Expert Says Graphic Novels Pose Explosive Opportunity For Bookstores

July 4, 2007 - PRLog -- ATLANTA, Ga. – Both libraries and independent book stores are feeling the pressures of competing with big box stores, the Internet and other forms of entertainment. Their current challenge is to maintain relevance in the communities they serve, an expert on the graphic novels market contends.
   John Shableski will present a two-hour workshop on the emerging graphic novels publishing industry and its impact on libraries and retail stores at a new trade show coming to Atlanta in August.
   Shableski, of San Diego, Calif., works as a consultant to library systems, retail store owners and publishers. He recently presented panels on graphic novels at BookExpo America and the New York Comiccon.
   He will conduct his Atlanta workshop at the “Name That Show” book show at the Georgia World Congress Center from 9 to 11 a.m. on Aug. 10. “Name that Show” is a bargain book show being moved by new owner Larry May from Nashville to Atlanta. The show will be held Aug. 10-12.
   How should bookstores and libraries maintain a sense of relevance in their communities? Shableski says many libraries and bookstore owners have learned that offering more to the customer pays dividends. Libraries have added videos and Internet access for their patrons, and bookstore owners are expanding offerings to include coffee and merchandise other than books.
   The next “big thing” for libraries and bookstores, Shableski believes, is the graphic novel, the offspring of comic books.
   How big is the market? According to Milton Griepp of icv2.com, a website that follows the comics and pop culture industry, graphic novels sales have exploded from $43 million in 2001 to $330 million in 2006. That figure doesn’t include merchandising or movie ticket sales (to “Superman,” “Spiderman” “Sin City” and “300,” for example). In 2006, librarians bought 30 million graphic novels for their patrons.  
   Subject matter of the new genre runs the gamut from adult titles like Fun Home or Mom’s Cancer to teen reads like American Born Chinese and Identity Crisis. Big box stores are stocking commercially successful and recognizable titles from DC, Marvel, Darkhorse, Viz and TOKYOPOP, Shableski says. Disney is publishing “Artemis Fowl” as a graphic novel later this year.
   If local stores don’t stock the popular brands, readers buy them online, Shableski says.
   Fueling the explosive growth of graphic novels is the fact that the cost of four-color printing has come down appreciably. The few major publishers that don’t already have a graphic novel imprint are developing one. Acceptance in the library, and additional support from television networks and the movie industry, are contributing to the acceleration in the market as the medium enters the mainstream, says Shableski.

Website: www.namethatshow.net