In this issue
FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR CELEBRATES 60 YEARS
Next Wednesday the international publishing industry will gather in Germany for the sixtieth annual Frankfurt Book Fair (October 15-19). More than 7,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries will display 390,000 titles.
This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the show’s re-launching in 1949 after World War II, but the Frankfurt Book Fair is actually much older. As early as the twelfth century, book makers gathered along the Main River in show booths to display their merchandise. After Gutenberg developed the printing press, Frankfurt remained the most popular trading place for books in Europe.
Frankfurt retained its reputation for holding Europe’s best book fair until the eighteenth century, when Leipzig took its title. But, in 1949, four years after WWII ended, 205 German exhibitors gathered at Paulskirche (St. Paul’s Church) in Frankfurt, displaying 10,000 titles. About 14,000 visitors attended the show, ordering the equivalent of $1.8 million worth of books. This was the beginning of the Frankfurt Book Fair as we know it today.
By 1953, the number of exhibitors at the Fair totalled more than 1,000, and German publishers were outnumbered by foreign exhibitors. Over the years, social trends first became evident here, and a number of fairs in the 1960s saw student protests and political turmoil.
In 1976, to offset accusations of commercialization, the Frankfurt Book Fair introduced what would become the Guest of Honor tradition. The theme of the show that year was Latin American Literature.
The Guest of Honor at this year’s fair is Turkey, a country with a population of 70 million. Annual book sales in Turkey equal $810 million. A total of 1,724 publishers produce about 5,700 new books per year. Most books sold in Turkey are school textbooks, educational aids, and fiction. There are about 6,000 bookshops in Turkey, selling books originally published in Turkish, as well as translations from English and German, and some from French and Spanish.
“Turkey in All its Colors” is the theme of this year’s guest of honor. A collective stand will feature 100 publishers from the country and a stage for author readings and discussions. Turkey will also be the subject of several programs and exhibits at the fair and throughout the city of Frankfurt. The play, “…and if you fade away from dreams” will be shown, and an exhibit of kaftans, jewelry, and accessories will be displayed at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt.
This year’s show will also focus on digitization, with discussions and events about online publishing, Web 2.0, and eBooks.
The book fair, held on the enormous Frankfurt exhibition grounds, covers about 172,000 square meters (1.8 million square feet). Last year, nearly 300,000 visitors attended.
by Whitney Hallberg, Managing Editor
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EDITOR’S CHOICE: HEYDAY BOOKS
Join Gayle Wattawa, Acquisitions Editor at Heyday Books, in her enthusiasm for their new title, Edges of Bounty: Adventures in the Edible Valley (978-1-59714-108-6) by Californian William Emery with photographs by Scott Squire. An excerpt from Edges of Bounty: Adventures in the Edible Valley is available for one week at our Book Club.
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Gayle Wattawa
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Gayle Wattawa, Acquisitions Editor
How long have you been with the company?
I’ve worked for Heyday for almost five years and loved every minute of it.
What is the book you are most excited by this season, and how did it come to your attention?
I’m most excited by our upcoming Edges of Bounty (November) by William Emery with photographs by Scott Squire. William is actually the former acquisitions editor at Heyday Books and a wonderful friend. He and Scott, an accomplished documentary photographer, traveled all around California’s Central Valley and sought out people who are intimately and passionately involved in the relatively small-scale production of their own food: a beekeeper able to snatch a honeybee from midair to show William and Scott the honey inside, a woman who takes wonderfully bizarre ingredients—beets! avocados! rosemary!—and makes popsicles from them, a crew preparing a sumptuous sopas dinner for a thousand Portuguese immigrants, and a “river rat” and self-proclaimed liar who gets up every morning, puts on his duct-taped-together shoes and opens a trap door on the floor of his house to fish the Delta (where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers meet)—these are some of the offbeat characters that populate the book and open their worlds to—and share their bounty with—these two strangers. The writing is gentle, humorous, insightful, probing, and deeply poetic, as are the accompanying photographs. And the food that’s discussed! It’s quite the experience, and it perfectly illustrates the kind of work that we do best—exploring all things California, from the obvious stuff like the Gold Rush and Yosemite, to the lives of those working in roadside produce stands.
