The Thrill of Free Books

Book Expo America (New York City)

Now that I've gathered the remainder of the photos from BEA, I thought I'd wrap up the original post. These images are after setup -- the show is filling with a crowd at this point. Imagine this many people walking about for most of the day. Moving through the throng is a slow process. But there are free books!

I'm not sure how many exhibitors or guests attended the convention, but the number is vast -- Large enough to fill a few New York City hotels. Of course, people attending are publishers, writers, editors, book buyers, librarians, readers, and myriad people associated with the publishing industry.


There are a few clear walkways, particularly around the afternoon. On both sides of the "blue isle" are countless publishers (and this is only the first floor). Floor maps help locate vendors displaying at the show. Normally wheeled carts or bags are not allowed in the building. This is done to prevent people from loading a heap of books and rolling from one place to the next, gathering more. An arm full of hardcovers weigh quite a bit.

One question that I'm often asked is "how many books can you get at the show?" The answer is as many as you can carry out within 3 days. Luckily, there are shipping companies located outside of the exhibit hall, reading to pack and ship books. And for the exhibitors, there is a freight company at the call (the temptation for the exhibitors is great, as many have a ready means of "book" transportation).

Typically different books are given away on each of the days. Also, pens, book bags, mugs, reading lamps, stuffed animals -- really, most everything can be found at no cost. For those book collectors attending, perhaps the advance reading copies are the most popular. I did manage to get a Foucault Mug of Madness, but I couldn't get the reprint of his book on the history of madness.

And for those curious, Elder Signs Press (ESP) and Chaosium were located on the main floor, stacked alongside Blackstone Audio (they did give away some audio books). As there are far too many images to post, I'll keep it limited to a close shot of the ESP corner of the world.

Occasionally someone would amble by, and walk away with an bundle of books, or inquire about upcoming books. As mentioned previously, questions about Frontier Cthulhu are what inspired the "hunt down the author" contest. I figured if people at BEA had heard of the book, certainly someone on the Internet had as well.

Book Expo America

After a brief flight to New York and a lengthy cab ride to mid-town NYC, I finally made my way to the Javitz Convention Center. Like all BEAs, the convention center spans a vast distance. Exhibitors are given a few days to setup, and for some displays, it does take every bit of time. The first image to the right is 1 side of 1 floor of the convention hall during setup. At this point books are being unloaded, stands being erected, and the carpet has yet to be placed.

The following photos are from various angles of the same floor.

So what does everyone do at the convention? The public is welcome, for a small fee around $100.00 (U.S.) to enter. However, nearly every one of the 2000 exhibitors offer free books -- hardcovers and softcovers, advance reading copies, and oddities. This means countless people, including attending publishers, are strolling around with bags filled with books. And there are companies who give away book bags, so no need to worry about transport.

Of course free books, book bags, stuffed animals, key chains, magazines, pens, coffee mugs, and various other items given away produce a confusion of people shuffling up and down the isles, gathering what they can, offloading it at a secure storage site (booth or hotel room), and then returning to the floor. After a few hours, the attendees tend to share they same weary visage, and glazed stare. Book zombies!

I'll not venture down that avenue, as these photos are still the setup stage. Captured in these images are a number of large publishers and distributors, each with a crew to construct elaborate booths, some with couches, chairs, bookshelves, and of course coffee pots, bars, televisions and sundry other features.