Book Expo America

The Publishing Hackathon, held this past weekend at coworking space The Alley in New York, gave 30 teams a little over a day to come up with an idea for a book discovery startup, build a demo and pitch it to a panel of judges. Six finalists were chosen Sunday by a panel of judges including Perseus CMO Rick Joyce and NYC Seed managing director Owen Thomas.

The winning startup will be announced at Book Expo America on May 31 and will receive $10,000 …

BEA officials have today announced that BEA's annual Global Market Forum will focus on Mexico. The Global Market Forum, which honors countries from around the world by providing educational panels and cultural exchange opportunities, has become a cornerstone of BEA’s international outreach.

Firebrand Technologies, a leading publishing industry technology services company, announced today that they have acquired eBook Architects, the premier eBook design company handling complex content and enhanced eBooks, founded by Joshua Tallent. The acquisition fits into Firebrand’s mission to establish itself at the nexus where “publishers, content and readers meet” through a true end-to-end service.  Firebrand will retain the eBook Architects brand, and the company’s staff will continue operating from existing offices in Austin, TX.

Where is the book industry going, what will my workplace and career opportunities be like, what do I need to know to keep up with the times? Or, in a more cosmic vein, what does the future hold?

In an effort to answer these questions, publishers have settled each year into a series of industry meetings of general interest. Each has a unique theme, as noted below. They make the effort to bring together a cross section of publishers, associations, service providers and media professionals to connect with audiences ranging from first-time aspirants to seasoned managers and executives in every channel and of every level of responsibility.

Following is my own overview of the events with which I have become familiar through the years. I would say that a judicious choice of BEA or ALA and any one of the others whose focus comes closest to your own would provide a more than satisfying menu. If I had to attend only one: (a) I would pick BEA or ALA if my interest was in authors, reading, content and publishing as an enterprise, and (b) if my primary concerns were business development and operating management, I would choose any of the others from whose quality of attendee profiles and lists of presenters, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors I would expect to learn the most.

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When we bumped into some McSweeney's operatives at Book Expo America earlier this year, the San Francisco publishers tipped us off that Dave Eggers' next project, "A Hologram for the King," would be a jaw-dropper, a marvel of production quality and finishing elements. The book, which came out earlier this year, did not disappoint: It's a veritable masterwork of design flourishes, a book ascended to art. To get the skinny on the finer points of the book's finer points, we rang Kevin Spall, President and CEO of Thomson-Shore, the Dexter, MI printer that manufactured it. Spall, who happened to be meeting with Eggers later that day to collaborate on his next project, gladly told us what's what. 

Officials at BookExpo America (BEA) have announced that BEA in 2013 will take place one week earlier than previously announced.  Organizers have been seeking the earlier date from the Javits Center for a while as it is expected to drive down hotel prices by 10% - 20% depending on the property.  The surprise availability of the new dates was just confirmed by Javits officials this week.   The new dates for exhibits at BEA in 2013 will be Thursday, May 30th - Saturday, June 1st.  Conference Day will take place on Wednesday, May 29th

Our man-on-the-street Jim Sturdivant captured some of the flavor of Book Expo America on video, encountering celebrities and fellow book junkies along the way.

The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) announced today the preliminary program and speakers for Digital Book 2012 at BEA (idpf.org/db12). The conference, held in partnership with BookExpo America (BEA), will be held June 4-5, 2012, in New York City's Javits Center, and is expected to draw global leaders in the publishing industry, including technologists, marketers, retailers, solution providers, publishers, authors, and agents.

Featured speakers at Digital Book 2012 will include best-selling authors Seth Godin and Bella Andre, as well as publishing CEOs and senior executives including Jane Friedman (Open Road Media), Madeline McIntosh (Random House), Otis Chandler (Goodreads) and more.

Book Business magazine checked in with a number of book industry people at BookExpo this year.

Kobo announced the latest version of its e-reader device at BookExpo America on Monday.