And so ends Q&Q’s up-to-the-minute coverage of BookExpo Canada 2007. This was our first time blogging the show, so we are very interested to hear what we got right, what we got wrong, where we needed to be, and where we should have minded our own damn business.

Don’t forget to check out the literally hundreds of photos taken at BOOKED! events, the parties, and on the trade show floor itself. (Clicking the link opens a full-screen slideshow – we suggest you watch it at the fastest speed.)

Former prime minister Jean Chretien appeared at BookExpo Canada as the guest of honour at a Random House of Canada reception on Sunday afternoon, promoting his upcoming memoir, A Passion for Politics. On Monday morning, he talked with Q&Q about the book, which will be published by Knopf Canada in October. Chretien was careful not to give too much away. “I am not at liberty to reveal the book. We have to maintain the drama,” he said. But here are some hints about what to expect – in vintage Chretien style.

When did you start writing the book?

About two years ago. I started in the summer and I dictated about 1,600 pages. The guy who worked with me doing the editing and so on, helping me on research … is Ron Graham, and Daniel Poliquin is doing the same type of work on the French side. They worked together because I wanted the book to be published the same day in English and in French. The publisher in French will be [Les Éditions du] Boréal. To reduce 1,600 pages to 400, it’s a lot of work. So we worked together and we reduced it and we redictated. That’s why we are working since two years [ago].

Mulroney’s memoir [to be published by McClelland & Stewart in September] is more than 1,000 pages.

That’s not my business, it is his. This is my second book. I wrote one before in 1985 and all my personal life and my upbringing was talked about in the first book. This one is from the day I became Prime Minister until the day I resigned as prime minister – the 25th of October 1993 to the 12th of December 2003.

Will you be touring with the book?

I did that last time, and I expect to do some of it again.

How did you decide to have Knopf publish this one?

Because I chose them. There was a special relation because my son-in-law … had family who had investments with Bertelsman. And Anna Porter, who did my first book, had quit at that time, so the choice was made for me basically, and I’m very happy.

Is the new book as personal in its style as Straight From the Heart?

I’m not a good judge for myself … but apparently it’s very much a Chretien-type of book…. I formulate my phrases à la Chretien. You know, I could not speak a word of English before I was 30. I never studied English in my life, a little bit at college, but for me, I was from French Canada, rural Quebec, [studying] to be a lawyer, working in French, so I was not exposed at all to English until I came to Parliament. I don’t know. I dictated the book and they say it is very lively. But I am not a good judge. It’s my style, so it will be very much in the same style as Straight from the Heart.

You and Mr. Mulroney will have books out in the same season.

So there will be two books.

Will it be like old times, sharing the headlines again?

(More after the jump.)

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As the BookExpo Canada trade show wound up on Monday afternoon, Scott Temple, the show’s managing director, said that the BOOKED! consumer fest would definitely return in 2008 – but that it would incorporate lessons learned from the mixed results of this year’s show.

It was feast or famine at the inaugural BOOKED fest, with some marquee events – such as the Stephen King Libris presentation on Friday night – drawing strong crowds while others lured only single-digit attendance. As Temple says, the show “was a success in certain areas and was overextended in others.” As a result, next year’s lineup will likely include fewer events with a wider distribution of name authors – “top-notch events promoted properly,” as Temple said. (This year’s BOOKED included around 20 individual event, several of which were cancelled at late notice after planned school-group audiences fell through.)

As for the trade show, publishers had a mixed response throughout Sunday and Monday – some observed that crowds seemed lighter than last year, while others were pleased enough with the turnout at their booths. Official attendance figures have not yet been released, but Temple said he expects bookseller numbers to be comparable to last year’s (which were about 2,500).

As is often the case, some noted that while booksellers gladly lined up for galleys, there was little actual business done or meaningful back and forth – a concern Temple acknowledged. “People come out and get caught up in author signings,” he said, noting that next year show management would encourage both publishers and booksellers to set up show appointments well in advance. At the same time, he noted, “The business and the industry have changed…. The days of writing all your orders here at the show are gone.”

Throughout Monday, exhibitors were lining up their spaces for next year’s show, which is scheduled to run on June 14 and 15. Though there were anecdotal reports of publishers cutting back on their space for next year (and some, including Random House of Canada, Simon & Schuster Canada, and the Literary Press Group, had already cut back this year), Temple downplayed that, saying, “I can think of only two instances where space was reduced.”

As before, show owner Reed Exhibitions has struck an advisory panel composed of representatives from various sectors to plan next year’s show. “We’re looking for a whole new level of co-operation up here,” said Temple, who moved to Toronto from the U.S. last August to take over management of the show. The committee will likely meet for the first time in August, said Temple. He added that he hopes to explore more online promotion opportunities with the 2008 show, such as book blogs and podcasting.

BookExpo Canada would appear, on the surface, to be primarily about books – the publishing, marketing, selling, and occasionally writing thereof – but most BEC-goers know that being on the trade floor is all about eating, drinking, and getting free things.

Among the most useful things to get for free are cloth and canvas bags, which are very handy for stuffing with the various ARCs, books, posters, postcards, T-shirts, mugs, toys, stationery, stickers, candy, and assorted unclassifiables that get nabbed by grazing conventioneers.

This year, the swag-and-bag highlights ranged from very classy 40th anniversary T-shirts from Anansi to a heavy metal colouring book (complete with red and black crayons) in the ECW booth and a reported Will Ferguson-branded aphrodisiac over at Penguin Canada. Candy bowls were ubiquitous. Booze was plentiful, though honourable mention must go to the Canada Council for the mimosas being handed out on Sunday morning to celebrate its 50th year – a welcome “hair of the dog” concoction for many trade show participants bleary-eyed from various parties the night before. The spring rolls, spanakopita, and asparagus at the Chrétien reception were also a nice change from the standard hummus and wine served up at most booths.

