ABA's BEA Lounge to Feature Hyperion/Miramax Cafe & Republic of Tea

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The ABA/Book Sense Lounge, Room 1E 07-08 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, will offer a respite from the BookExpo America show floor for weary booksellers. In addition to being a place where they can kick back, relax, and check e-mail, the lounge will offer booksellers information about ABA/Book Sense products and services and a place to meet with ABA staff and with representatives of ABA's affinity programs. A welcome addition to the light refreshments offered in the lounge this year will be select teas from Republic of Tea. And, new this year, Book Sense Publisher Partners Hyperion and Miramax are inviting booksellers to a lunch and author chat with Adam Gopnik and J.R. Moehringer in the lounge on Saturday, June 4.

The Hyperion/Miramax Cafe


Adam Gopnik


J.R. Moehringer

Hyperion and Miramax will host the Hyperion/Miramax Cafe, featuring a light buffet lunch in the lounge on Saturday, June 4, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Booksellers are invited for the complimentary lunch and to meet New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J.R. Moehringer, who will talk about and sign their forthcoming books, The King in the Window (Miramax) and The Tender Bar (Hyperion), respectively. Hyperion and Miramax will provide ARCs of the titles.

Amanda Tobier, assistant director of marketing for Hyperion, said the Hyperion/Miramax Cafe idea came about as the result of the publishing house wanting to support Book Sense and recognizing that what booksellers really want at the end of the show is "to sit down and have something to eat," said Tobier. The authors were chosen because "J.R. Moehringer is great one on one, and Adam Gopnik is a Book Sense favorite," she said. "It will be a nice, intimate lunch where booksellers already are."

The King in the Window, a children's fantasy novel, will be published in October. The Tender Bar chronicles Moehringer's growing up fatherless, but with the guidance from a group of men, who act as a collective surrogate father. The Tender Bar will be in bookstores in September.

No RSVP is necessary for lunch, although it will be first-come, first-served.

Tea Time Courtesy of Republic of Tea

The Republic of Tea, purveyor of over 150 ready-to-drink and loose teas and herbs, is eager to support ABA and independent booksellers, said Minister of Travel (the title of the company's CEO) Stuart Avery Gold. One way is to offer booksellers a "nice selection of black, green, and red teas at the Book Sense lounge at BEA," he said. "We hope the teas will allow visitors to the lounge to slow down, relax, and concentrate on the moment."

Gold explained that The Republic of Tea and booksellers share a similar demographic, and sell products that are especially simpatico. "I believe that independent booksellers are all about offering a diverse selection of books that aren't available everywhere else," he said. "Republic of Tea is all about offering a diverse selection of teas that aren't available anywhere else. And nothing goes better with reading than sipping tea." The combination of the two, he noted, reflects the company's philosophy of encouraging people to join the "tea revolution, slow down and enjoy life sip by sip."

The Republic of Tea has taken steps to develop and capitalize on the natural relationship between tea and a good book, pairing certain titles with appropriate teas. For example, the company has done book tie-ins with Mandarin Orange Spice Green Tea and The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan and Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden with their Cherry Blossom Green Tea.

The Republic of Tea shares another tie-in with the book world. Both Gold and the owner of The Republic of Tea, Ron Rubin, have co-authored several books based on the "Zentrepeneur" philosophy of combining individual passions with business. The eighth in the series, out this November, is Ping: A Frog in Search of a New Pond. The title is published by Newmarket Press, and ARCs will be distributed at BEA at the Newmarket Press booth (#3738).

A rep from The Republic of Tea, Kristin Starr, will be at the lounge from Friday, June 3, through Sunday, June 5. Booksellers interested in setting up an account with The Republic of Tea can meet with Starr in the lounge or they can contact her anytime via e-mail at [email protected].