The team behind BookExpo 2020 have announced that this year’s event has been postponed from May to July 22-26 at the Javits Center. After “closely monitoring the outbreak of COVID-19 in New York and around the country”, for the safety of both staff and attendees, the convention will not go ahead in May as planned.

Our hearts go out to our entire community, every individual person and business impacted by the COVID-19 virus, and all of you who rely on and look forward to this event each year. From authors who have had to cancel book tours, to bookstores who have made difficult and courageous choices to keep their customers and employees safe. We stand with you and we will do everything we can in the coming weeks to highlight your work, so that as a community we can come together and support you.

BookExpo is the Oscars of the publishing world, the book version of Comic Con, the biggest event in the industry’s calendar. It is an annual event and the #1 book conference and trade show. According to their website, it’s “where authors, booksellers, distributors, librarians, literary agents, publishers and more unite to build relationships, learn tactics to bolster business and get the pulse of what’s trending in today’s shifting marketplace.”

Thankfully, the event is not canceled (like so many others), rather pushed back to a date likely to be less affected by the current pandemic. The organizers have stated that this change of date does not require any further action by attendees, as the tickets will automatically be transferred to the new dates.

We look forward to seeing all that BookExpo 2020 will bring, even if it is a little later than expected.

feature image via good e-reader