My Experience at the Book Expo America

“A true friend doesn’t sympathize with your weakness; instead they help summon your strength.”

- Anonymous, excerpt from Quotations for Successful Living

In the past two weeks I attended the Book Expo America (BEA) and appeared at the Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky. Both events were filled with surprises.

The annual BEA is the biggest book show in North America. In 2008 the traveling event took place with much fanfare in Los Angeles. In an attempt to save the industry’s largest players some money, the BEA is growing roots at the Javits Center in New York City for the next four years. For publishers NYC is the literary publishing capital of America.

Due to the recession this year’s BEA was smaller and toned down. There were fewer exhibitors’ and aisles didn’t seem to be as crowded. The first day, Friday, was the busiest. While it is always fun to peruse the aisles looking for new and interesting titles there seemed to be less actual selling going on. Although within five minutes of my new book, A History of Horses Told by Horses, being displayed on my publisher’s shelf (Morgan James Publishing) I had direct requests from interested parties.

My biggest surprise, came from a high school friend with a beaming smile, Ally, we had not seen each other in many years. A fellow author, she attended the show to promote her own title, Reel Women, which contains the stories of prominent women filmmakers during Hollywood’s first hundred years. While catching up with Ally she introduced me to an agent, which resulted in a very interesting hour long meeting. I won’t divulge the agent’s name for now hoping for good luck with her and will report more in a future post. Thank you, Ally.

The following weekend I answered questions and signed copies of the horses’ book at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington. The store is amazing, over 47,000 square feet. Situated on two levels it’s open, airy and looks brand new even though it’s been at that location for 15 years. The employees were extremely friendly making me feel welcome. It is one of my favorite bookstores and a valuable asset for the community.

Have a great day!

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