Third Good Year for NYC's Art Book Fair
Calvin Reid -- 6/19/00
The Art Book Fair marked its third year in the Metropolitan Pavilion with a 25% increase in overall attendance and a move into a larger space in the exhibition hall that offers a newly renovated entrance on 18th Street, in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood.
Dan Farrell of the Antique Collectors Club, the organizer and co-sponsor (along with the International Art Book Publishers Association and Publishers Weekly) of the Art Book Fair, told PW that more than 900 publishing professionals attended the two-day event held June 11 and 12. There were 61 booths taken by 49 separate exhibitors, many of whom were distributors representing scores of publishers and hundreds of titles. The fair's opening reception on Sunday, June 11, drew well over 200 people.
The fair was launched to give art book publishers better access to art buyers outside of the promotional frenzy of the BEA show floor. Farrell told PW that there were buyers from museum stores and book clubs and chain category buyers in attendance, in addition to representatives from "art Web sites, like Artnet.com, and specialty art book stores and libraries, from the New York Public to the Singapore library system." And while big publishers such as Abrams attend, Farrell said the fair is especially useful to "small publishers and university presses. You have more time to talk and show books to your accounts," he added.
Although many of the exhibitors that PW spoke with did write orders at the fair, most said they were happy to get a chance to talk with accounts, find new ones and negotiate the occasional rights deal. David Padow, museum accounts representative for Dover Publications, told PW the ABF was "good so far. We do a lot of shows and it's different. It's not so much for orders; it's for account contact." Stephen Hulburt, sales and marketing director for the U.S. office of German art book publisher Prestel, also said he used the fair for "meeting specialty booksellers face to face." Plus, he said, "this fair is easy to do. Setting up is easy; shipping, usually a problem, is easy. It's perfect for us."
Joan Brookbank, U.S. director of CELF--the French Book Export Center, a wholesaler (she prefers to be called a "supplier") of French-language books in all categories in France and the U.S., told PW, "The fair is fantastic for us. It's an opportunity to meet high-end buyers."
Kelly Colquitt, sales manager of Palace Press International, a printer and first-time attendee at the ABF, said, "It's been a good show for us. BEA is a zoo; here, we can meet publishers and show off the quality of our printing. We're coming back." Adrienne Moucheraud, manager of museum store sales for Harry N. Abrams, noted, "We sell from blads usually, but here we can show the books. This fair is all about books, not the size of your booth."
Nevertheless, some publishers and distributors complained about lack of foot traffic and once again called for more promotion. Rob Shaeffer, v-p of sales at Distributed Art Publishers, said the fair is "nice but redundant after BEA." He said an early spring date would allow "a preview of the spring and fall lists You could get feedback from buyers." And while Stanley Kekwick, managing director of Art Books International, an international art book distributor, has exhibited in all three Art Book Fairs, he told PW, "You get to talk, but there aren't many sales." He suggested that the fair become a part of BEA.
Farrell told PW that the organizers were aggressive about promotion, with ads in PW, Library Journal, Art Forum and Book Forum; direct mailings to museum and college store buyers; and "lots of jaw-boning" to coax a large press turnout at the opening reception. He said moving the fair to the early spring would cause "conflicts with the London and Bologna book fairs, which are big shows for illustrated book publishers." And the spring might be too early for many small publishers, he said. Merge with BEA? "I'm not sure they're interested," he said, laughing. "Everyone wants more foot traffic, but they also want the time to be able to talk with clients."
Farrell said the fair may try to put more emphasis on rights deals in the future. "The show is still young and still growing. We're going to keep trying to make it better."
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