What Writers Want to Read

One more item from BEA. The online magazine Salon sent interviewers with cameras onto the convention floor to ask famous writers about their latest books and also what they hoped to be reading this summer. Among those interviewed were Michael Connelly, Jonathan Lethem, Neil Gaiman and Diana Gabaldon. My favorite response -- other than Dave Barry comparing his friend and co-author Ridley Pearson to a cockroach -- was that of Mary Karr. She said she hoped to spend the summer reading fan mail from her readers. There's an honest answer for you.

The interviews can be found at the Salon website.

Quickbook

It was a stunt, but a fun and interesting one. Earlier this year PublicAffairs, a publisher which is part of the Perseus Book Group, announced that it would go through practically the entire process of publishing a book in a 48-hour period during the BEA Convention in New York City. The book was to be called, Book: The Sequel, and, for the content, PublicAffairs threw out this challenge to literary types around the world: choose an existing book, imagine its sequel, and write the first sentence and title of that imaginary sequel.

Last week, PublicAffairs arrived at BEA with more than 800 submissions from which to produce the finished book. The process began on Friday morning with the decision on what submissions to use and how to format the book. Then came the choice of front cover design, with input from convention-goers and people following the process on Twitter. Initial page galleys had arrived by late afternoon on Friday.

On Saturday, a website for the book was created (found here), along with reading group guides and other marketing tools, and decisions were made about the first print run. Then, precisely on time at 4 PM Saturday afternoon, finished copies of the book itself (a paperback) arrived at the PublicAffairs convention booth. (It's also available in large print and Braille editions, as well as in various e-book formats.) PublicAffairs also set up a YouTube channel with four videos, running a total of about twelve minutes, documenting the entire process. We hope to have the book available at Accent on Books by the end of this week.

All in all, another example of the powerful -- and, for us oldsters, somewhat intimidating -- effects of technological advances on the staid old world of publishing.

Knopf's new list

Summer may be just beginning to take hold here in Western North Carolina, but at Accent on Books we're already deep into ordering books for the fall. Of course, with all the books out there (see previous post), we can't carry everything, and knowing which ones to choose and which to pass on is one of the most difficult -- and often frustrating -- parts of this business.

One company that is making it particularly difficult this time around is the Alfred A Knopf imprint of Random House. For decades, of course, Knopf has been one of the most distinguished names in American publishing, first as an independent house and, since the 1960's, as a part of Random House when Alfred Knopf sold his company to his good friend Bennett Cerf. However, Knopf's upcoming fall list is one of the most remarkable I have seen from any publisher or imprint in quite awhile. Here is a partial list of the authors with books in the fall 2009 Knopf catalog (in more or less chronological order):

Kazuo Ishiguro
Karen Armstrong
Lorrie Moore
Anne Tyler
Kay Redfield Jamison
A S Byatt
Peter Mayle
Chinua Achebe
Anne Rice
Harold S Kushner
Orhan Pamuk
Richard Russo
Vladimir Nabokov
Alice Munro

And, again, that's just one imprint of one publisher. Word is, fall 2009 could be one of the true banner seasons in recent memory for new books.

How Fast Can You Read?

Publishers, booksellers and readers may all be a bit short on funds at the moment, but writers evidently aren't short on inspiration. Earlier this month Bowker, the company that issues ISBN's in this country and publishes Books in Print, reported that, by its count, 560,626 new titles were published in the United States during 2008. That averages out to more than 1500 new books published every day.

More than the overall total, the most striking item in their report was that, for the first time ever, the number of books published using on-demand and short run technologies exceeded the number of titles published by the more "traditional" methods used before digital printing and the internet came along. In fact, the number of traditionally printed titles actually decreased, while number of titles produced with the newer technology increased by 132%. These new technologies are primarily used by self-published writers, though major publishers occasionally use them too for books with only marginal sales figures.

Meanwhile, at Accent on Books, we have the physical capacity to keep maybe 20,000 different titles on hand. Thus, by necessity, we do quite a bit of special ordering. So, if we don't have the specific title you're looking for, don't feel alone. There are millions of other books out there we don't carry, either. But we'll do everything we can to get it for you.

BEA on Book TV

Do booksellers go junketeering? Of course we do -- when our schedules and funds allow for it. And for many US booksellers the Big Junket of the Year starts today in New York City: BookExpo America. Formerly known as the ABA (American Booksellers Association) Convention, this annual gathering is a time for booksellers from throughout the nation to network, exchange ideas, attend seminars, meet with publishers, attend parties and file into huge ballrooms to attend the Book & Author Breakfasts where eloquent and witty Famous Authors try to keep convention goers awake until the servers manage to get coffee to their tables.

Actually BEA is quite an event that everyone in this business should probably attend at least once. Personally speaking, although there's lots of glitz and excitement, I found it hard to get any actual work done; but maybe that's what defines it as a junket.

For those of us who are either glad or disappointed not to be there -- and for booklovers in general -- C-Span's Book TV channel is coming to the rescue this weekend. Book TV will be present for many of the events including the above mentioned breakfasts, where the speakers will include Pat Conroy, Tracy Kidder, Richard Russo and Pete Dexter. The schedule can be found at Book TV's website, although, as always with C-Span, it's subject to change.

So I can attend the Book and Author Breakfasts, and have my own coffee available before it even begins. Neat!

UPDATE: It now appears that Pat Conroy will not be attending BEA. His doctor has recommended that Conroy not travel, following "unexpected surgery."

A New Book Group!

Accent on Books has always had a large number of customers who were members of various book groups, and we've always offered a 15% discount on book group purchases. Now, we're starting a group of our own. If you are interested in being a part of it, here's the information on our first meeting:

Accent on Books Book Group (maybe we can come up with a better name)
Organizational Meeting
Wednesday, June 3, 3:00 PM
At Accent on Books

If you can't make it to that meeting but would like to participate, or if you want further information, let us know at 828-252-6255, or info@accentonbooks.com.

Thanks!

Technical Problems

Late last week, the operating system on my laptop went to that Great Recycling Bin In The Sky From Whence There Is No Return. The reason for its sudden departure is unknown, but a nice if expensive technical support person at Dell helped me reinstall Windows Vista on this contraption, so hopefully it will stay around for awhile.

At any rate, that curtailed my abilities to add further offerings of edification, illumination and wit to Page 854, but soon we should be up and running again.

In the meantime, Happy Memorial Day, and my thanks and best wishes to all members of the Armed Forces, past and present.