This was a very busy weekend for Kelley & Hall. We spent the past weekend in New York City attending both Book Expo America and Backspace Writers Conference. It was interesting to see both sides of the publishing industry. As we often say in our seminars, there are definitely two sides to writing; the creative and the business. This weekend was a great example of both. At Backspace we were able to meet a number of aspiring writers, fascinating people with interesting stories to tell, and we spoke to them about finding hooks, networking and media exposure. It is never too early to start marketing yourself and building a brand or platform.

At BEA, we met with everyone on the other side of publishing; the sales and marketing teams, the editors and agents, librarians and booksellers, authors, and, a reality star or two.

{Alex McCord and Simon van Kemp from The Real Housewives of New York}

{Jocelyn Kelley with Meg Cabot}

{David Meerman Scott}

{Olivia}

Typically, when booksellers attend the show, they grab galleys of some of the “hot” books for the Fall season. They then ship these galleys back to their stores. This is what the shipping room looks like; miles and miles of boxes as far as the eye can see. We found it interesting, and perhaps a sign of the changing times, that HarperCollins did not distribute any bound galleys and instead opted for postcards with access codes for people to download entire manuscripts to their computers or digital readers.

We will have to wait and see if this is a change that happens across the board.

For the most part, it was a more subdued BEA. There were fewer galleys and at times the show seemed to lack the typical excitement that it has shown in previous years. This is certainly a sign of the times, the current economic instability and the state of publishing houses.

It was still an entertaining and informative show, filled with interesting people and great books. And it was nice to be back in New York. Although, we were strangely captivated by what’s going on in Times Square. Apparently it is currently closed to cars and beach chairs have been provided by the city for people to sit back and relax and view New York in a way they never have before. Who knows how long this will last, or if the headache created by the traffic will cause it to end it’s run sooner than expected, but it was certainly a site to be seen.

I think that any time I have an opinion or a question regarding the media industry in general, I’m going to post that picture of “girl on laptop” because to me, that epitomizes where we are right now as a society. We are all sitting by ourselves, connected to the internet, while the clock ticks endlessly forward, wondering what the future holds.

A recent piece in AdAge asks if we are ready to pay for content online, content that, if we do enough searching and sifting, we should be able to find for free somewhere else. And what is happening to the quality of this content?

According to a survey released this week by PWR New Media, a leading e-marketing firm based in Chicago, Illinois, 60% of journalists responded that they now contribute to a blog or other on-line site. 39% of these journalists said they acquired these responsibilities in the past year and 71% added on-line work to their duties in the past two years.

I took the opportunity at this wonderful event to connect with some of my favorite authors. For example, the charming Beth Teitell. Teitell is the author of FROM HERE TO MATERNITY and DRINKING PROBLEMS AT THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. She writes in such an amazingly honest and authentic voice that I found myself quoting her own writing back to her. I was certainly a fan!

And here are two of the best thriller writers of our time, Joseph Finder and Michael Palmer. Wouldn’t you love to join these two for dinner? I’m sure the conversation would be as intoxicating and intriguing as their writing.

Todd English was there, as well, signing copy after copy of his gorgeous cookbooks! I am currently poring over THE OLIVES TABLE.

Our partner, Megan Kelley Hall, was there signing copies of SISTERS OF MISERY. Here she is with debut author of legal thriller EIGHT IN THE BOX, Raffi Yessayan.

Here are just a few of the other talented authors present at tonight’s event.

Bill Brett
Michael Connelly
Anita Diamant
Todd English
Joseph Finder
Jill Ker Conway
Megan Kelley Hall
Jarrett Krosoczka
Ben Mezrich
Mary Newell DePalma
Rebecca Angelina Nigro
Michael Palmer
Andrew Rimas
Casey Sherman
Clara Silverstein
Irene Smalls
Beth Teitell
Raffi Yessayan

I am looking forward to future ReadBoston events!

(Megan Hall, Brunonia Barry and Jocelyn Kelley)

We are just back from our exciting adventures in sunny California! Book Expo America ran this past weekend, from May 28 – June 1, at the Los Angeles Convention center. It was a fun-filled weekend packed with author signings, book releases, seminars and parties. It was great to visit with some of our clients and catch up with friends.

It was an especially exciting time for one of our clients, Brunonia Barry, who was there to celebrate the upcoming release of her debut novel, THE LACE READER (William Morrow, August 2008). We are so thrilled for her and all of the exciting adventures she has ahead of her.

Two of our clients, Lisa Genova (Still Alice) and Brunonia Barry (The Lace Reader) were also on various panels, each with their debut novels. Everyone involved with the event enjoyed the experience and are already eagerly anticipating next year’s event.

The Boston Globe ran an article this weekend on the event and brought attention to the fact that New England is truly a literary hotbed. Chris Castellani was responsible for the wonderful flow of the entire weekend and should be commended for his amazing work as well as his fabulous introduction to Jonathan Franzen’s speech. Below is a photo of Jocelyn Kelley and Megan Kelley Hall with local author and National Book Award winner, Julia Glass. We are all eagerly awaiting her newest release, I SEE YOU EVERYWHERE!