Mark your calendars for trade shows and book fairs! The trade shows listed below are some of the best places to meet other book professionals, learn more about new titles and the business--and have a good time. The consumer book fairs and festivals that follow the trade show listing offer unusual opportunities for publishers and booksellers to meet the people who keep the business going: readers.

Last updated on May 3, 2009.

2009 Trade Shows

National Stationery Show. Sun.-Wed., May 17-20. New York City. One of the best shows for finding book-related sidelines and gifts.

BookExpo America. Fri.-Sun., May 29-May 31. New York City. The next three shows at least will be held in New York City.

The Australian Booksellers Association's Annual Conference and Exhibition. Sun.-Tues., June 21-23. Manly, NSW (near Sydney). Includes seminars, the association general meeting, author appearances, publisher participation--and typical Down Under hospitality, humor and bonhomie. Especially important following the collapse of the Australian Publishers Association trade show.

The International New Age Trade Show West seminars and trade show. Sat.-Mon., June 27-29. Denver, Colo. Endorsed by New Age Retailer and COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources), this show features everything a New Age store needs, from aromatherapy to Zen, all under one roof. (The eastern U.S. edition takes place in February.)

The American Library Association's Annual Conference. Thurs.-Wed., July 9-15. Chicago, Ill. Some 2,000 seminars and events as well as a huge trade show.

The National Association of College Stores's Innovate 2009 conference. July. This is a successor to ConText and focuses on how "the convergence of technologies in retailing and course content delivery is changing the way students shop and learn."

CBA aka the International Christian Retail Show. Sun.-Thurs., July 12-16, Denver, Colo.

The Great American Bargain Book Show. Fri.-Sat., Aug. 21-22. Boston, Mass. Held at the Hynes Convention Center, GABBS is the remainder, overstock and bargain book show that is a sister show to the Spring Book Show, held in Atlanta. Includes an ABA seminar for booksellers.

The New York International Gift Fair. Aug. New York City. One of the premier shows for finding book-related sidelines and gifts.

The Beijing International Book Fair. Thurs.-Mon., Sept. 3-7. Beijing, China.

The Annual Conference and Trade Show of the Americas branch of the International Map Trade Association. Sun.-Tues., Sept. 13-15. Albuquerque, N.M. The North American event for the international association of map makers, printers and retailers.

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. Thurs.-Sat., Sept. 10-12. Portland, Ore.

Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association. Wed.-Sat., Sept. 23-26. Denver, Colo.

Midwest Booksellers Association. Thurs.-Sat., Sept. 24-26. St. Paul, Minn. Book and author meal events, educational seminars and trade show, rep picks of the lists, Midwest Connections workshop.

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. Fri.-Sun., Sept. 25-27. Greenville, S.C. This show includes the SIBA book award authors luncheon, team spelling bee, a moveable feast of authors and trade show.

New England Independent Booksellers Association. Thurs.-Sat., Oct. 1-3. Hartford, Conn. Includes book & author breakfasts, awards and the children's book and author/illustrator dinner.

Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. Fri.-Sun., Oct. 2-4. Cleveland, Ohio. Trade show, educational sessions, quiz bowl!

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's Fall Conference. Sun.-Mon., Oct. 4-5. Baltimore, Md. Emphasis on helping booksellers sell upcoming titles.

Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. Thurs.-Sat., Oct. 8-10. Oakland, Calif. Educational programming for booksellers on Friday, followed by a trade show and other events.

Frankfurt Book Fair. Wed.-Sun., Oct. 14-18. Guest country: China. The mother of all book fairs, this makes BEA look like a regional. American attendees love to hate it, but if you venture outside the English-language hall, you can see the book world. Related literary and cultural events, many of which have Chinese themes this year, take place on the fairgrounds and throughout the city. Despite some horror stories, you can find reasonably priced hotels and restaurants, and public transportation runs fast and cheaply.

Southern California Independent Booksellers Association. Sat., Oct. 24. Los Angeles, Calif. The association's delightful Author Feast and Trade Show.

CIROBE, the Chicago International Remainder and Overstock Book Exposition. Fri.-Mon., Nov. 6-9. Chicago, Ill. The granddaddy of remainder shows in the U.S.

2010 Trade Shows

The American Library Association's Midwinter Conference. Fri.-Tues., Jan. 15-19. Boston, Mass. On the agenda: some 2,000 meetings and events as well as exhibits.

The International New Age Trade Show East seminars and trade show. January. Orlando, Fla. Endorsed by New Age Retailer and COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources), this show features everything a New Age store needs, from aromatherapy to Zen, all under one roof. (The western U.S. edition usually takes place in June.)

The New York International Gift Fair. Sat.-Thurs., Jan. 30-Feb. 4. New York City. One of the premier shows for finding book-related sidelines and gifts.

The American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute. Thurs.-Sun., Feb. 4-7. San Jose, Calif. The fifth annual--a wonderful event full of programming from the ABA's conference at BEA.

CAMEX/National Association of College Stores meeting. Fri.-Tues., March 12-16. Orlando, Fla. The annual convocation of college booksellers, which attracts more than 7,000 people, including booksellers from more than 1,100 stores. Two days of educational sessions and other events precede three days of the trade show.

Bologna Children's Book Fair. Mon.-Thurs., March 22-25. Bologna, Italy. Tough duty, certo. Guest country: Slovakia.

Public Library Association. Tues.-Sat., March 23-27, Portland. Ore. This is an on year for the every-other-year PLA conference.

Spring Book Show. March. Atlanta, Ga. Second-largest remainder and bargain book show in the country. Includes SIBA programming.

