A re-imagined BookExpo has opened in New York City’s Javits Convention Center, welcoming book industry professionals — and later this weekend, the book-reading public.

Andrew AlbaneseA re-imagined BookExpo has opened in New York City’s Javits Convention Center, welcoming book industry professionals — and later this weekend, the book-reading public.

Veterans of the nation’s largest trade show for book publishers are training themselves to use the shortened “BookExpo” name only, after organizers dropped “America” earlier this year. The shift seeks to move the conference away from a US center-of-gravity, but the simultaneous rise of a consumer-devoted BookCon has only emphasized the national perspective.

“BookExpo is a still a draw for international publishers but there was increasingly little attention paid to that part of the industry at BookExpo, especially as the show pivoted,” notes Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.

Stepping into the breach is the New York Rights Fair (NYRF) will be held on May 30 – June 1, 2018, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in midtown Manhattan, a project undertaken by PW.

“I should stress the Fair is complementary with Book Expo, not competitive,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “The NYRF is the first trade and licensing show in the U.S. and is being envisioned as a 360º fair covering international rights, distribution and licensing of content for both adult and children’s. But it will not be U.S.-centric.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.

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