We're all back from BEA, and wiped out. As has been widely reported, the show this year was smaller than in the past. A few of the heavy-hitters downsized from aisle-length booths to basement meeting rooms, fewer publishers were giving away galleys, and overall attendance was down (whether by nature or design, as I hear the officials were stingier this year with badges). Our booth was full of disappointment — not because we had less material to give away or took fewer orders than usual, or anything like that, but because David Godine had to leave for his daughter's high school graduation.
Aside from the disappointed faces of so many visitors to our booth — who inevitably were there because they're old friends of David — Book Expo 2009 was a great success. We gave away almost all of our galleys, most of our letterpress marketing material, all the posters we wanted to give, and got to meet some very interesting reviewers and other (always wonderful) industry people. There was plenty of interest in our new titles and we put together some very strong orders. If you were there and didn't see us, feel free to call up to place an order.
I'm also back from BEA. Picked up about 100 books and free e-books. What did I end of reading without being able to stop (the whole plane ride home to CA)? Robert Reid's Artic Circle. Wow, what a fantastic book. I've already told firends and given the ARC to my husband to read. One of the best books I've read in a long time. Pass on my congrats to your author. Now I can't wait to go backpacking and get into the wild and out of the city. His writing is stunning.
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