The 2007 BEA (Book Expo America, formerly the American Booksellers’ Association Convention, or ABA) was held at New York City’s Javits Center 1-3 June. The convention is the annual trade show at which publishers display their upcoming books in hopes that bookstores (the main target of the convention) will order lots of their books to sell. Of the approximately 36,000 attendees, about 9,000 of them were book buyers. There are also about 4,000 librarians, plus media representatives (like me), foreign rights buyers and sellers, authors, and as many other interested people as could get in.
This convention needs the whole convention center, because it fills the place. There were 52 aisles in the main convention hall and the downstairs hall, each with space for about 40 ten feet square stalls on each side, for a total space of nearly 4,100 booths (some larger exhibitors had far more than one booth). Ignoring the exhibitors showing non-book items (supplies, services, and other such stuff), and considering that most of these booths were displaying not just one book, but ten, twenty, or more, you start to get a feel for the number of books on display. In fact, I was trying to be very picky about what I picked up, and I wound up with nearly 100 books.
With 36,000 attendees (and many of those were actually staffing the booths; not constantly walking the floor) at 4,100 booth spaces, it might seem like ample room to walk, since the convention is spread over three days. But some areas of the convention were remarkably empty (like the small press and micro press ghetto downstairs) while others (big publishers with galleys of big titles to give away) were jam-packed unable-to-walk don’t-even-think-about-it crowded. So it goes.
I list all these numbers to make a point. Well, actually Tor Publisher Tom Doherty made the point to me: What’s truly frightening about all those books is that first, these are only the titles the publishers are actively pushing; they don’t include lower mid- and back-list. Second, these books only represent the coming quarter, not the entire year. And third, each of the publishers is trying to get as many of their own books into each bookstore as possible.
I’m not sure if that bodes well or ill for the industry, but it is a remarkable number of words written and published.
I walked the entire convention floor, looking for books/publishers of interest to SFScope readers (and, incidentally, books of interest to me and my family). I’ll lost track of how many publishers were showing science fiction, fantasy, horror, or closely related books; there were a lot. At the bottom of this article, I’ll just list the books I picked up. Reviews of some of them will be forthcoming as I get a chance to read them.
One interesting piece of news I did pick up on the floor is that John Colby and his Brick Tower Press, which had been one of the creditors, purchased Byron Preiss Visual Publications and iBooks. They’re right now working on getting some of the delayed titles into print, and he has big hopes and plans for the future.
There was a panel entitled “The Changing Face of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Why it’s Breaking into the Mainstream,” with Editor David Hartwell (Tor), Editor Diana Gill (Eos), Buyer Rusel C. Humphries (Penn Concessions), Editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor), Author David Weber, and Publisher Toni Weisskopf (Baen). This was the only program item (other than the convention floor) I was able to attend, and I missed almost all of it. What I did discover, however, was that the topic was of immense interest: the room was full to overflowing (people were standing around the edges), and they kept the panelists going with questions past the scheduled end time.
Later, at a party Baen hosted in Simon and Schuster’s suite (S&S distributes Baen’s books), Tor’s Tom Doherty explained to me why the publishing industry is in trouble. (He’s actually told me before, but this time I took notes.) Tom’s experience and knowledge in sf/f/h publishing is wide-ranging; he’s a wonderful resource. His take on the problem is that in the Autumn of 1996 there were about 360 book distribution companies working in the US. No one of them had more than 10% of the market. Late that year, the supermarket chain Safeway, which had been doing business with about 30 distributors in the Northwest, decided to consolidate its business. It called in the six largest distributors and gave them the chance to bid for all of Safeway’s business. Albertsons and Krogers soon followed suit, and today, the big four national distributors have 91% of the business. While this points to massive savings through economies of scale, it makes the publishing industry much less responsive to the consumer.
When there were many smaller distributors, the local truckers making deliveries learned which books and which types of books sold better in which neighborhoods, and were able to supply stores with books their customers would want. With the consolidation, such localization or personalization is no longer possible. As a result, bookstores (and non-bookstores where people buy books) become much less important to the reading public, who assumes that publishers are only publishing “best sellers” and big media books. Thus, midlist and smaller books get squeezed out, because books are now purchased nationally, and must appeal to a buyer as something that will sell well everywhere.
The conversation started because we were talking about the fact that Waldenbooks intends to close 300 mall stores this year. They, along with the other major chains, are continuing to move the majority of their bookstore sales to freestanding super stores. And while these much larger stores can stock more titles than a mall store could, they’re completely losing the impulse buyers; people walking in a mall who might stop into a store and pick up a book are instead going home and watching television, thinking they’ll get to a bookstore on another trip, or simply not going at all. It’s a difficult situation, in an era of corporate consolidation. The loss of those mall bookstore sales is an insignificant number in the now-much-larger company’s bottom line (of which the entire publishing division is only a small percent), but it merely reinforces the trend away from reading.
We didn’t have any solutions to these problems, and as the numbers I quoted in the first paragraph show, the absolute number of books being published is skyrocketing as it becomes easier and cheaper to do so. I’m writing this merely to raise awareness, and to invite comment, either in the form of letters or guest editorials.
