As the book publishing community prepares for the April 29-May 1 BookExpo America in Los Angeles, the earliest BEA/ABA in history, publishers described a frenzied rush to get ready that could make the show less useful for them than they would like.
"It's affecting us pretty traumatically," said Laurie Brown, v-p, director of marketing, at FSG. "In many cases, we're forced to write copy for books when we haven't even see a manuscript." She added, "We don't have as many galleys as we would have had a month later."
With the gap between the fall season and the show increased by one month, publishers are concerned that some of the books advertised to booksellers will never come to be. Others talk about an accelerated work schedule that leaves little margin for error. Cindy Ratzlaff, director of publicity at Rodale Books, told PW the house's marketing department was "pressed" to get catalogues ready, though she quickly added, "We're coping."
For many, the change has compressed sales conference and BEA into one extended road trip. Workman, which normally holds its sales conference in New York, has moved it to Los Angeles to take place the week prior to BEA. National Book Network has moved up its meeting so that it precedes BEA but has decided to hold it in its native Washington, D.C., in order to minimize the time employees must spend away from home.
Some publishers that usually hold sales conference in May have left the date intact. Walker will hold its sales conference after BEA, a leap into the unknown that could change the complexion of that meeting. Walker publisher George Gibson noted, "We'll have three days of feedback from booksellers that will help us at sales conference." While booksellers have additional time to order for the fall this year, the earlier date could also obviate the need for some rep visits.
For children's publishers, the situation is exacerbated by the timing of two other conferences: the Texas Library Association meeting, held in Dallas the week before BEA, and the International Reading Association conference in San Diego, Calif., which starts the day after BEA ends. Lori Benton, associate director of children's book marketing at Morrow, is attending all three shows; she said she is looking at it as "one marathon convention." While she's never done this many shows back-to-back, Benton pointed out that not everyone is in the same position, because at other companies different people handle different shows. "I'm one of the more extreme examples," she explained, "but I know I'm not alone."
Craig Virden, president and publisher of Random House Children's Books, isn't attending TLA, but for him the marathon begins with Random's sales conference in Ph nix, Ariz., followed directly by BEA and IRA. "The only good news is at least they're all in the same general area of the country," he said. "The bigger problem is that I'll have been back from Bologna for only a week before I leave again."
While publishers are making the best of a difficult situation, most are looking forward to having BEA return to its normal schedule next year. "We hope we don't find ourselves struggling for another show this early again," Brown said. As for this year, it's a matter of, as Benton put it, capturing a medal in the "dry-cleaning Olympics."
