BookExpoCast

We caught up with the director of BookExpo America, Lance Fensterman, just as the doors opened for BEA 2008 at 9 am on Friday May 30.

Beloved author of children’s books Jon Scieszka was recently appointed the first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress. The position was created to raise national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education, and the development and betterment of the lives of young people.

In this podcast episode, Scieszka outlines the issues our industry and country face in the quest to put more books in the hands of more children.

Scieszka will provide Introductory Remarks at this year’s Children’s Book and Author Breakfast (Friday, May 30, 8:00AM – 9:30AM in the Concourse Hall). This opening-day breakfast will feature Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Judy Blume, author of Going, Going, Gone! with the Pain and the Great One, and Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book. Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox will be the Master of Ceremonies.

For more information about this event, please click here.

John Hodgman is a contributing writer for publications including The New York Times Magazine. He wrote an advice column for McSweeney’s for over a year entitled “Ask a Former Professional Literary Agent,” and currently curates and hosts the Little Gray Book Lectures—a monthly series that has been broadcast on This American Life. He now appears regularly on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show and is well-known for his role as a PC in Apple’s “Get a Mac” advertising campaign.

Hodgman’s new book, More Information Than Your Require, like his debut work The Area of My Expertise, is a book of useful world knowledge and facts, completely made up by Hodgman.

John Hodgman will be at BEA 2008, serving as The Master of Ceremonies at the Sunday Book and Author Breakfast (8:00AM – 9:30AM in the Concourse Hall). This event will feature Ted Turner, author (with Bill Burke) of Call Me Ted, Azar Nafisi, author of Things I’ve Been Silent About: A Memoir of Family, and Dennis Lehane, author of The Given Day.

For more information about this event, please click here.

After a classical education at the Portsmouth Abbey School, Christopher Buckley graduated from Yale University. He became managing editor of Esquire Magazine and later worked as the chief speechwriter for Vice President George H. W. Bush. This experience led to his novel The White House Mess, a satire on White House office politics and political memoirs.

Buckly has gone on to write such books as Thank You for Smoking, Florence of Arabia, and Steaming To Bamboola.

In his new satire, Supreme Courtship, The President of the United States, ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his nominees, decides to get even by nominating America’s most popular TV judge to the Supreme Court.

Buckley will serve as the Master of Ceremonies for this year’s Saturday Book and Author Luncheon (12:00PM – 2:00PM in the Concourse Hall). This year’s lunch will, once again, focus on political and social issues and will feature Richard Engel, author of War Journal, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, author of Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era, Jon Krakauer, author of The Hero, and Michael Moore.

For more information about this event, please click here.

Lewis Black is a hugely popular New York Times bestselling author, stand-up comedian, playwright, and actor. Besides appearing on The Daily Show since its inception, he has written and starred in a string of successful specials on HBO and Comedy Central. In 2001, he won the American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic, and in 2007 he won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

Black will appear at BEA’s Saturday night benefit on behalf of his new book, Me of Little Faith. Me of Little Faith is a ferociously funny exploration of religion and faith in which he examines how the rules and constraints of religion have affected his life and the lives of us all.

Proceeds from Lewis Black’s performance at BEA will go to help support the Book Industry Foundation which is comprised of the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression (ABFFE) and the Association of American Publishers’ Get Caught Reading Campaign.

For more information about this event, please click here.

Thomas L. Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, is a New York Times columnist and author of such books as From Beirut to Jerusalem and the no. 1 bestseller The World Is Flat.

The World Is Flat has helped millions of readers to see globalization in a new way. Now Friedman brings a fresh outlook to the crises of destabilizing climate change and rising competition for energy with his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

In this episode, Friedman discusses the world’s current “dirty fuel” system, the new “green revolution,” and the path to an energy independent future.

Friedman will serve as one of the keynote speakers at BEA 2008, speaking on Friday, May 30 at 11:00AM. For more information, please click here.

In response to the impact of books in audio format, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) has announced the launch of a new audiobook extension to its widely successful “Get Caught Reading”™ public awareness reading campaign entitled “Get Caught Listening”™.

The trade association’s newest public awareness initiative communicates the pleasures of enjoying and listening to books in audiobook format. The launch will be celebrated and unveiled during audiobook events at BEA 2008, and lead into National Audiobooks Month in June.

Authors who have endorsed the campaign by providing either voiceovers, photographs or video include: Valerie Bertinelli, author of Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time; L.L. Cool J, author of Platinum Workout; Chelsea Handler, author of Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea; Jackie Collins, bestselling author of Married Lovers; Pearl Cleage, bestselling author of Seen It All and Done the Rest; Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela’s Ashes; Brad Meltzer, author of the forthcoming The Book of Lies; Lisa Scottoline, author of 14 novels including Daddy’s Girl and Dirty Blonde; and Marci Shimoff, secret teacher and author of Happy for No Reason.

