BookExpo 2018: Riggio keynotes at 'reimagined' fair

“The Reimagined BookExpo:” the phrase was everywhere, on signage, in the printed guide, and on the lips of Reed Exhibitions s.v.p. Americas Ed Several, as he kicked off the fair on Wednesday (30th May) at Javits Center in New York before the keynote from Barnes & Noble founder/chairman Len Riggio. The message attested to Reed having finally awakened to the fact that their past few years’ emphasis on consumer-oriented BookCon, and neglect of BookExpo, was driving publishers away.

There’s been a lot of “reimagining” going on. Foreign publishers and agents had also felt neglected by BookExpo – combined stands from France, Canada, and the UK's own Publishers Association, among others, had been absent for some time. Bologna Fiere, Publishers Weekly, and the Combined Book Exhibit saw their chance, and joined to debut a new, contemporaneous gathering, the New York Rights Fair. Reed ended up deciding to “collaborate” with NYRF: in effect, most of BookExpo’s rights activity is 16 blocks, four avenues, and a shuttle ride away, at Metropolitan Pavilion. France, Canada, and the UK are back. What happens this week will determine whether they return next year.

Another kind of re-imagination/collaboration occurred when Association of American Booksellers chief executive Oren Teicher graciously said it was a “high honour” to introduce keynote speaker Riggio, who “played an unparalleled role bringing stores to the country nationwide… Today we stand together in a common cause to promote bricks and mortar.  It’s in the long-term interest of the book business for B&N to prosper.”

The irony wasn’t lost on the audience: 20 years ago, Len Riggio embodied a then-juggernaut driving many independents out of business. Now, of course, he controls the last major chain preventing near-complete Amazon hegemony, and indies are trying to help an ailing B&N.

“There can never be too many bookstores in America,” Riggio began. “More stores mean a more informed public and society… No one is more pleased that indies are opening their doors again; we are not in mortal combat.”

He harked back to his own beginnings. He was “a working class” kid who could afford 45 cent Folger Shakespeare paperbacks, and 75 cent Penguin Classics. Now, “the average paperback costs 2 ½ times the [hourly] minimum wage, and how sustainable can that be when Google promises all information for free?” Asking publishers to lower prices has always been a Riggio mantra, and it was again.

He pointed out that although B&N gained some business when Borders closed, in fact 60-70% of Borders’ business “went poof” – lost to the industry. Again Riggio emphasized: “We need more stores, not less.”

The future of the publishing industry will depend on “how nimble we are and the degree to which we [ourselves] create change.” The same can be said, of course, about the future – and reimagining – of B&N.