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The books I picked up (in absolutely no order whatsoever) include:
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber, Tor hardcover
Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, Vertigo trade paperback graphic novel
The Good-Neighbor Policy: A Double-Cross in Double Dactyls by Charles Ardai, A Midsummer Night’s Press trade paperback
Fairy Tales for Writers by Lawrence Schimel, A Midsummer Night’s Press trade paperback
The Rising by Briane Keene, Leisure paperback
The Solitudes: The Aegypt Cycle, Book One by John Crowley, Overlook trade paperback (September 2007)
Ovenman by Jeff Parker, Tin House Books trade paperback (September 2007)
Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings: A Guide to Middle Earth by Colin Duriez, HiddenSpring trade paperback
RenGen: Renaissance Generation by Patricia Martin, Platinum hardcover (August 2007)
E-Mails from Hell: The Wrath of William Wyndell by David Earthman, Synergy trade paperback
Human Sigma: Creating Value at the Employee-Customer Encounter by John H. Fleming, PhD and Jim Asplund, Gallup hardcover (November 2007)
Lily Dale: Awakening by Wendy Corsi Staub, Walker trade paperback (September 2007)
Grub by Elise Blackwell, Toby Press hardcover (September 2007)
A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country by Larry J. Sabato, Walker hardcover (October 2007)
The New PR: An Insider’s Guide to Changing the Face of Public Relations by Phil Hall, Larstan trade paperback
Bonds of Affection: Civic Charity and the Making of America: Winthrop, Jefferson, and Lincoln by Matthew S. Holland, Georgetown University trade paperback (November 2007)
2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck, Tarcher hardcover
Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with our Greatest President by Edward Steers, Jr., University Press of Kentucky hardcover (October 2007)
Quantico by Greg Bear, Vanguard hardcover
Nightmare Academy by Dean Lorey, HarperCollins Children’s hardcover (September 2007)
The Tapestry Book 1: The Hound of Rowan by Henry H. Neff, Random House hardcover (October 2007)
Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race by Von Hardesty and Gene Eisman, National Geographic hardcover (September 2007)
Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program by Pat Duggins, University Press of Florida hardcover (October 2007)
Cashing In with Content: How Innovative Marketers Use Digital Information to Turn Browsers Into Buyers by David Meerman Scott, CyberAge trade paperback
Wrestling with Angels: New and Collected Stories by John J. Clayton, Toby hardcover (September 2007)
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age by Matthew Brzezinski, Times Books hardcover (September 2007)
Tayos Gold: The Archives of Atlantis by Stan Hall, Adventures Unlimited Press trade paperback
88% of Americans are Abnormal: The Bentinel Takes a Skewed Look at the
News by Dave Oatley, Silver Lake trade paperback
Top Secret: When Our Government Keeps Us In the Dark by Geoffrey R. Stone, Rowman & Littlefield hardcover (September 2007)
Grimm Fairy Tales, Volume 1, Zenescope trade paperback graphic novel
Racing the Dark by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Agate hardcover (November 2007)
Crash and Learn: 600+ Road-Tested Tips to Keep Audiences Fired Up and Engaged! by Jim Smith, Jr., ASTD trade paperback
Manga for Dummies by Kensuke Okabayashi, Wiley trade paperback
Monster Spotter’s Guide to North America by Scott Francis with illustrations by Ben Patrick, How Books trade paperback (August 2007)
Family Inheritance by Deborah LeBlanc, Leisure paperback
Alien Xmas by Stephen Chiodo & Jim Strain, illustrated by Charles Chiodo, Baby Tattoo hardcover
Shelter by Chaz Brenchley, Bloody Brits trade paperback
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen, Archaia Studios Press hardcover
Looking Glass by James R. Strickland, Flying Pen trade paperback
The Feral World: Migration of the Kamishi by Gaddy Bergmann, Flying Pen trade paperback
The Expendable One by Jason M. Burns and Bryan Baugh, Viper Comics trade paperback graphic novel
Gray/Guardians by Kathy Porter, self published trade paperback
The Ring in the Rubble: Dig Through Change and Find Your Next Golden Opportunity by Gary Bradt, McGraw Hill hardcover
The Anubis Murders by Gary Gygax, Planet Stories trade paperback (August 2007)
Best New Paranormal Romance edited by Paula Guran, Juno trade paperback
Best New Fantasy edited by Sean Wallace, Juno trade paperback
Deep Inside: ten tantalizing tales of supernatural erotica by Polly Frost, Tor trade paperback
Spaceman Blues: a love song by Brian Francis Slattery, Tor trade paperback (August 2007)
Cloud and Water: An Interpretation of Chan Poems by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, Buddha’s Light Publishing trade paperback
Robotika by Alex Sheikman, Archaia Studios Press hardcover
Artesia by Mark Smylie, Archaia Studios Press hardcover
Black and White and Blue: Adult Cinema from the Victorian Age to the VCR by Dave Thompson, ECW trade paperback
Flickipedia: Perfect Films for Every Occasion, Holiday, Mood, Ordeal, and Whim by Michael Atkinson and Laurel Shifrin, Chicago Review Press trade paperback (October 2007)
Global Sense: Awakening Your Power to Change Our World by Judah Freed Media Visions trade paperback
Unlearning to Fly by Jennifer Brice, University of Nebraska Press hardcover (September 2007)
The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks, MacAdam Cage hardcover (October 2007)
The Road Trip Pilgrim’s Guide by Dan Austin, Skipstone hardcover (September 2007)
The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull, Shadow Mountain hardcover (September 2007)
Fablehaven, Book Two: Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull, Shadow Mountain hardcover
The Divine Gambit Trilogy, Book I: Seer’s Quest by Chad Corrie, Aspirations Media trade paperback
The Divine Gambit Trilogy, Book II: Path of Power by Chad Corrie, Aspirations Media trade paperback
The Divine Gambit Trilogy, Book III: Gambit’s End by Chad Corrie, Aspirations Media trade paperback