Event organizer drops BookExpo, annual convention

NEW YORK » The annual publishing convention and trade show known as BookExpo, a decades- old tradition where guest speakers have ranged from Bill Clinton to Margaret Atwood, may be coming to an end.

ReedPop, which has managed BookExpo for a quarter century, announced Tuesday that effective immediately it was “retiring” the event, along with the fan- based BookCon and merchandise- based UnBound. Any future for the convention depends on the wishes of the book community. As in other industries, publishers have debated the necessity of holding BookExpo when much of the business once conducted there has moved online.

Thousands would gather each year at BookExpo, which used to be rotated around the country, from Los Angeles to Chicago to

Washington. D.C. But over the past decade, after the financial crisis of 20082009, it was held almost exclusively in Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Center as New York publishers looked to cut costs. Even in New York, they sharply reduced how much space they purchased on the convention floor and scaled back on lunches and dinners and other promotional events.

Earlier this year, Book

Expo was held virtually because of the coronavirus. The status for next year’s show was already in doubt.

“The pandemic arrived at a time in the life cycle of BookExpo and BookCon where we were already examining the restructure of our events to best meet our community’s need,” Reed event director Jennifer Martin said in a statement.