BEA 2009

Somewhere in this throng are a few foot-weary representatives of The Open Book. This year's annual BookExpo was a bit more subdued than previous years, but it was still a mass of booksellers and books and authors and librarians and, and, and... I came home with some great new books, and some orders for new products for the store. I was even quoted in Publisher's Weekly about Pat Conroy's new book. I got to meet Sara Dessen and Eileen Goudge and Nancy Grace and Sherman Alexie. As alway, meeting the authors whose work rests on the shelves of the store is a thrill.

This event gives me a sense of excitement about bookselling and reading. And although it has been a rough year for The Open Book and a rough year for the publishing industry (lets face it, it has been a hard year for everyone), writers are still writing and publishers are still excited to promote those writers. Even with thousands of people crowding the aisles and the overpriced food of the Javits center making a hole in the budget, during BEA we all get together to celebrate books and the people who love them.