Children's Books at BEA: No Frills, But Solid Business
Jennifer M. Brown and Diane Roback -- 6/22/98
Publishers and booksellers were upbeat about getting back to basicsThe glamour may be gone from the show, but publishers and booksellers needed no glitz to get down to business. While the major publishers were back, the relative number of giveaways and booth sizes at this year's BookExpo were dramatically scaled back. Most booksellers didn't mind, though, as Anne Ginkel of Hobbit Hall in Roswell, Ga., pointed out: "Maybe some of the big stars weren't here, but I got all the jobs done that I needed to do."
Children's booksellers were delighted to see two newcomers, Ecco Press's foray into children's books -- with a title from Joyce Carol Oates -- and Barefoot Books, the new American arm of a U.K.-based publisher. "The presence of both of those publishers indicates that people are still taking risks with children's books, and that's a good thing," said Caron Chapman, executive director of ABC. From the other side, Barefoot Books president Nancy Traversy found the show hugely successful: "We took 20 orders by noon our first day," she reported.
Top Fall Titles
Asked to recall a book they had seen that they were especially looking forward to this fall, booksellers didn't cite one title unanimously. Look-Alikes by Joan Steiner (Little, Brown), a photographic book that makes unusual use of everyday objects, did garner several mentions. The Song of Celestine, inspired by The Celestine Prophecy, with a 100,000-copy first printing, also drew a lot of attention at Little, Brown's booth.
Other fall standouts mentioned were the new Jon Scieszka/Lane Smith collaboration, Squids Will Be Squids (Viking); Harcourt's The Emperor's New Clothes, which features the classic story retold by the likes of Liam Neeson, Madonna and Angela Lansbury with 23 illustrators that include Maurice Sendak, William Joyce and Quentin Blake; The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury (Knopf), edited by Janet Schulman, a compendium of 44 classic and favorite children's books (with a first printing of 250,000 copies); To Every Thing There Is a Season (Scholastic/Blue Sky), a picture book from Leo and Diane Dillon; Chris Raschka's new picture book, Arlene Sardine (Orchard); and a debut novel by British author J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Scholastic/Levine).
Roz Hilden, Scholastic's Northern California sales rep, reported on Sunday, "I gave out the [Harry Potter] galleys yesterday, and the booksellers came back today with book reports." And their reports were enthusiastic, Hilden said, adding that the book has been sold in 19 other countries besides the U.S.
Around the Booths
Overall, those staffing the booths were pleased with attendance, most citing brisk business. Jennifer Pondel, district sales manager in the Chicago area for Eden, reported "there were times when we couldn't get into the booth."
Lynda Moreau, publicist for Pelican Books, was also pleased with the response to their booth, fueled by a new Night Before Christmas edition in Gullah. "It was a good show for us. We've taken orders and met new people," she said.
Booksellers had mixed responses to the setup of the convention floor. Jenni Everett of the Dartmouth Bookstore in Hanover, N.H., who attended all three recent Chicago conventions, preferred the size of last year's BEA: "It was easier to see people. This year it's back to being huge; it's hard to know where to focus."
While this year's show brought back more of the major players, many had greatly scaled back the size of their booths. ABC's Chapman observed that such reductions often meant that children's titles were given less real estate by major publishers: "It was disappointing to see the lack of children's books exposed in the majority of booths," she said. However, she praised the layout of this year's show, especially the placement of the autographing area at the back of the hall, which 'pulls people through the booths.'" Bob Tyrrell, publisher of Orca Books, was also happy with the layout and called the convention "our best ABA. Being back in one hall for us in children's has been wonderful," he said.
A Potpourri of Programs
Willard Dickerson, ABA's director of education, once again started the ball rolling on Thursday morning with what Jennifer Anglin of Enchanted Forest in Dallas, Tex., called "an excellent talk" covering brass tacks such as inventory control and cash flow management. "Dickerson is always interesting; a lot of stuff is repetitive, but he throws us into reality. His concepts work; our cash flow is better," said Rhonda Branch, co-owner of the NeverEnding Story in Kenosha, Wis., and a veteran showg r who has heard Dickerson's seminars since the convention's move to Chicago. After lunch, ABC members hosted a series of presentations on the business of running a children's bookstore.
The Secret Garden silent auction was the big news at the Friday morning ABC annual meeting. More then 70 pieces of original art, donated by children's book illustrators and authors, raised $22,000 for the organization.
As of December 31, 1997, ABC had 233 voting members and 167 associate members (totaling 400), down somewhat from last year's total membership of 458. Etherington announced that Marc Brown would be creating the cover art for the new Building Blocks catalogue, which will ship after Labor Day, and the 20 Minutes a Day Program will also feature a piece from Arthur's Reading Day.
