BEA (unedited)

We here at The Cadence Group are still busy pulling together meeting notes from the show and have been overwhelmed by the number of great meetings, comments, feedback, and conversations had in our booth and on the show floor. Here are some (unedited) thoughts from the show:

1. The aisles were packed! We had to actually use elbows for the first time in four years to get through the main aisles of the show.
2. The IBPA aisle was rockin’. This showed a lot of increased activity and interest in small presses from around the country.
3. Digital made a statement. There were a lot of established and new companies exhibiting their software and programs designed to help publishers and authors take advantage of the many e-book platforms.
4. Notable absences. We missed some friends this year that were either not exhibiting or not attending. We hope to catch up again soon.
5. Lots of rights action. Most likely due to the fact that the London show was a bust due to travel problems, the rights action around BEA was much busier than we were expecting. Our clients books have been requested from agents and publishers around the world!
6. High-level meetings and attendees. We were lucky to see and meet with some of the top buyers and retailers from around the industry. The news is cautious but positive from most retailers.
7. An increase in buying activity. A number of our literary agent friends have noted a recent pick up in deals being done around the industry.
8. A decrease in giveaways. Catalogs and free giveaways were hard to come by this year. There was a significant decrease in the number of free books. Bummer for those of us hunting for a good find. However, a friend was a able to score an autographed copy of The Help!  

If you were there, please share your thoughts!