After luring back nearly every major publisher to the exhibition floor, the organizers of BookExpo American have been unable to convince Penguin Putnam to mount an exhibit featuring its domestic operations at next year's show. Although Penguin International is expected to build a room on the exhibit floor to house staff from its operations, as it did last year, Penguin Putnam executives have decided against establishing an exhibit that would feature titles and staff from its U.S. group.
Commenting on Penguin Putnam's absence, the BEA's Courtney Muller said, "While we're disappointed that Penguin's domestic operations will not be on the show floor, we still hope to have them come back in the future. Penguin Putnam represents a number of authors who are of great interest to our participants."
The 1999 BEA will see the return of Buena Vista Publishing (Hyperion, Disney) after a two-year absence, as well as the move of Simon &Schuster from a room off the convention floor to a hall exhibit.
