Business cards? Check. Updated calendar? Check. Comfortable shoes, cup of coffee, extra tote bag for the most buzzed-about galleys? Check, check, check. It's that time of the year again: BookExpo America.

When our Memorial Day BBQs draw to a close, what will we be looking forward to the most? Here's the rundown:

China

All eyes are on the Chinese book market this year. As the the guest of honor at the 2015 BookExpo America’s Global Market Forum, more than 100 of the most important Chinese publishers will take up the largest pavilion at the Javits Center. Industry experts from China and the U.S. will participate in five forums dedicated to publishing in China. (We're predictably most excited for the Chinese-American Digital Publishing Forum on Thursday!)

China is a potential game-changer in the global eBook marketplace. At Vearsa we've had longstanding relationships with Chinese retailers -- check out our two-part blog post on selling eBooks in China here and here -- and while the English-language book market is still in its infancy, publishers who get their titles into China now have the opportunity to establish a presence, build relationships with retailers, and gather vital data on a huge swath of readers. We've recently appointed a Vearsa representative in Tokyo to make inroads in the East Asian market, and we look forward to helping our customers expand their sales in a new corner of the globe.

Keywords and Data and Innovation, Oh My!

We'll be like kids at a candy store with all the great digital seminars scheduled at BEA. Here's our top five:

1. Demystifying Subject Codes and Keywords Workshop

2. What's Data Got to Do With It?

3. How to Amplify Your eBook Price Promotions

4. Real Data on Sales and Consumer Attitudes in the Ebook Era: The Complete Story

5. Keynote: Innovation and Data - The Promise and the Pitfalls*

*If you haven't watched Keynote panelist Scott Galloway's fascinating talk on the horserace between Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, take a look:

Facetime

The best part of BEA is the opportunity to meet with our current and prospective accounts. This year we're particularly excited to find out how publishers are using data to implement changes in their publishing plans and discuss how we can help them optimize and market their titles in the global marketplace.

Don't have a meeting scheduled? Swing by the Vearsa booth at DZ2068.

Last but not least...

...we might poke around for some swag.