The various regional children's bookseller groups gave their reports. Monica Holmes of Hicklebee's in San Jose, Calif., reported that the Northern California Children's Booksellers Association shared a joint booth with the Southern California Children's Booksellers Association and ABC at the ALA convention in San Francisco. Their annual Otter Award went to Charlotte Zolotow, and 35 booksellers will join dozens of authors and illustrators for this year's Books by the Bay event. Judy Wheeler from the SCCBA, which now totals 75 members, reported that the Los Angeles Times will begin reviewing children's books one day per month. The Great Lakes regional is no longer active, now that organizer Paul Kayser has closed his store (Once Upon a Mind in Maumee, Ohio). In an attempt to draw more members, the New Atlantic Children's Independents are planning a conference in the fall featuring Leo and Diane Dillon, Bruce Coville, Jane Yolen and Ashley Bryan, according to Ellen Mager of Booktenders in Doylestown, Pa.
ABC hopes to launch its Website on September 1, according to Anglin; the site will contain updates on conventions, a list of independent children's bookstores for prospective customers, and, for people setting up shop, information on whom to call for help. Longer-range plans include a chat room for ABC members to discuss topical issues. Currently the ABC home page and mission statement are at http://www.abfc.com.
ABC's election results were announced: Chauni Haslet of All for Kids in Seattle is the new vice-president, and Anne Ginkel of Hobbit Hall was elected treasurer. Kim Moppert of Mr. McGregor's Garden in Fort Wayne, Ind., was appointed to take Haslet's place on the board. Summing up the morning meeting, Amy King Schoppert, manager of Powell's Books at Cascade Plaza in Beaverton, Ore., said, "These people have got religion when it comes to childrenís books. It's very inspirational."
Sounding Off on Telemarketing
Following the ABC meeting, a panel called "Telemarketing and Children's Booksellers" was held, featuring Jeff Hobbs, manager of telephone sales at HarperCollins, and Maury McClelland, divisional v-p of trade sales and marketing from Random House. After their presentations, booksellers lined up at a microphone to share (sometimes heatedly) their thoughts with the publishers.
Sally Jordan of Jeremy's Books and Toys in Houston, Tex., made the point that telemarketing reps often don't have the same "presence with publicity, for author events. I want access to the same information about books and promotions that [the competition] has." She implored publishers to "keep better profiles of us, and respect the time it takes to try to do a phone order."
Answering a complaint that it's difficult for booksellers to get to know a telemarketing rep who replaces a sales rep, Hobbs explained, "Economies don't allow us to send telemarketing people out into the field to see all the stores. Some of our reps have 120 customers each. The best way to meet your rep is to attend the regional shows."
According to McClelland, "A lot of the issues foremost in the minds of children's booksellers came to the forefront. The publishers who were there either have already or are in the process of looking at the issues raised. Unfortunately, there was not enough publisher representation [in the audience]."
The popular format of roundtable luncheon discussions this year included such topics as Websites, newsletters, book fairs, community outreach, staff development and book ordering. Such casual exchanges between colleagues were among many booksellers' favorite convention activities. "The roundtables are extremely useful to me," said Ginkel of Hobbit Hall. "We're expanding our book fair operation, and these were ideas I could take home and put to use right away."
The theme of Friday afternoon's program, "Prescription for Success: Children's Bookselling in the New Marketplace," organized by the ABA/CBC's Joint Committee, offered a roster of bookstore remedies from storytelling to community outreach. Leading the way were Janet Stevens, illustrator of To Market, To Market (Harcourt), and her model for the story's feisty shopper, storyteller Coleen Salley. The pair doled out a heavy dose of humor. Stevens described her early days toting her portfolio to art directors as akin to being "the Fuller Brush man of art." When Stevens first read the text, she thought of medieval open markets. Yawn. I wanted to put in purple high heels and shopping carts." But who was wearing those heels? Enter Coleen Salley, sporting a yellow hat topped by a blooming red flower, who offered an animated reading of the tale.
Next came Walter "The Giant Storyteller" Mayes, who modeled ways of handselling books, while Mary Gay Shipley, from That Bookstore in Blytheville, Ark., posed as his customer. A bookseller-publisher dialogue followed, about which promotion ideas work and which ones do not.
Dr. Robert Needlman, founder of Reach Out and Read and assistant professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, closed the afternoon with ideas about how booksellers can get involved with promoting literacy in their own communities. He said that 10 years ago, reading was not emphasized in pediatric care. Now the standard guidelines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that pediatricians encourage parents to read aloud to their children. "We're talking about kids being well fed and well read," Needlman said.
Hot Meal Tickets
The Chicago Cultural Center was the site of the Evening with Children's Booksellers, co-sponsored by the ABC and Golden Books Family Entertainment. With its Tiffany glass cupola and inlaid mosaics, the former Chicago Public Library offered a welcome change of venue (from the Chicago Field Museum) for many booksellers. Everett of the Dartmouth Bookstore said it was her favorite event of the convention, praising its "cozy atmosphere."
