The Book Is Not Dead

摘要

For A So-Called Dying Industry, Publishing looked pretty healthy at this year's BookExpo America (BEA) in New York City. Somebody must have forgotten to tell the attendees who often crowded the aisles and booths-and packed LJ/SLJ's Librarians' Lounge-or many of the exhibitors who reported the show was better than they'd expected. There's barely a confab around (and certainly not an American Library Association conference) in which exhibitors don't complain about bad location, low traffic, and more. And given the state of the publishing industry, with poor book sales, high returns, layoffs, and other grim news-though that could describe any number of sectors in our current dysfunctional economy-the show seemed remarkably upbeat. That was due to a robust combination of the books themselves and the many formats in which they're now available.