Book Expo event director Brien McDonald sent a letter to convention exhibitors on Friday, explaining what organizers are calling a “reimagining” of the show, driven by a “listening tour” among booksellers, publishers and others. As ReedPOP svp Ed Several and McDonald explained to us in a phone interview, “We know that we have to make changes, and we’re excited about what they told us.” Previously, Book Expo “has seen itself as a place where booksellers could identify the latest titles and meet and network.” But as booksellers explained, their top priority is often “pitching their store to convince the publicists […]
Book Fairs
Talk Isn’t Cheap, But At Least It’s A Little Easier at Frankfurt This Year
Press conferences, author guests, and planned events notwithstanding, the core of the Frankfurt Book Fair for trade visitors remains rights sales and renewing international relationships. For many people, Frankfurt is also very much about habit and tradition, essentially the same show every year, but with new titles: The same party schedule, the same dinner dates and venues, the same roster of key appointments, the same layout of stands (and unfortunately, the same wealth of smokers when you try to get some air). But there’s one interesting thing that’s different this year, though it may not be obvious: This is the […]
Frankfurt Deal Totals Are Flat, As Six-Figure Adult Buys Decline
With the final pre-Frankfurt deal reports counted, we can tell you that total US deal volume was about even with the past two years (still well off the peak in 2014). But reported six-figure or better deals for adult books declined measurably — regardless of the accounts you might read about a handful of books — with the only growth coming from children’s. For deals of all sizes, nonfiction sales — always the largest category — were strong in total number, bouncing back from last year’s dip to a more normal level. Fiction was just below even with last year, […]
Reidy Looks Forward to An Open European Market After Brexit
Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy said out at a ceo q&a forum what many are thinking (and we suggested here early on) about a post-Brexit publishing world. : If and once Brexit actually happens, “To my mind the argument that the British have used to try to grab Europe as an exclusive market will then be over.” Reidy argued that “both sides [US and UK] can sell equally well in Europe.” She added, “I still don’t understand why the British think they have India. Sorry, Ian [Chapman].” The remarks were expected, since Reidy was the most prominent US executive […]
Wylie on Authors “Seeing Things Differently”
Literary agent Andrew Wylie started the day’s conferences at the Frankfurt Book Fair with brief remarks before a modest, press-heavy audience in FBF’s “Business Club.” The personal part of his address, reflecting on recent travels with his wife, was “about seeing things differently and seeing different things.” His point was that the world itself looked more similar as he traveled far and wide, but “what differed was the behavior and reactions of those we encountered,” with people expressing “a different view of the similar rather than a similar view of different things.” In publishing terms, his international roster of authors […]
Major Fiction Deals Rebound In Otherwise Modest Pre-Fair Activity
In line with our early assessment of dealmaking heading into this year’s London Book Fair, now officially underway, even with a busy few days of final reports this year’s activity stands at moderate. The biggest (or “major”) deals came in just ahead of last year and still well below the most recent high-water mark in 2014, with fiction having its second-strongest showing in the last 8 years (and in turn nonfiction at its weakest point in that period — except for the Obamas’ record-setting deal). Overall six-figure deals were more balanced across the breakouts: Looking just at the closely-watched fiction […]