World Music Publisher Boosts the Flavor of the Celebration of Bookselling

This year's Celebration of Bookselling at BookExpo America will add the lively sounds of world music to the mix of booksellers, publishers, and Book Sense authors and awards. Putumayo World Music, publishers of upbeat compilations of international music on CDs, will be sponsoring the highly anticipated event, which is free and open to all show attendees, on Friday, June 3, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and will be held in the Special Events Hall in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.

Putumayo's many collections -- with their distinctive, folkloric packaging and informative content -- appear in hundreds of independent bookstores, appealing to "Cultural Creatives," a term for the United States market of over 50 million with non-traditional musical tastes.

Colombian singer Marta Gomez to perform at the Celebration of Bookselling.

Colombian singer and Putumayo artist Marta Gomez and accompanist will treat guests at the Celebration of Bookselling to a live performance of original songs; in addition, there will be selections of recorded music from around the world. Free samplers will be available at the event and in the ABA lounge, where its 16-title free standing listening station will be on display.

Meg Smith, associate director of Book Sense marketing, talked to BTW about the relationship of Book Sense to Putumayo: "We're extremely pleased to be working with an independent music company that is so in tune with our members. Many booksellers offer the product in their stores or use it as background music. The performance by Marta Gomez will enliven the Celebration and make it an even more special event -- not to be missed. Putumayo's new partnership with ABA can only raise the excitement of the Celebration of Bookselling to a new level." -- Nomi Schwartz