What can you tell us about the author?
William is one of those authors that’s so fun to describe: he grew up a farm boy in rural Kansas, studied Russian language and literature, worked as a vacuum salesman and an early-morning donut fryer, dabbled in publishing for a couple of years and added some spectacular writers to our list, and then left to pursue his own writing, dividing his time between the Bay Area, where he bartends at a local pub, and Kansas, where he’s growing different kinds of grapes for the establishment of a winery. He’s deeply curious and a great lover of all things food-related. What better person to write a book like this? Scott is a Seattle-based photographer who has traveled extensively, documenting places like Romania and Cairo, tirelessly exploring social justice issues word-wide.
Who will enjoy this book?
Really anyone at all interested in food would enjoy this: anyone who likes going to farmer’s markets, who is curious about food production, who wonders where the ingredients to the dishes served at high end restaurants come from, who loves great travel writing, who fantasizes about making his or her own cheese and honey, who loves the idea of self-sufficiency, who is interested in life in non-coastal California, and also anyone who has never seen what a field of rotting melons looks like (absolutely horrifying but also strangely beautiful).
What can you tell us about the (excerpt) published online?
This excerpt is the first chapter (“The Bearer of Strange Melons”) from the first part (“Farmers”) of Edges of Bounty. William and Scott set off on their vaguely planned journey, meeting up with Mike Madison, a melon farmer engaged in “guerilla agriculture.” Edges of Bounty will be available in November. It’s an 8x10, 224-page trade paperback with 90 full-color photographs and a list price of $24.95.
Download an excerpt (in PDF format) from the ForeWord Book Club.
Interview by Heather Shaw, Editor-in-Chief
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This week at Shelf Space, Scott Brown explores the fine line between access and security as it applies to libraries and bookstores.
At Editor’s Notes, Editor in Chief Heather Shaw talks about the Epicurean Classic, which has become the largest cookbook event in the US.
At Publishing Insider, Sara Dobie shouts at authors who don't bother to research potential publishers.
At Publishing Matters, Eugene Schwartz talks about lesson learned in the Palin banned book hoax and offers some comments on a Publishers Weekly editorial.
Visit www.forewordmagazine.com for publishing news, book reviews, and the ForeWord Book Club.
FAST FOREWORD
October is National Reading Group Month
The Women's National Book Association has declared October National Reading Group Month. Authors of reading group favorites will appear at events across the country sponsored by WNBA chapters.
For reading groups at your library, ForeWord suggests the following novels reviewed in the September/October issue:
For more information about National Reading Group month, visit www.nationalreadinggroupmonth.org.
Banned Books Don’t Shock San Franciscans
Sometimes events don’t turn out as planned. That was the case yesterday in San Francisco. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, writers gathered on the steps of the Main Library at Civic Center and read from books that have been banned, as part of Banned Books Week. These authors quickly realized that it is hard to be outrageous in the City by the Bay.
“Nobody was shocked, outraged or even slightly ticked off,” Steve Rubenstein writes.
Writers read from the works of D.H. Lawrence, J.D. Salinger, and Malcolm X, among others.
President of the San Francisco Library Commission Jewelle Gomez told the small crowd that all the books read that day “are waiting on the shelves inside the library, and nobody is ever going to tell her otherwise.”
Small Beer Press Holds Sale, Raises Money for Obama
Small Beer Press, an independent publisher of fiction and chapbooks, has announced that all of its books are on sale for the month of October. Twenty percent of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
Co-founder and publisher Gavin J. Grant says Small Beer is holding the sale to raise money for the best candidate he’s seen in years, and to raise money to pay taxes, because “the government is apparently not offering bail outs to the indie presses of America.”
Established in 2001, Small Beer has published novels by Elizabeth Hand, John Crowley, Carol Emshwiller, and collections by Maureen McHugh and Kelly Link.
ForeWord’s Bookshelf 24/7
ForeWord’s reviewers and editors have been itching to get into the list-making business, and we think we’ve come up with a terrific way to present the product. Beginning today, ForeWord is opening its 24/7 Bookshelf. There you will find interactive PDFs of all of our favorites, starting with Children’s Nonfiction Series for School Libraries, followed by Art Books and Classic Comics. Baseball, Martial Arts, and Fantasy Fiction coming soon. All of the lists will be free 24/7 on our Web site.
