Book Expo America 2008
By Bill Stephens - Apr 28 , 2008
Book Expo America is coming up May 29th thru June 1st at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It might hold some opportunity for writers seeking a home for proposals and manuscripts. I say “might” because my experience was not that rewarding.
At the suggestion of my agent, I attended the 2006 Book Expo America in Washington D.C. Writers and others not actually in publishing and book sales are not welcome, unless you’ve been invited by your publisher to promote your book. Then, during the trade show hours, these clients work the floor pressing flesh and collecting business cards of editors who show interest in having the agent forward the client’s proposal or manuscript. It seems this approach has produced results in the past – but not for me in 2006.
I overheard several unagented writers discussing their projects with editors, and, for the most part, the advice they were given was, “Get an agent.” So I’m not sure writers without agents will get their money’s worth with this marketing approach.
I worked the floor for a fiction manuscript one day and a nonfiction proposal the next. I collected about twenty names of the potentially interested on each day. I provided my agent with presentations according to her guidelines, and she mailed them the next week. I know that several of her clients sold books from this approach, but in my case the results were not rewarding.
Because of my sales and marketing experience in other fields , I’ve attended my share of trade shows. BEA 2006 in Washington D. C. was the most uncomfortable tradeshow I’ve ever attended. There were no hospitality areas, no rest areas, and a
30-minute line to get a cup of coffee. The food service was totally inadequate, and there was no place to consume your spoils if you were lucky enough to find something to eat or drink. Thousands of visitors lined the walls of the trade show hall sitting on the floor eating what they had foraged.
I didn’t bring away a good feel for BEA, in general. The aisles were clogged with blue-haired women toting so many free books they must have brought a U-Haul to get them home. Book-signing lines overlapped contiguous booths, making it difficult even to approach these booths. I was not sure who or what those staffing the publishers’ booths were looking for, nor, I think, were they. They couldn’t have cared less—many wondered aloud why their company was even there. Many of the attendees wondered aloud why they were there.
Several individuals with self-published books had booths, and they were obviously hopeful of hitting a homerun with book retailers. One of these hopefuls was so desolate that he offered me all the books I wanted so he would not have to haul them home. I did take one book, and he said that was the only one anyone had taken all day.
As a veteran tradeshow exhibitor, I’ve always said that tradeshows should never have a last day. They are a waste of time. Many exhibitors tear down their booth at noon on the last day because there is nothing happening.
For the 2007 BEA, Publishers Marketplace reports, photos, and editorial essays painted a comprehensive picture that made attending seem unnecessary and even questionable.
Because of what I’ve shared with you here about BEA 2006 and 2007, you should think hard about investing time and money to attend BEA as either an exhibitor or an attendee. Viewing BEA 2008 from the comfort of your office chair might more sense.