Actor/director Rob Reiner, the evening's featured speaker, talked about I Am Your Child, his national awareness campaign dedicated to educating new parents on the importance of the first three years of life to a child's healthy development. "I hate R.L. Stine," he began provocatively, then explained that each morning he has only eight minutes in which to tell his son a story on the way to school and that his are "never as good as R.L. Stine's." He then turned to Stine, who was seated in the audience, and said, "Thank you for ruining my relationship with my son."
Reiner then went on to explain his commitment to reading aloud, saying that a child forms a secure, healthy attachment during reading and that parents "send a wonderful message and pleasurable associations with reading, as we hold them in our arms." Attendees of Saturday morning's Children's Book and Author Breakfast, sponsored by the ABC/CBC Joint Committee, were greeted by stacks of plastic plates, forks and coffee cups, along with a few platters of fruit and muffins. "Oh, I see! A picnic!" announced one chagrined breakfast-g r. Several members of the audience commented that, with no servers to interrupt the proceedings, the program might have started sooner.
The Lucile Micheels Pannell Award went to Tiffany Durham from Toad Hall in Austin, Tex. (in the children's-only category) and Margaret Nevinski of Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island, Wash. (in the general bookstore category). ABBY Award winner Jan Brett, accepting for her picture book The Hat, donated her prize money back to the ABC.
David Shannon began with an acknowledgment of the early start-time: "I hope no one's expecting anything too profound at this hour of the morning." Many of the ideas for his books grew out of people he has known or admired, Shannon said, citing his sixth-grade math teacher's appearance in How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball and Casey (of "Casey at the Bat" fame) as a model for Paul Bunyan.
But most of the slides that Shannon showed focused on his fall title No, David! (Scholastic/Blue Sky), inspired by his own childhood drawings. "I wanted to celebrate the role that 'no' plays in everyone's childhood," Shannon said. At one point he showed a slide of the boy with his mouth full of food: "I couldn't resist showing this one at breakfast," he said.
The Emberley family followed: father Ed with daughter Rebecca and son Michael. Ed Emberley started by explaining their early collaboration: in the days of preseparated art, Ed would do the black line, and Michael and Rebecca would create the color overlays. But the three have since gone their separate artistic ways. Ed explained, "We have an unwritten law: we can talk politics and religion, but we do not talk about our artwork." This presented a challenge for their publisher John Keller, who suggested that the three work on a book together. Their solution? Each got 20 pages to create any way they wished, resulting in Three: An Emberley Family Sketch Book (Little, Brown).
Continuing the morning's theme, Newbery Honor author Julius Lester talked about the writer-artist relationship. He noted that the breakfast was the first occasion he'd had to meet Shannon, the artist of Lester's How Many Spots D s a Leopard Have? (Scholastic). Pointing out that the writer and artist on a picture book often do not meet, Lester then offered up the contrast of his situation with artist Jerry Pinkney, whose newest joint effort is Black Cowboy, Wild Horses (Dial). Lester said that the two talk over their process and have "established a relationship of personal and creative trust." Pinkney, in fact, suggested the idea of Black Cowboy to Lester, who "loved the idea of a man who became one with nature."
AAP president Pat Schr der kept the spotlight on literacy, begun the previous day, when she took the podium to describe a new initiative called the "Designated Reader" program. This nationwide initiative encourages adults to read aloud to a child -- not necessarily their own -- whether as a volunteer, mentor or in some other way. The initiative's mascot, Theo the Lion, will carry the message on Between the Lions, a daily television program coming to public TV next year. Schr der also announced a Literacy Fair following the breakfast that showcased nationwide literacy efforts.
Los Angeles 1999
Next year's floor plans for the Los Angeles show indicate that publishers will be split once again into two halls, and the children's section will be located in the larger hall behind the art books, sidelines and remainders. Tyrrell at Orca Books, however, wasn't bothered by the news. "I was worried at first, as soon as they said two halls," he said. "But major trade houses are also in the same hall [with the children's publishers]. Personally, I'm not so concerned, as long as booksellers know they have to spend time in that section."
Not all children's publishers, however, are content. "We're really unhappy with the position of the children's section [next year]," said Scholastic v-p and director of marketing, Jennifer Pasanen. "We've always been happy to be an anchor to the children's section, but [BookExpo] made our decision [about whether to remain with the children's publishers] very difficult because of the configuration of the hall."
After three years in Chicago, everyone agreed that convention logistics had all been smoothed out; most also agreed, from both sides of the booths, that a great deal of business was done. And that is, after all, as Hobbit Hall's Anne Ginkel affirmed, the goal: "The purpose [of the show] is to bring publishers and booksellers together to promote literature and make it possible to meet the needs of the public. For us, it was accomplished."
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