NEW in 24/7 Bookshelf: Edward Morris, a ForeWord reviewer (often mysteries) since the very beginning, reveals his prankster side in this personal collection of old favorites.
BISG Releases Best Practices Document for Data Recipients
The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has released a new best practices document: “Product Metadata Best Practices for Data Recipients.”
The document establishes fourteen points of best practices for recipients of product information, including standards for acknowledging the receipt of data, making changes and notifying customers, displaying the data, and timely communication between recipients and suppliers. It also includes definitions of common terms.
The publication was prepared by the BISAC Metadata Committee; publishers, booksellers, wholesalers, and bibliographic agencies belonging to BISG also contributed to the document. It is available at the BISG Web site.
Newmarket Founder to Receive Poor Richard Award
Esther Margolis, founder of Newmarket Press will receive the New York Center for Independent Publishing’s Poor Richard Award at the NYCIP’s annual Benefit and Cocktail Reception on Monday, November 10.
The Poor Richard Award is named for the almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, an independent publisher. It is given to a publisher who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of independent publishing.
Margolis is the president, publisher, and majority owner of Newmarket Press, which has published 300 books in its twenty-six years. She founded Newmarket after seventeen years at Bantam Books. She ended her career at Bantam as its first division head for marketing, publicity, and communications worldwide.
Today Newmarket publishes about thirty titles per year in the areas of entertainment, childcare & parenting, psychology, business, health & nutrition, biography & memoir, personal finance, and popular self-help & inspiration. Newmarket Press is distributed by the Perseus Distribution Group.
ForeWord Now Uses NetGalley
ForeWord is now using NetGalley™, an innovative online connection point for book publishers and professional readers. Publishers now have the option of submitting their titles for review to ForeWord Magazine digitally via NetGalley, and will receive updates about the status of their submissions.
“NetGalley will help ForeWord speed the handling and cut costs associated with galley management, ultimately enabling the magazine to review more titles,” said Michael Forney, President of Rosetta Solutions. “Best of all, independent publishers can use NetGalley to expand their reach to media, bloggers, booksellers, and educators.”
NetGalley delivers digital galleys and promotional materials to “professional readers”—reviewers, media, bloggers, librarians, booksellers and educators. Publishers who have joined NetGalley can start submitting their titles to ForeWord via NetGalley today. ForeWord will continue to accept hard copy and PDF submissions.
Deadline for Children’ Book Prize Approaches
The deadline is approaching for Lee & Low Books’ ninth annual New Voices Award. The award is presented for a children’s picture book by a writer of color. It carries a cash prize of $1,000 and a publishing contract with Lee & Low. An Honor Award Prize of $500 will also be awarded.
Manuscripts will be accepted through October 31. For more information and submission guidelines, visit the publisher’s Web site.
ABC-CLIO to Publish Greenwood Publishing Group Titles
ABC-CLIO, an independent publisher of history and reference materials for libraries and schools, has been granted a “perpetual license to use the imprints and publish the titles” of Greenwood Publishing Group by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ABC-CLIO will also acquire certain assets, including copyrights, contracts, and inventory of Greenwood Publishing Group, whose imprints include Greenwood Press, Praeger Publishers, Praeger Security International, and Libraries Unlimited.
“Perhaps this is how deals will be done in the short term to compensate for the lack of credit,” industry commentator Michael Cairns wrote on his blog, PersonaNonData.
Bills to Protect Authors Pass Separate Houses of Congress
Last week, the publishing industry celebrated as Congress passed two pieces of legislation that would protect authors and content producers.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, bill H.R. 6146 was passed, which would make it harder for “libel tourists” to threaten American authors and publishers with foreign libel suits, is substantially similar to the Libel Terrorism Protection Act adopted earlier this year by New York State. The Senate has yet to take action on libel tourism legislation.
The Senate passed the “Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008” (S.2913) which addresses the problem of “orphan works”—works under copyright whose owners cannot be identified or located by third parties seeking permission to use the works.
For more information about both of these bills and the issues surrounding them, visit the Web site of the Association of American Publishers.
