Editors Announced for 'Buzz Forum' at BEA

BookExpo America's "Editor & Bookseller Buzz Forum," where leading industry editors and publishers pitch their key titles to booksellers, book reviewers, and other industry professionals, was one of the focal points at last year's BEA, where it debuted. On February 4, BEA announced the panelists for this year's Buzz Forum. They will include Sonny Mehta (president and publisher, Alfred A. Knopf); Starling Lawrence (vice chairman, editor-in-chief, W.W. Norton & Co.); Susan Kamil (vice president, editorial director, Dial Press); Alice Mayhew (vice president, editorial director, Simon & Schuster); Claire Wachtel (executive editor, William Morrow & Co.); and Julie Grau (vice president, co-editorial director, Riverhead Books).

This year's BEA will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, from May 28 - June 1.

"We are enormously pleased to see the caliber of people participating in this year's Buzz Forum," noted Greg Topalian, industry vice president and show manager for BEA. "The convention has a long history of being a place where major titles are launched, and so it was with this tradition in mind that we created this venue. The Buzz Forum is the perfect place to hear and see what publishing executives think will be the most important and significant books on their respective lists."

Last year, a standing room only crowd gathered to hear editors discuss their upcoming titles, including Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides; Take on the Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don't Want You to Know, by Arthur Levitt; You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett, and My Losing Season by Pat Conroy.

In conjunction with this year's Buzz Forum, BEA convention officials noted that there will be several separate editorial "Buzz" workshops, dedicated to specific areas of interest. These will include a Children's Book Buzz Workshop, African-American Book Buzz Workshop, and a Spanish/Latin American Book Buzz Workshop.

For more information concerning BEA or to register, call (800) 840-5614 or (203) 840-5614 (International), or visit the BEA web site at www.bookexpoamerica.com.