Archive for July, 2007
July 31, 2007
The Crisis in American Book Pages
It’s no secret our country’s newspapers are suffering from decreased readership and resources. As decision-makers cut costs and features, the book review is often one of the first to see the chopping block.
To help fight this alarming trend, National Book Critics Circle President John Freeman, who moderates this panel discussion, has launched [...]
July 30, 2007
The Heard Word: BEA’s Audiobook and Author Tea
In recent years, audiobooks have become a hugely successful avenue for authors to bring their works to a time-strapped audience.
Master of Ceremonies and veteran audiobook narrator Oliver Wyman opens this session, hosted by the Audio Publishers Association, with a reading from Richard Brautigan’s novella Trout Fishing in America. Wyman is joined by John [...]
July 29, 2007
Editors’ Buzz on Debut Fiction
This BEA 2007 session, hosted by Brigid Hughes of A Public Space, brings together five of the industry’s top publishers. Each shares with us their top debut fiction novels for the upcoming season.
Hughes is joined by Judy Clain of Little Brown, Jonathan Karp of Twelve, Fred Ramey of Unbridled Books, Rob [...]
July 26, 2007
Lit Insiders Spotlight: Shelfari
This session, hosted by BEA Director Lance Fensterman, was born out of the BEA Lit Insiders group on Shelfari.com. This group, comprised of industry insiders as well as everyday book lovers, chose one new author that they wanted to hear more from at BEA. Matthew Eck, author of The Farther Shore, was chosen [...]
July 25, 2007
Nancy Pearl’s Lust for Publishers’ Lists
In this BEA 2007 session, author, librarian hall of famer, and liaison extraordinaire Nancy Pearl focuses the spotlight and dialogue on the best of new and forthcoming titles from some of the industry’s largest publishing houses.
Pearl is joined by a distinguished group of publishing professionals who are focused on informing librarians about the best [...]
July 23, 2007
A Winning Season? It’s Time to Take Sportswriting Seriously
This panel discussion, sponsored by Beyond the Book, searches for signs of a renaissance in 2007 for “serious” sportswriting - identifying books and writers that are moving beyond celebrating today’s championships, and glorifying star players, toward seeing sports and athletes from all angles, including sports as integral to the global entertainment business, the lost and [...]
July 22, 2007
Upfront and Unscripted: MJ Rose, author, The Reincarnationist
MJ Rose is an international bestselling author and writer of the new book The Reincarnationist. This book, which is Rose’s ninth novel, is also her first foray into historical fiction.
In this Upfront and Unscripted session, Carol Memmott, Book Critic and Publishing Reporter for USA Today, and Rose discuss The Reincarnationist, as well as [...]
July 19, 2007
Ethics in Book Reviewing: The More Things Change…?
In 1989, the NBCC (National Book Critics Circle) published an extensive survey of ethics in book reviewing by Philadelphia Inquirer literary critic Carlin Romano, drawing on responses from NBCC members about whether it’s ever okay not to read a whole book before reviewing it and similar moral dilemmas.
This panel discussion, sponsored by the NBCC, poses [...]
July 18, 2007
Mapping English Reading Markets
Over the past several years, English language books have been given increased shelf space in traditionally non-English reading countries. As this trend continues, publishers are searching for more ways to infiltrate these new markets. Ruediger Wischenbart, Principal of Content and Consulting, leads this diverse panel of experts. Together, they identify trends of [...]
July 17, 2007
Upfront and Unscripted: Laurell K Hamilton
Laurell K Hamilton is a New York Times bestselling author of two series of books, including the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels. Through a joint venture with Dabel Brothers and Marvel Comics, the Anita Blake series has now been transformed into a series of comics.
In this Upfront and Unscripted session, Hamilton and Heidi Macdonald [...]
July 16, 2007
MySpace for Authors and Publishers
Since its launch in 2003, MySpace has not only been an internet phenomenon, but has helped boost the careers of numerous bands, comics, and filmmakers. In this BEA session, MySpace for Authors and Publishers: Everything You Need to Know to Make it Payoff, the publishing industry gets a first-hand lesson in how to make [...]
July 15, 2007
Atheism: The Rise of a New Subcategory in Religion
The dominant role of religion in politics and culture in recent years has produced a backlash, evidenced by the rise of a new subcategory—the anti-religion books. The past two years have brought a striking number of impassioned critiques of religion—any religion, but Christianity in particular—and calls for a return to reason rather than faith as [...]
July 11, 2007
BEA Global Market Forum: Spotlight on China
Uncertainty and apprehension for staking a claim on China’s mainland can make fence-sitters of even the most aggressive market seekers. However, there have been a handful of publishing risk-takers who have painstakingly set up shop to publish books to this massive market.
Robert Baensch, author of The Publishing Industry in China, leads this panel in [...]
July 10, 2007
Upfront and Unscripted: Christopher Hitchens, author, God is Not Great
Christopher Hitchens is an author, journalist and literary critic who has written for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and The Nation. His new book is titled God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.
Jeffery L. Sheler, Contributing Editor of U.S. News & World Report, sits down with Hitchens to discuss this new book and how [...]
