiography, The Good Fight, was one of the highlights of the just concluded Midwest Booksellers Association trade show. Despite the show being smaller and quieter than in previous years, all agreed that the quality of interactions between booksellers and publishers was as high as ever.

Ferlinghetti Honored at Litquake Kick-off

Now in its 11th year, San Francisco's week-long literary celebration known as Litquake kicked off on Saturday with a star-studded event to honor Lawrence Ferlinghetti as the 2010 recipient of its Barbary Coast Award for a lifetime achievement in letters.

McCain-Palin Campaign Advisor Launches Novel at Soho House

With election day around the corner, Nicolle Wallace, the political commentator who recently served as senior advisor on the McCain-Palin campaign, and news anchor Katie Couric hosted a breakfast discussion at New York's Soho House to launch Wallace's upcoming novel, Eighteen Acres (Atria).

Regional Trade Shows 2010

Comic-Con Will Stay in San Diego

After a long and much delayed process that featured aggressive campaigns by Los Angeles and Anaheim to attract the show, Comic-con International: San Diego is going to stay at the San Diego Convention Center for the foreseeable future. Organizers of the giant comics and pop culture show have voted to stay in the city where Comic-con was launched in 1970.

Atlanta's Restaurant Eugene Celebrates Inaugural Authors Dinner

On Tuesday night, popular Atlanta fine-dining destination Restaurant Eugene hosted local novelist Susan Rebecca White and a nearly-full house--more than 55 guests--for the inauguration of its Eugene Author Dinners, a quarterly event designed by chef Linton Hopkins and director of hospitality Judith Winfrey to illuminate the common space shared by literature and cuisine, while expanding the reach of both.

Getting in Bed with SIBA

One of the central images of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance’s 35th annual trade show, held from Sept. 23-25 at the Plaza Resort & Spa and Plaza Ocean Club Hotel in Daytona Beach, was a double bed placed near the registration booth. If after walking past the bed there were any doubt that the SIBA board and executive director Wanda Jewell are convinced that bookselling’s future depends on social networking, a nearby monitor displayed live tweets throughout the show.

YA and Children's Book Authors Rock MPiBA

Even though only six of the 22 authors on the speakers roster at this year’s Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association trade show in Denver were children’s and YA book authors, the buzz created by three of them among the 150+ booksellers almost surpassed the amount of buzz about the new adult releases.

Boardwalk Empire: NAIBA on the Jersey Shore

Children's books were tightly woven into the warp and weft of this year's New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association fall conference, including the Moveable Feast at which authors like M.T. Anderson and Lincoln Peirce spoke. It could be a harbinger of the role that children's books will play in the upcoming holiday season.

Children's Books at the National Book Festival: A PW Photo-Essay

Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the National Book Festival took place this past Saturday in Washington, D.C. According to the Library of Congress, an estimated 150,000 book-lovers flocked to the National Mall to hear presentations from more than 70 authors, including many children's and YA writers.

West Hollywood Book Fair a Hot Ticket

An estimated 25,000 people, undeterred by temperatures in Los Angeles well over 100 degrees, attended the 9th annual West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday at West Hollywood Park to participate in literary panels, writing workshops, book signings, and author readings. The event has grown markedly since its inception in 2001.

The Digital Transition Dominates BISG Annual Meeting

The emphasis was on how the publishing industry can best navigate these uncertain times at the 2010 annual meeting of the Book Industry Study Group held in New York Friday morning. Both speakers and organization staff and committee members discussed programs and initiatives already launched or in the works to help all industry members better cope with publishing's rapid changes.

L.A. Times Festival of Books Moves From UCLA to USC Campus

In a move that seems as surprising as it is geographically disparate, the Los Angeles Times announced Wednesday that it is moving the location of its Festival of Books from UCLA to the campus of USC in 2011.

Petterson, Franzen Light Up Twin Cities

The Twin Cities felt like the center of the literary universe earlier this week when two high-profile authors with Minnesota connections headlined events drawing hordes of book lovers. Norwegian author Per Petterson, whose publisher, Graywolf, is headquartered in Minneapolis, was the headliner before an audience of more than 700 at that city’s Guthrie Theatre Monday evening, followed 24 hours later by Jonathan Franzen--whose parents grew up in Minnesota--kicking off the 11th season of the Talking Volumes regional book club series before a sold-out audience of more than 1,000 at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul.

Capital BookFest Takes Book Fairs To the People

Frustrated by the lack of minority authors at Washington, D.C.'s annual National Book Festival, Kwame Alexander, a poet and independent producer of literary programs, launched Capital BookFest, a book fair focused on creating festival venues for top African-American authors.

Wolfe to Receive Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

Tom Wolfe, whose books have won both critical acclaim and commercial success, has been named the winner of the National Book Foundation's 2010 winner of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Joan Ganz Cooney was named the winner of the Literarian Award.

October Is National Reading Group Month

Next month marks the fourth annual celebration of National Reading Group Month. The Women's National Book Association began the 31-day endorsement of reading groups in 2007, and as in years past, this month's celebration will include activities hosted by traditional and online book clubs and at bricks-and-mortar bookstores and libraries.

ICv2 Debuts Conference on Comics and Digital at New York Comic-Con

Held in conjunction with New York Comic-Con, the ICv2 Comics and Digital Conference is scheduled to be held on October 7, the day before the show opens at the Javits Center in New York City. Much like the ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference, the new Conference will bring together professionals from every part of the comics industry to discuss the impact of digital delivery on the future of comics publishing and retailing.

Small Press Expo Flies Indie Comics Flag

Among the most consistent shows on the convention circuit, the Small Press Expo in Betheda, Maryland continues to be a fun, friendly and successful show for the indie/art comix crowd. D&Q, Fantagraphics, Top Shelf and AdHouse Books led the publishers on hand, while cartoonists from Carla Speed McNeill to Keith Knight to Roger Langridge led the creator contingent.

The Brooklyn Book Festival in Pictures

An unfortunately rainy afternoon didn’t dampen spirits at yesterday’s Brooklyn Book Festival, the largest yet. Publishers, magazines, journals, local authors, and booksellers set up dozens of booths that sprawled across borough hall, and lines at the ticket booth snaked along the plaza.