Today the organizers of Book Expo America, which is a convention held in New York for publishers and industry folks, announced today the first ever New York Book Week would occur this year from May 23rd to the 29th. They say that they thought of the idea as a way to help promote BEA and to help make authors more available to the community. They have already been able to attract some organizations and venues for the event which include Times Talks, the 92nd Street Y, The New York Public Library, The Brooklyn Public Library, Symphony Space, Barnes & Noble Booksellers and selected member stores of IBNYC (Independent Booksellers of New York City). They have also been able to secure some authors to participate in events around the city for book week which will include Lee Child, Jonathan Franzen, Ira Glass, Sara Gruen, David Means, Edmund Morris and Scott Turow.

I think it’s a great idea to expand upon BEA. I was able to attend last year and I thought it was a great convention and was a good way to meet more authors and publishers. I also think that having a book week in the city would be good to just promote books and reading in general. “I am thrilled that New York Book Week is poised and ready to debut in a significant and meaningful manner,” notes Steve Rosato, Show Manager for BEA. “One of the things that we most wanted to do when we made the decision to keep BEA in New York City for the next few years was to work closely with the community. New York is the publishing capital of the world and there is already an enormous amount of literary activity taking place in the city. It seemed only natural that all of us should band together and call attention to our individual and collective efforts. That’s what New York Book Week is all about.”

To find out more information on Book Week, you can check out the page on the BEA site here. And be sure to stay tuned for my future coverage of BEA on Gaming Angels!