BookExpo America reported that 27,706 people registered for the show this year, up about 8% from 1998, when 25,672 signed up. Book buyer attendance -- including booksellers -- dropped from 6900 to 5806. International registrants were up roughly 10%.
This year, for the first time, BookExpo employed a scanning device to verify the number of attendees. That figure came to 21,114. BookExpo spokesman Roger Bilheimer explained that the discrepancy between the two numbers reflected no-shows and attendees who, as a result of high traffic, slipped by the scanners. Next year, he said, the company hopes to use similar technology, thus enabling the company to compare "apples to apples."
