Inspired by the upcoming BookExpo America—the U.S. book industry’s biggest convention of the year — retiring Time Warner Book Group head Laurence Kirshbaum is struck by the hoopla: “When I started out, most of the conventions took place in hotel suites, where every publisher would entertain the booksellers at cocktail parties. There was none of the Hollywood hoopla we have now,” he tells Hillel Italie for an Associated Press wire story. “It was really a kind of floating party from suite to suite among people who were friends. It was a much more collegial business, without the pressure everyone has now from being with a publicly held company.” But as Italie notes, while “Industry officials debate the necessity of BookExpo America,” and due to conglomeration there are actually fewer exhibitors than in the past, this year’s show, slated to start Friday at Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Convention Center, is still seen as a key event to many publishers and booksellers — who also seem to think it’s fun. Observes Italie, “blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be hyped alongside literary releases by Umberto Eco and E.L. Doctorow and scholarly works by university presses. On a given day this weekend, one might attend an author luncheon sponsored by independent booksellers, sit in on a discussion about the next generation of editors, then stand in line to meet Wynonna Judd.” Meanwhile, says Doubleday publisher Suzanne Herz, “There’s a lot of schmoozing going on, but real work gets done and you can really set up books coming down the pike.”