I was one of a handful that attended the newly-christened Great American Bargain Book Show on Friday morning (they’ve been doing business as Name That Show this year, while a moniker was being selected) and while bargain books are in fact one of the departments I supervise at my big box, I wasn’t necessarily there for the books — I was there for John Shableski and his presentation on the graphic novel industry.

John Shableski has a marketing background and most recently was in charge of the graphic novels program at library supply company Brodart. If you were at BEA or NYCC this year and attended a graphic novel panel aimed at librarians, then John was your moderator.

John is currently employed as Chief Marketing Officer for Cool Book World, a new company offering educational and support services for libraries, retailers, and publishers, specifically in the field of graphic novels. He’ll next be seen at the Graphic Novel Symposium held by the Suffolk Cooperative Library system in Long Island, NY in September; though it might be kind of hard to attend if you’re not a librarian or educator in the tri-state area. (maybe you can pull some strings.)

Edit 30 Sep 2007: John is now employed by Diamond Book Distributors — source: PW’s The Beat

I said “one of a handful” — with traffic downtown, the typically crappy parking situation (exacerbated by some sort of Women of Faith conference next door at the Phillips Arena) and the fact that the book show was running all weekend, attendance first thing Friday morning was light. While initially intended as a more conventional class-room-type presentation, I had the good fortune to be one of just seven folks to sit down to breakfast with John, while we engaged in a round-table discussion of graphic novels.

John was able to reschedule for Saturday morning, so the dozens of people who missed him on Friday did get to see a more conventional version of his presentation the following day — but our session was better, I think.

Around the table we had a couple who ran a book marketing firm, a mother and daughter who own a small independent bookstore, a fundraising coordinator for a non-profit literacy group, and me — a manga fan who works for a big box chain bookstore. Not everyone had experience with Graphic Novels, so the discussion ranged from what they were, to how to approach the category, to making the most of available resources in finding the right titles for your market.

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One of the first things John presented was the explosive growth in the market: from $43M in 2001 up to $330M in 2006. This comes not just from the increased sales of manga, but also the growth of graphic novel collections in libraries and renewed interest in graphic novels from the likes of DC and Marvel. Another trend is the increased sales of collected story arcs in the trade paperback format, as opposed to comic book fans buying individual issues. (The evidence here is anecdotal, so far, but has been noted in a couple of places, including wikipedia) There is also a growing movement in “comics literature” (that my term, not John’s) particularly in the popular field of comic-autobiography (i.e. Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home, American Born Chinese, Mom’s Cancer, American Splendor, Stuck Rubber Baby, et al.)

When Art Spiegelman’s Maus won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, it was something of a watershed event for comics, showing both publishers and the general public that the format was more than just superheroes and newspaper funnies. Along with other landmark volumes (like Watchmen, also originally published in the late 80s) graphic novels began to gain credence as a legitimate format for comics, or past that as literature in their own right. The point is proven by the recent successes of Fun Home and American Born Chinese. John has found a lot of success convincing reluctant librarians that graphic novels are worthy of limited shelf space by introducing them to titles like these.

Given his background, John is able to speak authoritatively on the growth of graphic novels in libraries. As a retailer, this doesn’t speak directly to my business (unless I’m selling the books to the library) but it does reveal some telling trends in the market, and kids reading manga is always a good trend — whether they buy them, get them from the library, or camp out in the aisles of the store. The most telling figures are library circulation numbers, which would be roughly equivalent to a store’s sales, and are often used by institutions when applying for grant money. If we were to look at turn-over — how often (and how quickly) a book is borrowed and re-borrowed — then we get a rough idea of it’s popularity: A top bestseller (think Da Vinci Code) might turn over every 7 or 8 days. The most popular graphic novels turn daily. Popularity at the library can be good news for booksellers, though: When a waiting list for a popular title (the most recent Naruto, for example) can have dozens or even a hundred names on it, kids will buy it rather than wait months to get the library’s copy.

While graphic novels might only make up 15% of a library’s Young Adult collection, they make up more than 50% of the circulation numbers. The kids like the manga, I guess.

Graphic novels are also making inroads into the schools, not just as part of the library but as tools in the classroom. A new generation of young teachers, fans themselves, are bringing GNs into the classroom with them. And while administrators may be reluctant at first, when they see the results (kids reading, and reading levels jumping several grade levels in just one year) most schools are more than willing to spend their limited funds on more graphic novels. Comics, with their visual format, provide an alternative approach to reading for kids who have trouble either with the prose itself, or in the requisite mental jump required to go from words on a page to a mental image of the story described. Also, there are a growing number of nonfiction titles (Journey into Mohawk Country, The 9/11 report: A Graphic Adaptation) that introduce complex concepts in history or current events in a way that is more accessible to students.

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While John also discussed retail trends, it’s harder to distill that part of the conversation down to convenient bullet points, since the small group size meant we could address particular issues and problems in greater detail. Some of the talking points can be rephrased in general terms, though.

Taking a look at the future of the industry: current successes and the higher profile graphic novels have because of movies (not Spiderman, in this case, but things like Road to Perdition and A History of Violence) are encouraging new publishers to enter the market. Most recently we see Virgin Comics, which is mining the Indian Subcontinent for inspiration and drafting Hollywood and Asian directors (and Deepak Chopra, of all people) for name recognition and one supposes, their talent in telling stories. On the manga end of things, I might also cite Yen Press and Udon, among others. While the bookstores and some direct market outlets are doing well with graphic novels, a lot of customers still purchase on-line (but since no one is releasing numbers, it’s hard to know just how big that percentage is).

The used book market (accepting trade-ins of manga, for example) can be a great way for small bookstores to build a local market. One person at the table cited her store’s success in this area, and noted that some parents would bring in whole shelves of manga after the kids had read them. At least for graphic novels, this might be a strategy worth pursuing, and a way for independents to compete with the big boxes. (Look at the success GameStop has had with used games: news stories here and here.)

As a wrap up, and for future reference, John had a wonderful bundle of stuff for us, including a copy of Diamond Bookshelf, that distributor’s outreach to the library market, along with a couple of recent issues of ICv2 and his own packet, which in addition to summarising his usual presentation also includes gems like the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens List and ICv2’s sales numbers from this past June, and other web references. (you could start with No Flying, No Tights, and then make a note of some of the links on Robin’s sidebar)

It was a good way to spend a Friday morning; I wish every panel and discussion could be like it, though logistically speaking that’s impossible. John has a way of not only making the format accessible to first-timers, but also to put the trends into a larger context. He was also very good at helping folks apply what he’s saying to their target audience, whether those are library patrons or potential customers. If you happen to see a John Shableski panel or presentation listed on a con program schedule anytime soon, I’d advise you to make the time for it.