BookExpoAmerica, held in Los Angeles last weekend, had a larger graphic novel presence than ever, with manga publishers the belles of the ball. Graphic novels are being noticed by booksellers in a flat to down environment; the category hit $100 million last year, evenly split between comic stores and bookstores, and is growing at a 20% clip this year (see 'IC Sizes the Graphic Novel Market'). Chains upped their commitments a year ago; now the independent booksellers that make up the bulk of the BEA attendance are following suit. Publishers were ready to make an impression, with expanded booths, increased promotional activity, and programming.
Diamond organized a 'graphic novel pavilion' area on the floor for its Diamond Book Distributors division, client publishers, and fellow travelers, including Slave Labor, DC, and NBM. Other graphic novel publishers were in discrete areas. Publishers distributed by CDS, including Tokyopop, Marvel, and CrossGen, were in the CDS row in the same hall. And Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly, and Viz (in the PGW group) were in various other spots in the convention center. But the over-all impact of the booth sizes and placement was still a substantial increase over last year.
Booth size was an interesting study. Of the Big Two comic publishers in the Direct Market, Marvel had a low-key 10-ft. booth while DC had a substantial island. Among bookstore leaders Tokyopop, with around three 10 ft. booth spaces, had the biggest presence. Slave Labor had a surprisingly large 30-ft. space. Slave Labor CEO Dan Vado told us he wanted to make a big impression because of the buzz about graphic novels. 'One booth is death, even two is not enough, but three....It was the largest we could afford.'
Novel Pavilion.'
Fantagraphics was in the house, in the midst of the first weekend of its appeal for fans to rescue it from financial difficulties (see 'Fantagraphics Issues Appeal'), accepting the good wishes of the assembled book and comic retailers.