• Madrid Book Fair Chaos, saturation, 90 minute queues and good sales

  • Books From Antonio Gala to 'Sapiens', how the list of best sellers has changed in the 21st century

The 2021 Book Fair began with nerves and confusion and has ended with bad faces.

The editors of Askiberri and Libros del KO expressed yesterday on social networks their displeasure at the treatment received from the organization.

Their reproach: the location of their booths, in the central block of the enclosure, has condemned them to isolation and has hurt their sales.

Astiberri, for example, calculated that it

had sold 45% less than in 2019

.

The whole of the Fair had a turnover of 91 million euros, 10% less.

Bad luck?

Clumsiness?

The Bilbao editorial cited statements by the director of the Fair, Manuel Gil, published by

Eldiario.es

, in which he explained that independent publishers had been consciously relegated to those inner blocks, the least conducive space for sales.

"We said we were in the unfortunate islands, but someone got angry at the simile for the La Palma volcano," explains Pepo Paz, editor of Bartleby and also a resident of that central block. "To give you an idea: the visitor entered from the north, had on the left the row of bookstore stalls and on the right, the wall of the Colombian pavilion. That, at a given point,

would end and then we would appear , away from the flow of people and covered by the queues

. If the visitor entered in the opposite direction, the same thing happened: to the right were the

most visible

stands

, to the left the pavilion of the Community of Madrid and, suddenly, we As soon as we saw the site we realized that it was very bad, it was obvious. "

The problem of queues has already been explained: the Fair space, this year, has been reduced for health reasons; In addition, the fear of the crisis has made that seller who could schedule signing sessions, to schedule them and the more massive the better. Signatures of celebrities, influencers, youtubers ...

Intruders

in the book business. For this reason, the circulation in the Fair has been chaotic and

has harmed the most modest

: the inhabitants of the unfortunate islands.

"There is one fact that explains everything: in Bartleby

we have sold better on both Mondays, which is supposed to be the weakest day for visitors, than on both Sundays

, because on Sundays there was no way to get to our booth. The first Friday Between five and nine, two people were able to arrive at the

stand

. We sold a book, "explains Paz. "In the end, things came back and we closed the Fair with a 6% drop in sales compared to 2019, which is reasonable."

What are the accounts of an exhibitor at the Madrid Book Fair? A position of three meters on a side costs an editor 3,000 euros, or 2,100 if he is affiliated with the Guild of Editors of Madrid. It is possible to share this space with another contractor "If you come from abroad and have to pay a vendor, plus accommodation, plus travel ... It is difficult to invest less than 4,500 euros.

It is not so easy to recover 4,500 euros

", explains Paz . "It is assumed that the price is the same for everyone and that the spaces are raffled. But the reality is that it is as if some were given a place on Calle Serrano and others, on Avenida de la Albufera."

Above all, for publishers that try to sell their books directly for two weeks, who

do not know the end customers for the rest of the year

. For the booksellers, the union that organizes the Fair, the conditions are a little simpler and, therefore, yesterday's commercial balance was acceptable. "The Book Fair, as long as nothing changes, all of us who are there compose it. And its management must try to take care of all those who compose it. I positively know that they have tried and that it was very difficult .. But this year, for the situation,

there have been many victims

: small publishers, bookstores that have not been able to be there for different reasons, authors that have not received the usual visits because their readers have not been able to enter ... The balance was difficult, but you have to take note and think about the next Fair, because There are things that will change in a 'normal' Fair and there are other things that we all have to help to change ... So that the Fair continues to have the festive and joyful spirit that it has always had ", explained yesterday Igor Muñiz, bookseller of the Madrilenian Muga.

"I love the Fair because it is the time when I can meet the readers. But it is clear that it is an oversized and saturated fair, at least since the

boom

of independent publishers. I don't know what the solution is.

Maybe we should think of an alternative fair

. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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