Observations of the LA Times Festival of Books 2009

I've returned from Day One of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I am representing an Hawaiian publisher of SAT Preparation books at this year's show. I'm sharing space in Booth 143, the Book Publicists of Southern California booth. It was an interesting first day. Here are some of my observations.

First, the Day One crowd in 2009 appears to be at least as big as the 2008 crowd. That's remarkable considering people's perception of the economy. It really shouldn't surprise me, however. Books represent a low cost form of entertainment; especially during tough times.

Second, notably missing from this year's Festival were book retailers Barnes & Noble and Borders. The major book sellers represented were Target and Book Soup (a Los Angeles independent bookstore). Barnes & Noble's and Borders' absence may be a symptom of the retail giants' economic struggle.

Third, there were many families attending the first day. The free admission to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books makes it an attractive destination for family outings.

Fourth, there were many self-published books for sale at the Festival; although there appear to be fewer than in past years. I see the self-publishers struggling to sell their books. So often, the self-publisher spends all their time, energy and money to prepare and print the book and leave little money to market it afterwards.

I tell publishers that publishing a book is like an iceberg. What is visible on an iceberg is only one sixth of the entire iceberg. The majority of the iceberg is below the water. Producing and printing a book is like the visible portion of the iceberg. Selling, marketing and promoting the book is like the five sixths of the iceberg that is below the water.