(Q&Q’s BookExpo preview, from the June 2008 issue. Written by Jacob Sheen.)

Last year’s BookExpo Canada will be remembered as the first to feature an ambitious companion festival for the public – and, most likely, the last. Following dismal attendance at several BOOKED! events last year, there were some early rumblings about putting a smaller public program together for 2008. This year, though, the national trade show is sticking to, well, the trade. As usual, BookExpo will run over four days, with the conference starting on June 13 and the trade show taking place June 15 and 16.

“It was just too difficult,” says McArthur & Company president Kim McArthur, who was on the BOOKED task force. “I think it was a worthy effort, but I think it was trying too hard to prove to some of the publishers that they were getting value for money by attending BookExpo.”

For publishers and booksellers, the back-to-basics approach is probably just as well, after a year of bad publicity over book pricing and several bookstore closings. “Of course the mood of the show will be affected by the rough year,” says David Glover, Thomas Allen & Son’s marketing manager. “Independent booksellers had a pretty hard Christmas, and when the booksellers have a hard Christmas, then the publishers have a hard Christmas. I don’t think that this has been easy for anyone.” The question is, will this year’s trade show overcome the double whammy of hard times and ongoing exhibitor unease with the event?

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Turnout has been a regular talking point at BookExpo in recent years, and will likely continue to be. “I think bookseller attendance is the key for us, as it is for every publisher,” says Yvonne Hunter, director of publicity and marketing at Penguin Canada. “We want to see a real cross-section of the book retail industry at the show. It’s a concern, and it’s perhaps exaggerated [in Canada] because we have a smaller number of independent booksellers to draw upon to begin with.”

For her part, Dahlia de Rushe of show owner Reed Exhibition Companies points out that despite the drop in total attendance at last year’s show (from 2,517 in 2006 to 2,255 in 2007), attendance by independent booksellers was up by 21% over the prior year. She says this year’s early registration numbers are encouraging, but the proof will be in the show. “We’d like to see more of the booksellers show up,” says Thomas Allen’s Glover. “We’d like to meet and talk with as many of our customers as possible, but the show has to be relevant to the booksellers.”

Thomas Allen & Son is maintaining its standard booth, and is concentrating on promoting the two authors they’re bringing this year (one less than usual). “We don’t have anything big or innovative planned, there’s no splash,” says Glover. “But I still think it’s an essential show to be at in terms of maintaining the profile of your company, and having an opportunity to debut your titles for what is the most important season of the year.” McArthur & Company will also be in its regular booth, bringing as many authors as possible, despite the shaky economy. “It’s depressing, but we just put our noses to the grindstone,” says Kim McArthur. “BookExpo is something to look forward to. It’s a great chance to see everybody in the industry.” Penguin Canada is also bringing a host of authors. “Like everyone, we’re going into it with our eyes open and hoping for the best,” says Hunter. “We’ve got a really great lineup of authors coming in, and as publishers, that’s as much as we can do.”

Other major exhibitors are pulling back slightly. Both Canadian Manda Group and H.B. Fenn and Company will have slightly smaller booths this year – in response to calls from client publishers to cut costs in Manda’s case, says co-owner Carey Low – but both firms say they will have their regular author contingents out. And Random House of Canada is bringing a slightly smaller author roster, though Random’s Linda Scott notes that that’s in response to complaints of overcrowding last year.

Reed has also been making an effort to diversify this year’s trade show, seeking new exhibitors and focusing particularly on sideline products. Among first-time exhibitors at this year’s show will be sales agency Kate Walker & Company, who will be pushing stationery and other non-book items. “Most of our book publishers have booths there already, so we’re experimenting with some of our gift lines,” says Claire Blicker, Walker’s Toronto gift rep.

And even on the eve of this year’s show, ideas for boosting future attendance are flying back and forth. Susan Dayus, executive director of the Canadian Booksellers Association, says publishers could encourage booksellers to come by offering discounts to attendees, even if orders aren’t written on the spot. “That’s one thing booksellers look for,” she says. “We want people who have actually attended the show to get something special.” (Special rates for on-site orders are common, but most publishers say that few booksellers place orders on the spot.) At the same time, some publishers have suggested that BookExpo could encourage booksellers to attend by subsidizing travel costs, though that idea has been a non-starter so far, says de Rushe.

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Programming-wise, BookExpo seems as busy as ever. As usual, the CBA will be presenting its Super Saturday programming – a day of professional development aimed at booksellers. This year will feature an overarching theme for the first time: “Community Matters.” American environmentalist Bill McKibben will deliver the keynote address, arguing that indie booksellers can help create more localized communities that will be necessary to combat global warming. McKibben will be followed by Jeff Milchen, co-founder of the American Independent Business Alliance, who will talk about his efforts to make small businesses more competitive by involving them in community alliances across North America. And author Mark Kingwell will address the entire conference this year with a Saturday lunch lecture. Also on the agenda are seminars on practical bookselling concerns.

Friday’s more publishing-focused conference will look outward, exploring publishing models from other countries and examining new technologies. Presented by Humber College and the Book and Periodical Council, “Another Country: Creative Borders, Globalism and the Age of Collaboration” will include speeches, panels, and workshops.

The conference kicks off Friday morning with a keynote speech from author and academic star Richard Florida, who will address the possible decentralization of Canada’s publishing industry away from Toronto, and will suggest strategies for marketing and selling to what he calls “the emerging creative class.” Later, a panel of publishers from Ireland and the Netherlands will discuss innovations in their markets, and Ben Vershbow, editorial director of the Brooklyn-based Institute for the Future of the Book, will look at technologically assisted collaborative book projects. Afternoon workshops will cover topics such as the ongoing copyright debate, the impact of Web 2.0, and the opportunities provided by print-on-demand technology.

New programming at the trade show includes two new author-centric features that help introduce authors to showgoers. For two hours on Sunday, “Speed Dating” will give mystery authors and first-time authors five minutes each onstage, while “Best Books for Kids and Teens” will highlight new Canadian children’s authors and books.

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For some booksellers, the BOOKED-less back-to-basics approach is welcome news. Robert Wiersema, event co-ordinator at B.C.’s Bolen Books, says it’s still very much a working show for Bolen. They take the opportunity to drop off orders, and make sure to take advantage of the few show specials still offered. “I want to get stuff done when I’m there,” he says. “I don’t necessarily want to see innovation at the show, unless it’s a way to make it more efficient.”

And for some, a more pragmatic approach is simply inevitable. One perhaps-symbolic casualty of the past couple of years is Canadian Manda Group’s traditional Sunday night party, a $25,000 bash for booksellers that last ran in 2006. “There’s no political reason, there’s not even really a cost reason,” says Manda’s Carey Low. “It’s just a matter of, ‘What does the industry want?’ It’s different now, somehow.”