BEA: Eight Weeks and Counting

BookExpo America (BEA), which will be held from Thursday, June 2, to Sunday, June 5, at New York City's Jacob Javits Convention Center, is just eight weeks away! To help our readers prepare for the myriad special events and educational opportunities, today and for the next seven weeks, Bookselling This Week will shine a spotlight on one or more aspects of the four days of ABA and BEA program offerings.

This week, our coverage starts with a look at the ever-popular BEA Book and Author Breakfasts and Luncheon and the Saturday evening Cruise Around Manhattan.

Tickets are required for each of the three BEA Book and Author Breakfasts, the Saturday Luncheon, and the Audiobook Tea, as well as the Cruise Around Manhattan. An order form is available in the BEA Registration Program, which is mailing next week. Registration and ticket purchases may also be handled online at www.bookexpoamerica.com.

The roster of this year's BEA author events includes:

Friday, June 3

Children's Book & Author Breakfast, 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m., Special Events Hall, $25

Presented in cooperation with the Children's Booksellers and Publishers Committee of the American Booksellers Association, Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC), and the Children's Book Council (CBC).

• Daniel Handler, legal, literary, and social representative of Lemony Snicket, the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events (HarperCollins Children's Books)
• Alice Provensen, illustrator of Klondike Gold (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Pam Muoz Ryan, author of Nacho and Lolita (Scholastic Press)
• Host: Jim Dale, the Grammy Award Winner known for his work on the Harry Potter audio book series and Around the World in 80 Days (Listening Library)

Saturday, June 4

Saturday Book & Author Breakfast, 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m., Special Events Hall, $25

• Paul Theroux, author of Blinding Light (Houghton Mifflin)
• Myla Goldberg, author of Wickett's Remedy (Doubleday)
• Mike Wallace, author of Between You and Me (Hyperion)
• Host: Randi Rhodes, author of The Big Encyclopedia of Republican Hypocrites (Miramax Books)

Saturday Book & Author Luncheon, Noon - 2:00 p.m., Special Events Hall, $40

• Nick Hornby, author of A Long Way Down (Riverhead)
• Simon Winchester, author of A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 (HarperCollins)
• Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Master Among Men: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Simon & Schuster)
• Michael Cunningham, author of Specimen Days (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• Host: Emmy-award winning journalist Charlie Rose, host of The Charlie Rose Show

The Heard Word: BEA's Audiobook and Author Tea, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Special Events Hall, $15

• Adriana Trigiani, author of Notes From the Villa Di Crespi (Random House Audio)
• Bruce Feiler, author of Where God Was Born (HarperCollins Audio)
• Kathy Reichs, author of Cross Bones (Simon & Schuster Audio)

Sunday, June 5

Sunday Book & Author Breakfast, 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m., Special Events Hall, $25

• Umberto Eco, author of The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (Harcourt)
• Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream (Henry Holt)
• John Irving, author of Until I Find You (Random House)
• Host: Bob Herbert, author of Promises Betrayed: What Kind of America Do We Want to Live In? (Henry Holt)

On Saturday evening from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., all BEA attendees are invited to Cruise Around Manhattan. The event, sponsored by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), with ABA, the Mountains & Plains, Southeast, and Southern California booksellers associations, Scholastic, Baker & Taylor, Koen, and other publishers and wholesalers, provides a respite from the convention hustle and bustle on a calm cruise on the Hudson River. Proceeds from cruise tickets will be donated to New York City's Fund for Public Schools. Boarding is at Pier 83 (at 41st Street) at 4:30 p.m. Ticket price: $10 and purchased through BEA Registration.

For more information about BEA, including ABA educational programming and special Book Sense and Free Expression events, go to www.bookweb.org/aba/convention/.