Another anniversary is fifteen years, for in 1984 the first Military Book Show was held in Washington, DC. I conceived the idea of the event to give credibility and encouragement to military publishing in America. At that time the United States was still in a post-Vietnam trauma, and anything military was an anathema. There was abhorrence shown to military books by bookshops, and I felt that a very positive way of promoting the subject area was by having a show case. I suggested the idea to a number of the publishers with whom I then worked at my Arms & Armour Press, and they were encouraging and offered support. They offered support, that is, if somebody else would take on all the arrangements. This I did, and based the event on experience gained from running the London Book Fair and other promotions. It was decided to have the event on the day before the American Bookseller's Association Exhibition and convention was held, because that would mean that many publishers, especially those from Britain, would be in the capital at that time and would therefore be able to man their stand and have, one hoped, useful and beneficial discussions with the visitors. The American Bookseller's Association Convention (known generally as ABA) moves around the United States, appearing in a different major conurbation each year. Most fortunately, in the year we decided to proceed with the event, and this was part of the reason that the event was created, the ABA was to be in Washington, DC. That was fifteen years ago. We were fortunate, by kind courtesy of Norman Polmar, to be able to obtain the conference rooms at the National Press Club. It was to be a table-top event, and I arranged things so that the cost for exhibiting was kept to a minimum, but each publisher had to make some sort of contribution to running the event. So, for example, one publisher undertook the printing of the invitations, another undertook the general mailing, and so forth. During the set-up period for the event itself I organised who would man the reception desk, and all the details of making the show run smoothly. That first event was an enormous success. The room was packed out, with keen visitors ranging from defence attaches to military librarians, plus, of course, authors and trade visitors. Following its great success it was decided to continue with the Military Book Show, but I stepped aside from running it, and it was agreed that when the event was on the Eastern Seaboard it would be run by the Naval Institute Press (Jim Sutton), and on the West Coast by Presidio (Richard Kane). When the event was held half way between the two it went to whoever held their hand up first! The sequence for the Military Book Show has been: 1984 Washington (held at the National Press Club) 1985 San Francisco 1986 New Orleans 1987 Washington (held at the National Press Club) 1988 Anaheim 1989 Washington (held at the National Press Club) 1990 Las Vegas 1991 New York (held on board the aircraft carrier Intrepid) 1992 Anaheim 1993 Miami 1994 Los Angeles (held at the Biltmore Hotel) 1995 Chicago 1996 Chicago 1997 Chicago 1998 Chicago 1999 Los Angeles (held at the Biltmore Hotel) For this year, the management of the Military Book Show has been handed on to Primedia Enthusiast Publications History Group, whose publications include Military History, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, and Civil War Times Illustrated. One benefit this has brought to the event is that they advertised it in their magazines, and this meant that for the first time there were non-trade visitors, people with a serious interest in military history and books. Their number contributed to the busy atmosphere of the event, and enthusiasm at seeing the range of books and meeting the publishers was apparent from their actually seeking to buy books. Yes it was good to sell books, but for this event publishers only bring a single copy for trade exhibit. A number of these visitors stayed on until the middle of the afternoon when publishers were happy to sell books; Greenhill participated 'care of' our U.S. distributors Stackpole Books, (who also distribute Osprey) and one visitor bought seventeen of the Osprey books. Primedia also advertised the Military Book Show in Publisher's Weekly, and there were many trade visitors including Eddie Coffey (Peribo, Australia), Michael Stephenson (Doubleday Military Book Club), John Greenberg and Abbot Friedland (Scholar's Bookshelf), Rocky Johnstone (The Last Grenadier), Stash Gnych (Amber Packaging) and Bill Hanna (Stoddart, Canada). Authors visiting included John Langellier and Jack Greene. Next year the Military Book Show returns to Chicago, again on the day before BookExpo America, which will be Thursday 1st June. BookExpo stays in Chicago for 2000, and for 2001 will be in either Las Vegas or New York. Information about the Military Book Show can be obtained from Ms Meridee Powers at Primedia, merideep@cowles.com is the email address. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 91 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com