Thought we were done with Book Expo coverage? Not so fast! After all, the numbers are in as to who attended and why. According to Publishers Marketplace, show organizers indicated that 31,971 people registered for the convention, with 22,366 verified attendees counted. That puts the numbers closer to the recent NYC show in 2005 (34,966/27,421) than the 2004 show in Chicago (25,261/18,213). Book buyers attending declined slightly to 7,324, down from 7,701 a year ago and 7,492 in 2004.
Meanwhile, the Brits still have lots to say on the event, too. First there’s Publishing News’s lengthy report, touching upon all the political stuff, Carly Fiorina’s speech, and brief tidbits like Virgin Books planning a US launch soon.
PN also covered the US/UK Turf War speech (which, sadly, neither Ron nor I could attend) where S&S President and Publisher Carolyn Reidy got testy about UK publishers’ “land grab” in wanting European Exclusivity. “UK publishers were scare-mongering in their concerns over territoriality and that agents should ask themselves whether an exclusive grant of English-language rights in a non-English-language territory helped or hindered an author’s career,” Reidy added.
The Independent’s Literator was a bit more wide-eyed: “Just watching booksellers filling carts with proofs and waiting in line for a signed copy (sometimes with an eye solely on ebay) is a sight to behold.”
And last, but not least, the Bookseller’s Gayle Feldman declared that “twas no single big rights deal, no single big book, but there were plenty of big, public arguments in Washington, and enough international and technological action to make for an interesting fair.”