This podcast episode compiles the voiceover promotions from the authors above. For more information, please click here.

Daniel H. Pink is the author of a trio of provocative books on the changing world of work.

His newest work is The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, the first business book for a western audience in the Japanese comic format known as manga. Before that, he wrote A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, a long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller that has been translated into 16 languages. His first book was Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working For Yourself, which Publishers Weekly says “has become a cornerstone of employee-management relations.”

BEA Director Lance Fensterman recently spoke with Pink about the long road to finding your chosen profession, the work world in general, and Pink’s writings.

Pink will be at BEA 2008 participating in a pair of Upfront and Unscripted sessions on Saturday, May 31. From 10:00AM – 10:30AM, he will host a session with Art Speigleman, author of Breakdowns: The Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, as his guest. At 11:00AM, the tables will turn as Pink takes questions from Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother.

Christopher Kenneally, Director of Author and Creator Relations at Copyright Clearance Center, is the host of CCC’s “Beyond the Book” podcast program, which explores issues facing the information content industry and helps creative professionals realize the full potential of their works, while encouraging respect for intellectual property and the principles of copyright. Kenneally returns to BEA this year as host of three events.

On Friday, May 30 (1:00PM – 2:00PM), he will moderate the panel “The Future of Reading,” which will feature publisher Paul Dry; librarian and author Irene McDermott; and Ana Maria Alessi publisher of audio titles and e-books for HarperMedia.

Kenneally will also conduct two “Upfront & Unscripted” interviews. On Thursday, May 29 (1:30PM – 2:00PM), he will speak with eMusic CEO David Pakman. He will be joined by film producer Jeff Sharp on Friday, May 30, (11:00AM – 11:30AM).

To listen to Beyond the Book programs from past years at BEA, please click here.

Best-selling author Philippa Gregory, whose books The Boleyn Inheritance and The Other Boleyn Girl have been cited by Time Magazine as the source of the current Tudor period fascination, has written a new novel, The Other Queen, portraying the life and infamous death of Mary Queen of Scots.

Gregory, who has penned over 20 books in all, will take part in the Saturday Book and Author Breakfast (8:00AM – 9:30AM) in the Concourse Hall. She will be joined by Magic Johnson, Andre Dubus III, and Alec Baldwin, who will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

For more information about this event, please click here.

Neil Gaiman is the author of the New York Times best-selling children’s book Coraline, the short story collection M is for Magic, the novel InterWorld, co-written with Michael Reaves and of the picture books The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and the New York Times best-selling The Wolves in the Walls.

The Graveyard Book, Gaiman’s second spooky, enthralling novel for young readers, is about a boy raised by the ghosts, werewolves, and other creatures in a graveyard.

Gaiman will be at BEA 2008 on Friday, May 30 at the Children’s Book and Author Breakfast. This breakfast will take place in the Concourse Hall from 8:00AM – 9:30AM. He will be joined by Sherman Alexie, Judy Blume,and Eoin Colfer, who will be the Master of Ceremonies

For more information about this event, please click here.

Dennis Lehane is the author of A Drink Before the War, which won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel, the New York Times bestsellers Mystic River and Shutter Island, and many more novels.

His new book, The Given Day is an epic novel set at the end of the First World War that unflinchingly captures the political unrest of a nation dangling between a chaotic past and an unpredictable future. Touching on two families—one black, one white—as they are swept up in the maelstrom of history, The Given Day is set in 1918 Boston, where fiercely held convictions about work and freedom underwent enormous change at great cost to human life and relationships.

Dennis will be part of the Sunday Book and Author Breakfast, happening on June 1, at 8:00 AM in the Concourse Hall. He will be joined on the panel by Ted Turner and Azar Nafisi. John Hodgman, an author and regular on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and will be the Master of Ceremonies.

For more information about this event, please click here.

Beloved author Judy Blume, who has penned nearly 30 books including Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and the Fudge series, is currently writing a series of four books for young readers, illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson. The third book in this series, Going, Going, Gone with the Pain and the Great One will be released in September 2008.

Among Judy’s many accomplishments and accolades is a National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, which she received in 2004.

Judy will be at BEA 2008 on Friday, May 30 at the Children’s Book and Author Breakfast. This breakfast will take place in the Concourse Hall from 8:00AM – 9:30AM. For more information about this event, please click here.

It’s that time of year again! BEA 2008 kicks off one month from today (May 29 through June 1), so it’s time start planning your event schedule.

Over the next month BookExpoCast, the official podcast of BookExpo America, will be dishing up interviews with some of this year’s speakers, including Jon Krakauer, Neil Gaiman, John Hodgman and Sherman Alexie, who will discuss their new books and their presentations at BEA.

The premiere 2008 episode features BEA Director Lance Fensterman, who gives us a sneak peak at this year’s event and lets us know what he’s most looking forward to in Los Angeles.