A Conversation With Macmillan CEO John Sargent to Open Bookselling Today & ABA Education at BEA

The American Booksellers Association will be kicking off Bookselling Today & ABA Education [1] programming at BookExpo America 2013 with a plenary session featuring a conversation between Macmillan CEO John Sargent and ABA President Becky Anderson.

The plenary, titled “Publishing, Bookselling, and the Whole Damn Thing: A Conversation With John Sargent,” will be held Wednesday, May 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Rooms 1E14/1E15/1E16 of the Javits Convention Center. Sargent and Anderson will discuss the book industry, the challenges it faces, recent key events, and what the future may hold. The plenary, and all ABA education that follows, is open to all BEA registrants.

“We are delighted that John Sargent will be speaking to booksellers at BookExpo America,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “John has been on the frontlines of virtually everything that is changing in our industry — from the Google book settlement, to the temporary delisting of Macmillan’s titles on Amazon.com, and, of course, the U.S. Department of Justice e-book litigation. We are eagerly looking forward to hearing what he has to say.”

John Sargent is the CEO of Macmillan Publishers USA, the American operations of Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, and the head of the company’s global trade division. He is also a longtime member of the Graham Windham Board of Directors and former Chairman of the Board.

ABA President Becky Anderson is the co-owner of Anderson’s Bookshops [2] in Naperville and Downers Grove, Illinois, and of Anderson’s Bookfair in Aurora. Anderson has served on the ABA Board of Directors since 2006 and is a past president of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association.

Bookselling Today & ABA Education [1] programming begins Wednesday, May 29 and continues through Friday, May 31. (See this week’s related article.) The BEA trade show will be held Thursday, May 30, through Saturday, June 1, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.