London Book Fair. Mon.-Wed., April 19-21. The show is once again at Earl's Court. Market focus country: South Africa.

The Museum Store Association's Retail Conference & Expo. May.

New York Comic-Con. Fri.-Sun., Oct. 8-10. New York City. The fourth annual, this show keeps growing and has a focus on comics, graphic novels, anime and games. Friday until 4 p.m. is trade only; the rest of the show is open to the public. Formerly held in February.

2009 Consumer Book Fairs

Palm Springs Book Festival. May. Palm Springs, Calif.

Ann Arbor Book Festival. Fri.-Sun., May 15-17. Ann Arbor, Mich. Includes the first Ann Arbor Book Festival Writer's Conference.

Printers Row Book Fair. Sat.-Sun., June 6-7. Chicago, Ill. Hundreds of authors and booksellers welcomed 100,000 book lovers last year.

Harlem Book Fair. Fri.-Sun., July 17-19. New York City. Includes a street fair and many panels.

Brooklyn Book Festival. Sun., Sept. 13. Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Kerrytown BookFest. Sun., Sept. 13. Ann Arbor, Mich. The seventh annual, held at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market, with the theme this year of "Culinary Michigan." The festival features an array of cookbook authors and food writers, more than 100 vendors, book artists, book arts demonstrations and workshops, and children's activities.

Fall for the Book Festival. Mon.-Sat., Sept. 21-26. George Mason University's Campus, Fairfax, Va.

West Texas Book & Music Festival. Mon.-Sat., Sept. 21-26. Abilene, Tex.

New York Anime Festival. Fri.-Sun., Sept. 25-27. New York City. At the Javits Center. All about anime!

Baltimore Book Festival. Fri.-Sun., Sept. 25-27. Baltimore, Md. The festival bestows literary awards, has a Literary Salon and features stages with African-American, children's and cooking themes, among others.

National Book Festival. Sept. Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Library of Congress and on the Mall.

Amelia Book Island Festival. Thurs.-Sun., Oct. 1-4. Fernandina Beach, Fla. In its eighth year, this festival takes place on Amelia Island and includes an "authors-in-schools" day.

West Hollywood Book Fair. Sun., Oct. 4. West Hollywood, Calif. Co-sponsored by the city of West Hollywood and LA Weekly, this fair attracts 20,000 people.

Wordstock. Thurs.-Sun., Oct. 8-11. Portland, Ore. The fifth annual Portland book festival.

Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival. Fri.-Sat., Oct. 9-17. San Francisco, Calif. We hear that the closing night Lit Crawl through the Mission is not to be missed.

Twin Cities Book Festival. Sat., Oct. 10. Minneapolis, Minn. Sponsored by the Rain Taxi Review of Books.

Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word. Fri.-Sun., Oct. 10-11. Nashville, Tenn. The show will now be held in Nashville every year.

Louisiana Book Festival. Sat., Oct. 17. Baton Rouge, La.

The Boston Book Festival. Sat., Oct. 24. Boston, Mass. The fair makes its debut this year and celebrates the word in all its forms, from fiction, poetry and nonfiction to theater, song and spoken word. The Festival will showcase Boston as a center of creativity, innovation and technology as it relates to books and reading.

The New York Times Great Reads. Oct. New York City. Great Children's Read at Columbia University; Great Literary Brunch at the Timescenter.

Wisconsin Book Festival. Oct. Madison, Wis.

Book Group Expo. Oct. San Jose, Calif. Salons for members, leaders and supporters of book groups, book clubs and book gatherings. Authors attend, too.

Kansas Book Festival. Oct. Wichita State University campus, Wichita, Kan.

Midwest Literary Festival. Oct. Aurora, Ill.

Delaware Book Festival. Nov. Dover, Del. The fourth annual.

Buckeye Book Fair. Nov. Wooster, Ohio.

Texas Book Festival. Sat.-Sun., Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Austin, Texas. Benefitting Texas public libraries, this year is the festival's 14th year.

Connecticut Children's Book Fair. Sat.-Sun., Nov. 14-15. Storrs, Conn.

Miami Book Fair International. Sun.-Sun., Nov. 8-15. Miami, Fla. The model for so many other book fairs and festivals, this one draws hundreds of thousands of people. The street fair runs Fri.-Sun., Nov. 13-15, and the Congress of Writers runs the whole week.

Kentucky Book Fair. Nov. Frankfort, Ky.

Vegas Valley Book Festival. Nov. Las Vegas, Nev.

New Orleans Book Fair. Nov. New Orleans, La.

2010 Consumer Book Fairs

South Carolina Book Festival. Feb. Columbia, S.C. Panel discussions and a range of authors at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

Tucson Festival of Books. Fri.-Sun., March 12-14. Tucson, Ariz. The second annual, expanded by a day and sponsored by the Arizona Daily Star in association with the University of Arizona.

Virginia Festival of the Book. Wed.-Sun., March 17-21. Charlottesville, Va. The 16th annual! Attracts more than 20,000 people each year.

Arizona Book Festival. March.

Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, aka C2E2. Fri.-Sun., April 16-18. Chicago, Ill. The inaugural edition of this comics show, from the creators of New York Comic-Con, held at McCormick Place.

Alabama Book Festival. April. Montgomery, Ala.

Northern Arizona Book Festival. April. Flagstaff, Ariz.

Border Book Festival. April. Mesilla, N.M.

Southern Kentucky Book Fest. April. Bowling Green, Ky.

Philadelphia Book Festival. April. Philadelphia, Pa.

Newburyport Literary Festival. April. Newburyport., Mass.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. April. UCLA campus in Los Angeles. This show is ever more popular and attracts nearly 150,000 readers.




 

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