Registration Now Open for ABA Programming at BookExpo

The American Booksellers Association has opened registration for all ABA programming at BookExpo 2019. This year’s BookExpo industry trade show will take place May 29-31 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Booksellers should visit BookWeb.org now to sign up or buy tickets for the following ABA events:

• Meet the Editor (Wednesday, May 29, 9:00-10:30 a.m. at publishers’ New York City offices): Meet the Editor gives booksellers the opportunity to experience the book editing process through in-person visits with New York book editors at their offices. Booksellers will go directly to their assigned publishing house at 9:00 am, where they will meet with editors for approximately 90 minutes. The structure of the editor meetings will vary by publisher but they are meant to give a behind-the-scenes look at the philosophy and process of book editing. Booksellers will be on their own to return to Javits following the publisher visits. Booksellers will be randomly assigned and will receive their publisher information by e-mail prior to BookExpo. Pre-registration is required; register here.
• Publicists Speed Dating (Wednesday, May 29, 2:30-5:00 p.m., Main Stage): ABA member bookstore owners, managers, and event coordinators meet with publicists from several publishers among the participating companies. Representatives from the same store will rotate together to assigned publicists’ tables. During the timed “dates,” booksellers have the chance to promote their stores and discover what publicists look for when planning author tours. Pre-registration is required; register here.
• 2019 Children’s Book Art Silent Auction (Wednesday, May 29, 5:00-7:30 p.m., South Concourse): The ABC Children’s Group and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) are partnering to produce the BookExpo favorite Children’s Book Art Silent Auction. The event will benefit American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) and Every Child a Reader. Award-winning children’s book illustrator LeUyen Pham will serve as honorary chair of the event. This year’s Silent Art Auction program will honor Ursula Nordstrom, publisher and editor-in-chief of children’s books at Harper & Row from 1940-1973 whose initial stable of authors included Margaret Wise Brown, Arnold Lobel, and Maurice Sendak. Purchase your tickets here ($); ABC Group members can e-mail Gen de Botton for a promotional code that will grant them free access.
• ABC/CBC Speed Dating Tea (Friday, May 31, 1:00-2:00 p.m., 1E07/08/09): ABC Group members and friends of the CBC who purchase tickets will enjoy a lively tea with more than a dozen children’s book authors as they pitch their new projects. Preregistration and prepayment are required; register here ($).

Here are additional ABA and/or BookExpo-led programs that booksellers may wish to attend (the dollar sign denotes a program for which there is an additional fee):

Wednesday, May 29

• BookExpo Adult Editor’s Buzz (1:45-3:00 p.m., 1E12/13/14): BookExpo’s Adult Editors’ Buzz 2019 shows off the books that readers and media will be buzzing about. Join this session to hear editors share their excitement and passion for six of the fall’s biggest potential breakout releases. Learn more about the Adult Editors' Buzz.

Thursday, May 30

• Adult Book & Author Breakfast (8:00-9:30 a.m., Main Stage) Register now with BookExpo ($): Television host and political commentator Rachel Maddow will host this highly anticipated event and she’ll be joined by some of the nation’s leading voices in adult literature, including Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Outliers), Karin Slaughter (The Last Widow), Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Water Dancer), and Marjorie Liu (Monstress) for an insightful and lively discussion of their works and the industry. Learn more and register for the Adult Book & Author Breakfast.

• Breakfast Authors Signings (10:00-11:00 a.m., ABA Member Lounge, Booth 2962): Visit the ABA Member Lounge to have books signed by the authors featured at the Thursday morning Adult Book & Author Breakfast.

• BookExpo Young Adult Editors’ Buzz (10:00-10:50 a.m., 1E12/13/14): BookExpo’s Young Adult Editors’ Buzz 2019 shows off the books that readers and media will be buzzing about. Join this session to hear editors share their excitement and passion for five of the fall’s biggest potential breakout releases. Learn more about the Young Adult Editors' Buzz.

• ABA Booksellers Present Indies Introduce Authors (11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Downtown Stage): Booksellers have the opportunity to hear from authors of the Summer/Fall 2019 Indies Introduce debut picks. This event will feature the bookseller panelists who curated the diverse list of upcoming titles and many of the authors, who will each read a short passage from their debuts and answer a question posed by a panelist.

