BookExpo America (BEA) was first held as the American Booksellers Association and Convention and Trade Exhibit by the Association of American Publishers in 1947. Over the years, it has developed from a book purchasing platform targeting American booksellers and publishers to a large-scale book fair featuring copyright trading and book ordering attended by companies from nearly all English-speaking countries.

BEA is known as the world's largest event for English book showcasing, and it is the leading book fair in the United States. The annual event had been held in major cities like New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles, and it is typically held over the course of three days in May or June. In addition to book promotion, other events held during the expo include symposiums, exhibitions, forums, literary salons and award ceremonies. Copyright trade is also an important part of BEA. Every year, publishers, brokers, talent hunting companies and copyright professionals gather at the copyright trading center to negotiate deals concerning the copyrights for literary works and other publications.

The US publishing market is one of the largest around the world. The annual BEA attracts numerous book industry professionals from hundreds of publishing agencies in more than 80 countries and regions across the world.

The Global Market Forum, a major program created by the BEA organization committee in 2009, names a specific country or region as its guest of honor each year. The Arab world, Spain, Italy, Russia, and Mexico have previously been named the expo's guests of honor.