Bookbuilders West Host Conversation on Green Initiatives
Bookbuilders West will host a conversation, Green Initiatives: Publishers’ Experiences, on Wednesday, October 22, at the Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons offices in San Francisco.
Michelle Clair of Chronicle Books, Anthony Crouch of the University of California Press, and Deb Bruner of Pinnacle Press will discuss topics including eco-friendly paper, printing and binding policies, and creating a company-wide set of ecological operational standards. Publishers who looking to establish environmental policies are invited, as well as those who are fully engaged with a green initiative and would like to share their experiences.
The cost of the event is $50 for Bookbuilders West members and $60 for non-members. Register online at www.bookbuilders.org.
From staff reports. Share your news and information with Whitney Hallberg, Managing Editor.
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Cry of Justice
This handsomely bound and dust-jacketed hardback fantasy novel recently won the CSPA retailer vote for Best Novel of 2007! Ships from Central US warehousing with professional invoicing. Order from Atlas Books Distribution at 419/281-1802 (6883 fax), or via e-mail: order@bookmasters.com
Web page:
Cry of Justice at Bookmasters.com
ISBN 9780977888405
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FOREWORD FOOTNOTES
Business & Economics. THE NEW ELITE: INSIDE THE MINDS OF THE TRULY WEALTHY by Jim Taylor and Doug Harrison (AMACOM, tables and charts, 240 pages, hardcover, $24.95, 978-0-8144-0048-7): marketing consultant and branding strategist reveal what motivates America’s most influential class (assets over $5 million) and how they spend their money.
History. CATHOLIC AND FEMINIST: THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC FEMINIST MOVEMENT by Mary J. Henold (University of North Carolina Press, b/w photographs, 314 pages, hardcover, $32.00, 978-0-8078-3224-0): assistant professor of history at Roanoke College explores the feminist movement from the 1960s through the early 1980s.
History. OLD FARM: A HISTORY by Jerry Apps, photographs by Steve Apps (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 100 color photographs, 8 x 9, hardcover, $29.95, 978-0-87020-406-7): professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin State Journal staff photographer combine history and memoir along with beautiful photographs for a record of the past that is vital to the future.
Health. THE SECRET PLEASURES OF MENOPAUSE by Christiane Northrup (Hay House, 180 pages, hardcover, $14.95, 978-1-4019-2237-5): a physician who has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show dispels menopause myths and believes that age fifty “marks the beginning of the best years of our lives.”
Nature. VANISHED GARDENS: FINDING NATURE IN PHILADELPHIA by Sharon White (University of Georgia Press, 216 pages, hardcover, $28.95, 978-0-8203-3156-0): writing teacher at Temple University and recipient of the Julia Ward Howe Prize, Honorable Mention, from the Boston Author’s Club explores the city’s gardens as a part of its ecosystem and how gardening can connect nature to urban space.
Religion. EVIL: SATAN, SIN, AND PSYCHOLOGY by Terry D. Cooper and Cindy K. Epperson (Paulist Press, 128 pages, softcover, $14.95, 978-0-8091-4536-2): professor of psychology and doctoral fellow at University of Missouri provide an introductory text to the issue of evil and how it interfaces with one’s faith and conscience.
Religion.GOD IN THE GALLERY: A CHRISTIAN EMBRACE OF MODERN ART by Daniel A. Siedell (Baker Academic, b/w photographs, 192 pages, softcover, $24.99, 978-0-8010-3184-7): former curator of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and assistant art professor at the University of Nebraska constructs a framework for interpreting modern art from a Christian worldview.
Social Science. A REVOLUTION DOWN ON THE FARM: THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE SINCE 1929 by Paul K. Conklin (University of Kentucky Press, b/w photographs, 240 pages, hardcover, $29.95, 978-0-8131-2519-0): Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Vanderbilt University examines the agriculture and social changes that have radically remade the family farm.
Travel. WANDERLUST AND LIPSTICK: FOR WOMEN TRAVELING TO INDIA by Beth Whitman (Dispatch Travels, 272 pages, softcover, $16.95, 978-0-978728-08-3): travel blogger for the Seattle Post Intelligencer provides tips for women traveling alone to the subcontinent plus advice from thirty-five female travelers.
by Alex Moore, Book Review Editor
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