Comments on: Authors At BEA: Probably Not

By: M.L. Malcolm

M.L. Malcolm — Tue, 23 May 2006 23:46:37 +0000

I went to BEA for the first time and found it very rewarding and highly educational. Part of the experience frankly depends on what kind of personality you have. If you’re up for introducing yourself all day (like me) you can really make some excellent contacts. Also, one can pick and chose who gets free copies of your book; it’s not all money down the drain. I think BEA is especially valuable for authors who work with small presses. Meeting your distributor’s sales reps in person really can make a difference in how your book is handled. LOTS of librarians and people in book clubs go to BEA. Every author should go at least once!
M.L. Malcolm, author, Silent Lies (Longstreet Press)

By: Booksquare

Booksquare — Tue, 23 May 2006 18:59:53 +0000

I know, Gwenda, I know. It’s a curse!

Mika/Sandra — your thoughts are really useful. I’m sure my positions on this topic will be evolving over time as I get more input and the world changes. Sandra’s comment about getting together with festival organizers, etc is very interesting. Is there a conference that brings authors together with the people they need to work directly with? I am not aware of one, but it seems like a perfect opportunity for someone who is far more organized than me. Which, I suppose, means most of the planet.

Susan — While you don’t have to pay directlly for promo copies, there’s a cost involved. The publishers are printing them up and handing them out like Halloween candy (meaning, like with said candy, there comes a point where you think, no more, please no more!). So they’re deducted, at a minimum from your sell-through number. And your meager publicity budget, should that come into play. While I don’t recall the royalty calculation for your publisher (g), I’d be disappointed in the business of publishing if they weren’t recouping these costs some how, some way. Publishers are not charities!

By: Mia Zachary

Mia Zachary — Tue, 23 May 2006 17:41:25 +0000

Okay, Kassia

I see your point. Because, you’re right, if my publisher hadn’t paid for my badge and I didn’t live close enough to come in for the day and then leave, I would not have considered this an affordable promotion- basically one hour of face time with booksellers and a few readers.

I consider this- my first BEA- to have been a very positive experience career-wise but I won’t be going next year.

By: Sandra Gurvis

Sandra Gurvis — Tue, 23 May 2006 14:05:19 +0000

As an author who just attended BEA, those were points well taken. I do have a book coming out this year (Where Have All the Flower Children Gone? University of Mississippi Press), and although the cost was reasonable and shared by my publisher. it is definitely not an author-oriented event. What I needed to meet were radio/TV/print people, book festival organizers, and librarians and college program planners who might be interested in my topic. And few were there.

Nevertheless I made some excellent contacts and passed out lots of promotional material. Not to mention checking out new books, books, books (and lots of cool and wacky other stuff!)

By: Gwenda

Gwenda — Tue, 23 May 2006 13:39:58 +0000

Kassia, this is a GREAT post — right on target. You shouldn’t get to be so cute and this smart too.

By: SusanGable

SusanGable — Tue, 23 May 2006 13:05:32 +0000

Love the pictures! Okay, the one reason that I could see for going is simply ALL THOSE BOOKS! Wow. To a bookaholic like me, that’s just dying and going to heaven to see all of those new books. (g) Books, books, books!

Why will the author be charged for promotional copies? The publishers aren’t giving them away? The author has to buy the copies to give away here?