Click here for a look at just some of the treats and giveaways spotted at this year’s show.

Employing utterly and unapologetically unscientific methodology, Q&Q has picked Coach House’s “hockey office” (our name) as booth of the year. Yes, other booths were splashier, with poker tables or 3-D Simpsons families, some were slicker, with cover images everywhere and thick carpeting on the floor, and certainly some were creepier (we’re thinking of the world’s tallest man at the Guinness World Records booth) or more touchy-feely (such as the man giving out hugs, or the massage booth), but Coach House’s booth was infused with a sense of low-budget fun, while keeping the focus on its upcoming titles.

The hockey table and fake hockey tickets were a charming touch, as was the contest to name the live goldfish swimming in a bowl on the mock-office table. (Not quite a return to the days of Jack Stoddart’s BookExpo elephant, but cute nonetheless.) We also liked the Monday addition of Coach House’s Libris award to the hockey table, as if players were contending for the glass statuette.

Honourable mention must go to the Wiley Canada booth, which – perhaps taking a cue from IKEA – was constructed as a functioning kitchen and living room, complete with a Wii video game console. (See below.) Out front were a yard and a patio table.

Fashionistas at this year’s BookExpo Canada were quick to notice an emerging trend: the grey-haired ponytail. Several men wore this signature look with a casual grace. It’s a bold statement that we’d like to coin as “The McNally.” Can you tell these gentlemen apart? Indeed, which is the “real” Ben McNally?

Answers after the jump.

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To view pics from the second day of the trade show, click here.

“Will Carol Shields be signing today?” – An Indigo staffer at the Goose Lane booth.

“Four hundred pages, a few jokes…. We take ourselves too seriously.” – Jean Chrétien hard-sells his book to the crowd on the show floor.

Spectator: “Who’s that with the big crowd?”
Fellow spectator: “Oh, it’s Jean Chrétien.”
First spectator: “Who is that? Some famous author?”

“Did he have the guys with the things in their ears?” – A showgoer asks about Chrétien’s security detail.
“Even better, he had Louise Dennys.” – Showgoer #2.

Booksellers cemented their love affair with The Birth House author Ami McKay at Sunday night’s Libris Awards ceremony. Not only did McKay win Author of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year, she also won an autographed Gideon Bible from emcee Bill Richardson, who stole it from his hotel room in order to award it to the best acceptance speech of the evening.

Accepting her first award – for fiction book of the year – McKay was flushed and giddy, and she charmed everyone in the room by recounting a nice little story about her hometown bookstore. Even before she began writing The Birth House (Knopf Canada), Mckay explained, she would go to the Box of Delights Bookshop in Wolfville, N.S., and she would stare at the shelf where novels by fellow Maritimers Ann-Marie MacDonald and Alistair MacLeod sat flush against one another. “The owner, Mitzi DeWolf, would see me there staring, day after day,” explained McKay, “until finally she asked me, ‘What are you doing?’ I told her I was looking at the place where my first novel was going to be, and for some reason she believed me.” Every time McKay went into the shop thereafter, DeWolf would inquire how the novel was going and would offer words of encouragement. “That encouragement, from a bookseller, really helped me a lot,” said McKay.

In any other year, fellow nominee and boffo-selling author Vincent Lam would have been a shoo-in for Fiction Book of the Year (for Doubleday Canada’s Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures) or Author of the Year, but the love just kept coming for McKay. When she stepped up to accept the Author of the Year prize, she seemed overwhelmed. “Two years ago, I would not have imagined this for myself,” she said.

Another big winner of the evening was House of Anansi Press, which won not only publisher of the year, but also editor of the year, for Lynn Henry. When president Sarah MacLachlan stepped up to accept publisher of the year, she revealed the answer to a trivia question she had posed in June’s Q&Q, in a House of Anansi 40th anniversary ad: “Which famous Canadian publisher predicted in 1967 that Anansi would last only 18 months?” The answer, MacLachlan revealed, was Jack McClelland. Holding aloft the award, she beamed and said, “Well, here’s your 18 months!”

Other winners last night were David Suzuki, whose self-titled autobiography from Douglas & McIntyre won Non-fiction Book of the Year; Douglas & McIntyre itself for its Suzuki marketing campaign; Barbara Reid, who went home with awards for both Children’s Author of the Year and Children’s Illustrator of the Year; Coach House Books for Small Press Publisher of the Year; North 49 Books, which broke Raincoast Books/Book Express’s three-year stranglehold on the Distributor of the Year category; Victoria’s Bolen Books for Bookseller of the Year; Dartmouth, N.S.’s Tattletales Books for Specialty Bookseller of the Year; UBC Bookstore for Campus Bookseller of the Year (although no one showed up to claim the award, leaving a long, awkward pause in the proceedings); Genevieve Loughlin, of Hornblower Books, for Sales Rep of the Year; and finally, yes, one last win for The Birth House, with Random House of Canada designer Kelly Hill winning Book Design of the Year.

One part of the evening that raised some eyebrows came when Scott Temple, vice-president and managing director of Reed Exhibitions, which runs the trade show’s owner, stepped to the podium to hand an award to … Reed director of marketing Dahlia de Rushe, for her work in co-ordinating the event. De Rushe then stepped up and gave a long acceptance speech.

To view our Libris photo gallery, complete with every presenter and award winner, click here.

To view more pics from the Sunday trade show, click here.