Report
from BookExpo 2007
by Janine Armin
Around 340 publishers and 2500
retailers attended BookExpo Canada in Toronto from June 8-11, 2007,
where independent booksellers’ struggle to maintain business in a
digitized era was the focus at seminars.
In conjunction with the expo, the
Canadian Bookseller’s Association presented its annual
industry-nominated Libris awards: Stephen King received a lifetime
achievement award, Ami Mackay won author of the year and her novel The
Birth House was picked for best book. David Suzuki returned to the
public eye winning best non-fiction book for his autobiography. Best
publisher and best small press went to the obvious two: Anansi and Coach
House, respectively. Anansi got an extra boon, with Lynn Henry taking
home the best editor award.
In a conference on digitization and the
future of Canadian Bookselling, Michael Tamblyn, CEO of BookNet Canada,
suggested ways to get customers into stores. In 1998, the big stores
offered more inventory, after which the online surge pushed stores out
of business. Though counterintuitive, Tamblyn urged bookstores to resist
competing with Amazon, as the experience of delay only frustrates
readers.
Tamblyn spoke on ways for bookstores to
circumvent attraction to e-books, asking booksellers to act ‘not as
stockkeeper[s], but as curator[s].’ The saving grace of the
independents is the creation of ‘physical environments people want to
be in,’ he said. For now, e-book technology is still riddled with
kinks; ‘not all frontlist is available… and a lot of it has to do
with how e-book publishers perceive their audience,’ and if reading
devices are switched, books need to be re-purchased.
So what will save the bookstores?
American Bookseller’s Association president Avin Domnitz would have
said handselling, if he had been able to make it to his seminar on the
topic. ‘Handselling is the first line of defense,’ said Tamblyn.
Other presenters remarked on perks for
employees to sell books, like free readers’ copies.
Events help too. Booked!, a reading
series accompanying the expo, featured notables like Jean Chrétien,
Naomi Klein and Christopher HItchens. Top booksellers got together to
discuss creating Killer Events. Tisha Siemens of Words Worth Books
talked about her One Book One Community Project, which solicits funds
from the publisher of one book, and promotes it with excursions
throughout the community of the writer.
As for next year, event coordinator
Dahlia De Rushe says they’re still in the process of getting feedback
from publishers and retailers. Hopefully the information will be used to
arm booksellers against any further alienating maneuvers that seem to
accompany so many advancements in book technology.
Janine Armin’s work
appears in Bookforum and The Globe and Mail. |
