In an apparent move to compete more directly with the Frankfurt Book Fair, BookExpo America has hired a former Frankfurt executive and said it will concentrate more on accommodating the international rights community.
BEA (which is owned, as is PW, by Reed Elsevier) has hired former Frankfurt Book Fair press director Ruediger Wischenbart as a consultant to help the show reach out to international rights people. BEA "is the biggest book convention in North America," said show manager Greg Topalian and thus "represents a significant opportunity for both rights buyers and rights sellers, as well as for international sales executives looking to expand their business interests."
To make access to the rights center more convenient, BEA is moving it to the show floor, has "substantially increas[ed] the marketing budget directed to the international community" and hired Patrick Zinna as a sales executive.
Wischenbart was director of press relations for Frankfurt for three years. He had been instrumental in the aborted Frankfurt in N.Y. show and resigned not long after that plan was abandoned. BEA's move comes as Frankfurt's value is being questioned by American houses.
