As Book Expo America heads to Chicago, with the show opening this Wednesday, the convention will be considerably smaller. Event director Brien McDonald confirms for the AP that the show will occupy almost twenty percent less floor space than last year, taking up just over 126,000 square feet at McCormick Place. (Last year China occupied approximately 25,000 square feet of space on its own, as the country was the featured guest.) The big New York-based publishers are sending fewer people this year to save on the expense of an out of town show, which will likely have an effect on attendance figures as well. […]