BEA's Graphic Novel Saturday

In an effort to highlight the growing popularity of book-format comics—or graphic novels as they have been awkwardly termed—this year's BookExpo America is offering a unprecedented day-long presentation on Saturday that will feature wide-ranging panel discussions and author events focused on educating booksellers about the growing sales potential of narrative comics.

"Graphic Novel Saturday" will feature panels on selling graphic novels, teen readers and literary graphic novels. The morning panel, "Shelving and Selling Graphic Novels" will feature bookseller Paul Constant of Seattle's Elliott Bay Book Company discussing the details of selling graphic novels in general trade stores. Right after that will be a panel discussion on graphic novels and teenage readers, called "The Graphic Novel Youth Seen: What Works," with Stu Levy, CEO of manga publisher Tokyopop, DC Comics' Rich Johnson and Larry Price of Ingram Library Services. Next up is a roundtable on literary comics aimed at adult readers that will bring together New Yorker art director François Mouly (co-creator of RAW and the wife of Art Spiegelman), Chris Oliveros from Drawn & Quarterly and Terry Nantier, publisher of NBM.

Later that afternoon there's a reception for authors from comics publishers Top Shelf and Drawn & Quarterly and trade book house Pantheon. Authors Doug Tenapel (CreatureTech), Joe Sacco (The Fixer) and Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) will discuss their illustration and storytelling.

And last, but not least, bestselling comics artist Neil Gaiman, author of the graphic novel series Sandman and the Hugo Award— winning novel American Gods (HarperCollins), will offer a presentation on two of his books: Endless Nights (DC Comics), a forthcoming collection of Sandman comics stories, and Coraline (HarperCollins), his recently released children's book.

BookExpo is also hosting a graphics novel pavilion on the exhibition floor (aisles 2500—2600) and, of course, many comics publishers, as well as their distributors, will be bringing along authors for signings and holding events and giveaways at the booths. A directory of graphic novel publishers will be available.

Sales on the Rise

There's a reason that BookExpo is rushing to offer comics publishers this platform. Over the last five years, sales of graphic novels of all kinds have risen sharply, led by the explosive sales growth of Japanese manga, or comics, in English translation. According to ICV2.com, a comics and pop culture merchandise trade news Web site, sales of manga graphic novels have doubled each of the last two years, while non-manga periodical and graphic novel comics sales rose about 8%.

"There's lots of talk and lots of buzz about graphic novels," explains Tina Jordan, BEA's special events and publicity director, who organized several of the Saturday events. "We want to direct booksellers to a range of educational activities about books and authors."

"It's a sign of the success of the format in the book-publishing channel," says Rich Johnson, director of DC Comics book sales, when asked about BEA's "Graphic Novel Saturday." "There is continuing growth in the number of retail outlets selling graphic novels, both in the chains and independents." According to Johnson, the biggest problem for comics publishers in this new marketplace is "finding out what people want to buy. Finding out what stories they care about. The things that any good publisher cares about."

"We've done graphic novel programs before but the marketplace has changed," Mark Dressler, director of education for BEA, who organized several of the panels, tells PW, "It is really embracing the format." Indeed, the marketplace has been transformed. While most large comics publishers still sell primarily through comics specialty shops, steadily rising consumer demand for book-format comics has greatly increased the number of chain bookstores and nontraditional outlets selling graphic novels. "Graphic Novel Saturday" at BEA was designed to introduce independent booksellers to the range, quality and sales potential of fiction and nonfiction narrative comics.

Kuo-Yu Liang, v-p sales and marketing at Diamond Book Distributors, a trade book distribution unit launched in the last year to specifically distribute book format comics to the book trade, says BEA's graphic novel day will mark the "convergence of literary and business acceptance of graphic novels." Diamond is the dominant distributor to the comics store specialty market, and the launching of its trade book distribution unit points to the tremendous growth and profitability in the market for book-format comics.

Liang, who will moderate "The Graphic Novel Youth Seen: What Works," panel, points to "a tremendous growth in sales the past two years, primarily from the chain bookstores in manga titles." He also emphasizes, "These events will lead booksellers to realize the potential in literary and commercial comics. They will find books and authors that they will love, and there will also be plenty of bestsellers to ring those cash registers."

"At a time when book sales are stagnant, sales of graphic novels are bucking the trend by generating anywhere from 30% to 200% growth," Liang says. "Graphic novels attract teenage readers, both boys and girls. They're the perfect bridge between the literary tradition, PlayStation II and the Cartoon Network."

"Comics have had always had a presence at BEA, but not on this scale. It's very exciting," says Rory Root, owner of Comic Relief, a San Francisco Bay Area comics store that long ago moved to emphasize graphic novels over pamphlet comics. While Comic Relief specializes in comics, Root runs his specialty store more like a general trade bookstore, selling primarily soft and hardcover comics. "We stock 10,000 graphic novel titles," Root tells PW. "When I began emphasizing books, comics people thought I was putting on airs. Now book-format comics outsell pamphlet comics by three-to-one at our store."

Root, who has been given the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing award, was ahead of other comics retailers when he focused on librarians and convinced them that book format comics would lure teenagers into the stacks. He's worked carefully and successfully with Bay Area libraries. "We've just had explosive sales of manga," he says. "You need to sell manga—we can't keep the stuff in stock— but there is also a lot of quality comics literature out there."

Tokyopop is not the first publisher to offer U.S. readers translated manga. Viz Communications pioneered the translation of manga for American readers, and other comics publishers such as Dark Horse have been offering manga for years. But Tokyopop has been aggressive and inventive, popularizing the "authentic Japanese" right-to-left format over the traditional U.S. practice of reversing film. Tokyopop publishes hundreds of titles each year that are attracting teenage boys and—unusual for U.S. comics—teen girls.

"Whether it's TV, video games or movies, young people want visual entertainment," says Stu Levy, who worked in the videogame and CD-ROM industries before moving into the print business. He estimates that the manga comics market is about a $200 million—$300 million market today, and will be heading toward $1 billion within five years.

"The parents of these kids are like me," said the 38-year-old Levy, "They grew up on videogames. Now that they're adults, they understand that manga, animation and videogames all come from the same core. They are also learning that manga is a very broad category and that diversity is very attractive to American readers."