The eighth annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books brought a
springtime buzz to the UCLA campus while giving the Associated
Students of UCLA a much-needed financial boost.
Book authors, publishers and distributors altogether considered
the event a resounding success.
“It’s the most voracious book buying in the United
States,” said Dennis Hayes of Ten Speed Press. “Across
the board, (consumers) buy the most books at the L.A. Book
Festival.”
Ten Speed Press was one of over 400 exhibitors who participated
in the Festival of Books this past weekend.
Although the profits from selling at the Festival of Books are
miniscule, Ten Speed Press is ecstatic about the visibility and
direct contact with the public, as well as seeing first-hand the
reaction of book buyers to their merchandise.
“In two days here, we have learned a lot about the
Southern California market,” Hayes said.
“If we didn’t sell one book, we would be
happy,” he added.
Ten Speed Press publishes a line of over 1,500 titles and adds
over 200 new titles a year.
Although there is no economic value to it, Ten Speed Press also
distributes books from smaller publishers on a limited basis if
they see them as beneficial additions to their line of books.
Seven Locks Press, a smaller publisher and distributor located
in Orange County, also earned little revenue from the Festival of
Books itself.
“Financially, we break about even,” said director
Jim Riordan.
“The important thing is we add a lot more contacts with
people who want us to publish and distribute for them,” he
said.
Seven Locks Press operates on a smaller scale in relation to the
rest of the publishing industry.
However, the event’s layout and atmosphere are conducive
to smaller and bigger publishers alike.
Over 85,000 people attended the Festival of Books Saturday, with
another 65,000 in attendance Sunday, according to David Garcia,
director of media relations for the L.A. Times.
“There’s not many places in the United States where
you can have 150,000 people walk by your booth in 48 hours,”
Hayes said.
Author Alex Lightman also tabled at the Festival of Books,
though he was not a typical vendor.
He sold 14 books this weekend.
“This is not my audience at all,” Lightman said.
Yet Lightman, a wireless technology consultant for the
University of California, was enamored by the turnout of the
event.
“Out of around 140,000 people here, I figure there are 140
people I have a decent conversation with, and 14 I can have a
really good conversation with.”
His book is used as a textbook at seven universities, including
UC San Diego and USC, though not at UCLA. As a result, Lightman
wanted to showcase his product in case a UCLA professor happened to
stroll by.
“The possibility of making connections makes the event
worthwhile. If I was sitting at home this weekend, I wouldn’t
be making any connections,” he said.
Lightman was autographing copies of his book, which is about 4G
and his technology ideas of the future.
Over 325 of the country’s best-selling authors were
present at the event, along with others involved in cooking
demonstrations, poetry readings, classical theater and music and
dance performances.
The Great Works Stage was a new addition to the festival and
featured continuous readings of “On the Road” and
“To Kill a Mockingbird.”
A standard booth cost $800 for the two-day exhibit. Event
sponsors and past exhibitors got priority in location.
The event’s organizers have no way of knowing how much
income was generated by the exhibitors, according to L.A. Times
Event Manager Glenn Geffcken.
“Most claim to lose money, but we have a hard time
believing that,” Geffcken said.
Both Geffcken and Garcia declined to say how much revenue the
L.A. Times generated from the event, and UCLA Events Manager Bill
Sweeney declined to say how much money was paid to UCLA by the L.A.
Times for hosting the festival.
ASUCLA gained tremendous profits from the vending of food and
beverages during the festival.
They generated $140,000 in sales the first day of the festival,
compared with $101,000 in sales the first day of the festival last
year.
“For the concession department, this was an important
event especially after the difficult athletic season,” said
UCLA Restaurant Operation Manager Roy Champawat, who noted that
attendance was particularly poor during the football and basketball
seasons.
“The Festival of Books has been excellent for us,”
he said.