• ABA Indies Choice Book Awards (1:15-2:00 p.m., Choice Stage) Voting is open now: Formerly the Celebration of Bookselling Lunch, this year the Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards will be presented in a new format on the trade show floor. Featured authors will be signing books exclusively for ABA members following the event.

• ABA Town Hall and Annual Meeting (2:15-4:15 p.m., 1E12/13/14): The ABA Town Hall provides booksellers with the opportunity to express opinions and share ideas with the ABA Board and staff in an informal setting. To provide an opportunity for as many members as possible to speak during the Town Hall, a sign-up sheet will be displayed in the ABA Member Lounge. All ABA members are encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting, which directly follows the Town Hall. The Annual Meeting features reports from the Board of Directors and executive staff on the association’s activities over the past year, as well as updates on new and ongoing initiatives. The ABA Member Lounge will be closed during both the Town Hall and Annual Meeting, and will reopen at 4:15 p.m.

• Audio Publishers Association (APA) Authors Tea (2:30-3:30 p.m., 1E07/08/09) Register now with BookExpo ($): The annual APA Tea is one of the favorite events of BookExpo every year! The talents of narrators and authors combine to create great audiobooks. Come drink a cup of tea and hear about what leads to fabulous listening from Hamilton star and audiobook narrator Euan Morton and authors Laurie Halse Anderson, Phillipa Gregory, and Jerry Craft. Ticket required. Learn more about the Audio Publishers Association Authors Tea.

• ABA Happy Hour Author Signing (4:30-6:00 p.m., ABA Member Lounge, Booth 2962): Meet select Indies Introduce authors and Indies Choice Book Award winners in the ABA Member Lounge.

• An Evening with United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (6:15-7:15 p.m., Main Stage) Register now with BookExpo: Justice Sonia Sotomayor will discuss her life and the experiences that led her to write her new book for young readers, Just Ask: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You. Illustrated by celebrated artist Rafael López, Just Ask will be released in both English and Spanish editions by Penguin Young Readers on September 3, 2019. This event is free, but booksellers must RSVP by adding the event to their registration.

Friday, May 31

• Children’s Book & Author Breakfast (8:00-9:30 a.m., Main Stage) Register now with BookExpo ($): This year’s breakfast will be co-hosted by sisters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush (Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life), daughters of former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush. Joining them will be Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong'o (Marvel’s Black Panther, 12 Years a Slave) to discuss her debut children’s book, Sulwe; Tomi Adeyemi, author of bestselling young adult fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone and her upcoming Children of Virtue and Vengeance; Eoin Colfer, author of the beloved Artemis Fowl series and the upcoming spin-off novel The Fowl Twins; and Da Chen, bestselling author of Brothers and Colours of the Mountain, who will preview his forthcoming work, Girl Under a Red Moon. Learn more and register for the Children's Book & Author Breakfast.

• ABA Editors Speed Dating (9:45-11:45 a.m., 1E07/08/09) Registration closed: At Editors Speed Dating, booksellers will meet with groups of editors to talk about new and upcoming titles. Registered booksellers selected their top two genres, and ABA will try to make sure booksellers sit with editors who publish books in those categories, which included Adult Fiction, Mystery, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Romance, Narrative Nonfiction, History/Politics, Cooking, Poetry, Works in Translation, Art/Photography/Design, Graphic Novels, Children’s Fiction, and Children’s Nonfiction. Booksellers will be assigned to one of two shifts (9:45-10:45 a.m. or 10:45-11:45 a.m.); during their shift, booksellers will rotate to three tables in total for 19 minutes each.

• Breakfast Authors Signings (10:00-11:00 a.m., ABA Member Lounge, Booth 2962): Visit the ABA Member Lounge to have books signed by the authors featured at the Friday morning Children’s Book & Author Breakfast.

• BookExpo Middle-Grade Editors’ Buzz (11:00-11:50 a.m., 1E12/13/14): BookExpo’s Middle Grade Editors’ Buzz 2019 shows off the books that readers and media will be buzzing about. Join this session to hear editors share their excitement and passion for five of the fall’s biggest potential breakout releases. Learn more about the Middle Grade Editors' Buzz.

The full ABA program for BookExpo can be found on BookWeb.org.