PBS Newshour BEA wrap with Scott Turow, FSG's Jonathan Galassi, and Cathy Langer of Tattered Cover

General vibe is positive at BEA (Rick Springfield, monkey sex, giant typewriter--what's not to love?)

According to this morning's report from Rachel Deahl and Lynn Andriani:

Overall, people thought traffic on Wednesday was strong. And booksellers, despite some grumbling, embraced the shift to midweek. Workman’s group publisher, Bob Miller, called the mood “rocking,” noting, “It feels busier and more energetic than it has in the past five to six years.” Will Weisser, v-p, associate publisher, marketing director of Portfolio/Sentinel, said, “People seem happier about the midweek. It’s certainly more convenient for New York publishers.” And both Miller and Weisser noted that attendees seemed less focused on the economy this year.

I'm just bummed I missed "Esther Newberg and Scott Turow engaged in a pissing match”. That alone had to be worth the price of admission, plus the cost of heel blister ampules.

Happenings today include Book and Author Breakfast and Luncheon and "Big Ideas at BEA" Conference Sessions. Click here for the full schedule.

BEA Editor's Buzz Panel: Seriously, did anybody think they'd get copy above the monkey-on-girl sex book?

From PW's take on the BEA Editor's Buzz panel yesterday:

One of the six buzz books flogged has a three-page sex scene between a talking monkey and a woman. “It’s not bestiality,” said Cary Goldstein, the book’s editor at Twelve, “It’s love.”

The book is The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, Benjamin Hale’s debut, and Goldstein said he loves the story, that of a chimpanzee who learns to talk, falls in love with a primatologist and eventually becomes a murderer. Why not? “It’s big, loud, abrasive, witty, earnest, and accomplished,” Goldstein said.

Queued up in line to be ignored in favor of monkey sex:
Emma Donoghue’s Room (Little Brown), about a boy who's grown up as a captive in a room with his mother, who was kidnapped years before.

Bad Science (FSG), already a U.K. bestseller from author-physician Ben Goldacre, about a South African vitamin entrepreneur who was selling vitamins to treat AIDS.

The Emperor of All Maladies: a Biography of Cancer (Scribner), Siddhartha Mukherjee's epic history of the disease and view toward the future of treatment.

Read the rest here.

BEA: CEOs Speak Up

From Shelf Awareness article BEA: CEOs Speak Up, a few soundbites from yesterday's Opening Plenary: CEOs on the Value of a Book:

Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux:
"Who has time for enhanced e-books? With links you could be there forever...No author will want to have books only online. Every author wants to give his mother a copy of his book."

Scott Turow, author and incoming president of the Authors Guild (on how musicians' reliance on concerts to make up for a drop in music sales won't work for writers):
"I'm not sure as many people will show up to hear me read as they would to watch Beyonce...Why did publishers let the e-book be available at the same time as the hardcover?"

David Shanks, CEO, Penguin Group:
"More than 90% of our business still is in paper."

Esther Newberg, executive v-p, International Creative Management (on fair author compensation in the digital age):
"One of the big six publishers told me that in five years 60% of all business will be e-books...How are you justifying not giving us 50% of e-book revenues?"

Bob Miller, group publisher, Workman:
"I can imagine that at the time of Gutenberg, people were saying, 'This thing will be a real time suck.'"

Read the rest here and watch our FeedMe bar for more BEA updates.

BEAlicious: BookExpo America starts today

Our FeedMe bar will be back to normal next week, but this week, we're featuring PW's BEA updates and twitter feeds from BEA and a few attendees who I know will be getting a lot out of it, including Yen Cheong of the Book Publicity Blog, our own Fred Ramey, and anyone else who catches my attention at the moment.

Today's main attractions: International rights fair and Barbara Streisand's opening keynote. Click here for full schedule of events.

Wrangling with the future: 3 Qs for Mark Dressler, BEA Director of Education

BEA week is here. Whatever that means this year. We caught up with Mark Dressler, BEA Director of Education as he sprinted by.

Mark, thanks for taking a moment to join us. What were some of the primary goals in planning programs for BEA this year?
Number one was meaningful author involvement. Second to that, practical and edifying content for trade professionals.

How has the scope and tone of BEA changed in response to the tectonic shifts in the industry?
We've reduced the number of show days while increasing the storyline for a greater number of books and authors. With respect to ed programs, we'll be addressing the issues publishers and channel partners are, and will be wrangling with in the near future. Hopefully, we're doing this in a way that helps decision makers eliminate some hurdles and obtain solutions.

What are you looking to get out of BEA on a personal level this year? Is there one particular event you won't miss?
Good question! Too many really good programs to narrow-down to one. It's most gratifying when industry professionals, whom I really respect, offer kudos about their experience at the show.

Visit the Book Expo America website for more.