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It had been a dozen years since BookExpo America (BEA) convened in Chicago, its base for much of the 1990s and early 2000s. The decision to return was controversial, the rationale being that booksellers and librarians put off by Manhattan prices would attend. On the other hand, New York publishers were unhappy about travel costs to Chicago: some skipped the fair, others brought skeleton crews.
So much has changed in the interim: Borders’ death; print’s resurgence; and Amazon, helped by the Department of Justice, has grown supreme. Hachette c.e.o. Michael Pietsch emphasised that for publishers, “the cost of going to market has grown gigantically, as margins have been unprecedentedly hammered by both Amazon and Barnes & Noble”.
The good news—and the story of the fair for this reporter—was that the indies, haemorrhaging to the point where some had dreaded extinction, have fought back during that same period. At the American Booksellers Association’s (ABA) annual meeting, c.e.o. Oren Teicher pictured stated that as of 1st May, its members numbered 1,775 booksellers, compared to 1,712 a year earlier. The past seven years have seen a membership increase of 27%; sales were up by more than 5% from January through April.
Meanwhile, between the last Chicago BEA and this one, the London Book Fair has gone from strength to strength, while BEA has grown smaller and increasingly expensive. (Had Reed moved it permanently to New York and invested strategically years ago, the story could have been very different.) There were 775 exhibitors. Shrinkage in occupied floor space was obvious, with publishers estimating it was down 20%. Some resented the proliferation of large, curtained-off meeting areas, “a concession Reed made to the big publishers,” said the head of one mid-size publisher.
A different retailer/librarian mix did come, many from the Midwest and West Coast. Although the ABA estimated bookseller numbers were down 2%–3%—many indies found Chicago “upbeat, more focused, less overwhelming” and, of course, less expensive.
For the past three years, Reed has seen the future in consumer- focused BookCon, which follows BEA (reportedly, it’s thinking of replicating it in London). It gets to charge for tickets, while publishers pay for the giveaways and booths. Nevertheless, it’s not a cash-cow like the established fair, so whither BEA?
For some, Chicago proved the last straw: Gloria Bailey, the UK PA’s international trade fairs manager, said that the joint British stand, which had dwindled to nine companies, won’t return in 2017, even though the fair will be in New York.
Consensus among US publishers was that BEA must stay in New York to survive, even though Chicago was popular with many of those attending BEA 2016, and found the McCormick Place convention centre a welcome contrast to New York’s unpleasant Javits Center.
“New York gives many more publishing people a chance to experience BEA, from editorial assistants on up, adding a dynamism of its own,” said Grand Central publisher Jamie Raab. It brings in more Europeans and more of the biggest authors, too.
Bloomsbury US publishing director George Gibson acknowledged “the questions about relevance”, but resoundingly asserted: “If you can’t get something good out of BEA, you’re in the wrong industry.”
Bookseller concerns aired
ABA’s Town Hall meeting is where booksellers air concerns. This year’s focused on myriad challenges, among them: huge rent increases, especially on the coasts; how increases in the minimum wage will negatively impact bottom-lines; whether to push publishers to remove retail prices from covers; and how to grapple with career development for employees.
From indie to indie
One panel featured author Richard Russo, questioning four indie bookshop owners on how authors could best work with retailers. Many answers were directed at the large indie author contingent in the audience. “Go to the trouble of really getting to know your local store,” said Mitch Kaplan, owner of Books & Books in Miami. “Remember that carrying the book and having an event are different things. Don’t be tone-deaf: don’t send a pitch letter to a store with a signature on it that links to Amazon! And try to manage expectations.”
John Evans, owner of the Diesel bookstore in LA, said: “A relationship with your local store can help you connect to other stores. Approach a store ideally three to four months in advance to organise an event. Six weeks is the last possible moment. Remember: respect yourself as an author and respect that the store has done the work to make the event happen.”
We need diverse books
One of the most inspiring panels was on diversity. Moderated by Sona Charaipotra, co-founder of book development company Cake Literary. it featured two children’s/Young Adult publishers and two publisher/authors.
“We want publishing to authentically reflect the world we want for our children; when we think of them as ‘other’, that label’s got to go,” 2015 Newberry Medal-winner Kwame Alexander said. “As writers, we’re not at the mercy of the publishing industry. It may be slow, but you don’t have to wait for it to catch up. My first books I published myself.”
Boy Meets Boy author and long-time Scholastic editor David Levithan said: “We’re trying to verge away from the ‘problem’ novel. We want to show complexity and intersectionality. When a librarian comes up and says, ‘I need a girl story’, or ‘I need a boy story,’ we say, ‘here’s a good story’.”