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SWAG at BookExpo America
By Stephanie Nikolopoulos on Sunday, June 3rd, 2007
BookExpo America — or as we insiders like to shorten it, BEA — is like “The Convention” episode of The Office. Just like Michael Scott, publishers go to BEA to schmooze with industry bigwigs to get the cheapest paper stock and discover The Next Big Thing — please something other than The Secret — but really it’s all about the SWAG.
For the definition of SWAG, go here. It basically refers to the free promotion junk publishers give away in order to entice potential retailers to their booths. Hundreds of booths are set up in Jacob Javits Convention Center, and attendees run around like mice in a maze looking for the proverbial cheese.
Almost all publishers offered catalogues of their products and cheap candy — boring – but many also had full-length books, buttons, and notesbooks. Some publishers got creative, though. Among the highlights:
Apart from the SWAG and catching up with other book nerds, there were some costumed characters cloying for attention but not much else worth mentioning to anyone who wasn’t there with a specific agenda. BEA is a madhouse, and it’s best to have a strong game plan if you want to make any business deals.
This entry was posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2007 by Stephanie Nikolopoulos and is filed under Uncategorized, Readings.
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June 4th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Michael Scott: [turns on black light in his hotel room] Would you do me the pleasure of hitting the lights, sir?
Michael Scott: [Dwight turns off lights and they see stains all over bed] Whoa. What are all those stains?
Dwight Schrute: Blood, urine or semen.
Michael Scott: God, I hope it’s urine.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:48 am
my sister was at the book expo.. it looks like it took alot out of her, its like happy drugs for bibliophiles
June 5th, 2007 at 10:43 am
[…] Eggs Vodka: Grocery Store [sic] Lists Lost & Found, basically a rip-off of Found Magazine that looks like it’ll be good for a few laughs.” (Not to take anything away from the tireless genius of Davey Rothbart, btw! Found is […]
June 5th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Apologies to Bill Keaggy. My comparison of “Milk Eggs Vodka” to “Found” was meant to be a positive one.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
happy drugs for bibliphiles…sounds addictive for sure, did they serve any vodka?
June 6th, 2007 at 10:05 am
No, no vodka that I know of. BEA definitely feels like a business convention, not a book release party. I didn’t see any liquor on the premises. Foodwise, it was even limited. There were some carts that served undoubtedly overpriced nuts, crepes, and frozen lemonade. Downstairs there was a food court that looked unappetizing. This was my second time being at BEA when it’s come to NYC, so I remembered to pack my own lunch. For the record, I ate a spinach salad topped with fresh strawberries.
June 8th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
first of all, thank you for finding a way to highlight a brilliant episode of The Office…second, i heart the whisk i got as Swag
October 5th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Good Day Everyone: - Foound IDS looking for business plans book publishing. Good blog!!
July 18th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Ben…
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