Is the Book Dead? The San Francisco Version

It's become routine at book conventions, book fairs, and author gatherings to ponder the dismal fate of the publishing industry and contemplate how e-books will affect book sales.

The Mechanic's Institute in San Francisco is hosting its own version of this discussion on Thursday, and this one promises to be truly interesting.

Panelists include Daniel Handler, (author of the Lemony Snicket books) John McMurtrie, the Chronicle's book section editor, Oscar Villalon, the former editor of the book review, now publisher of McSweeney's, Scott Rosenberg, a co-founder of Salon and author of new book on blogging, Brenda Knight, an associate publisher of Cleis Press, and Annalee Newitz, a syndicated columnist for Techsploitation.  Alan Kaufman, author of Jew Boy, will moderate the discussion.

The talk starts at 6:30 pm. Details are here.

The San Francisco Chronicle Changes its Bestseller List:

For the last two weeks, readers of the San Francisco Chronicle list have been getting something new: a bestseller list not compiled by the newspaper but one put together by the trade association of independent bookstores.

It is a significant change, but one most people probably didn’t notice.

For dozens of years, the San Francisco Chronicle had compiled its own weekly list of local bestsellers. Every Monday, a staff person would call around a dozen or so bookstores to find out which books had sold the most copies the previous week.

Since the Bay Area has such an avid literary community, the Chronicle bestseller list often served as an earlier indicator for books that went on to capture spots on national lists. In addition, getting on the list was prestigious in itself. “A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller” is a good thing to print on a paperback.

So why did John McMurtrie, the editor of the books section, give all that up?

Time, time, time, and a respect for independent bookstores.

The recent cutbacks in Chronicle staffing levels have affected the book section, and now there is only one editorial assistant for the department, according to McMurtrie. Compiling the list took up a good chunk of time.

But more importantly, McMurtrie came to realize that the regional bestseller list put together by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association was actually more comprehensive than the Chronicle’s list. The NCIBA polls around 55 independent bookstores in the nine-county Bay Area region for their bestsellers, providing a more accurate snapshot of sales.

“I’m all in favor of championing independent bookstores, of sending readers their way,” said McMurtrie. “They’re an important local resource in so many ways.”

Hut Landon, the executive director of NCIBA, is delighted by the switch because he thinks publishers will now have to pay more attention to independent bookstores rather than the big chains like Barnes and Noble or Borders Books.

“Literally, the only way to get your book on a bestseller list in the Bay Area and the Chronicle will be to get on the list in independent bookstores.”

So if an author comes to town and only does an event at Barnes and Noble, rather than at Book Passage or A Great Good Place for Books in Oakland, he or she may not make the list.

“It’s going to be good for the independents,” said Kathleen Caldwell, owner of A Great Good Place for Books. “Publishers will take us much more seriously. They are going to want their books on the San Francisco Chronicle list and they’ll put their authors in an independent rather than Barnes and Noble because those sales won’t be reported on the list.”

If this switch had been done a year ago, it would have been bad news in some ways for local authors. That’s because it took a lot longer for a book to get on the NCIBA list than the Chronicle list. My book, Towers of Gold, is a case in point. It first made the San Francisco Chronicle list on Nov. 30, 2008 but didn’t show up on the NCIBA list until Jan. 25, 2009 – almost two months later.

The NCIBA has revamped the way it calculates bestsellers since then, according to Landon. The list is timelier, with information gathered on Monday for previous week’s sales and posted by Wednesday. The bestseller list is calculating using a point system and is not merely a reflection of the sheer number of books sold.

A book that sells 250 copies in one book store will get points, but not as many points as if that same book sells 25 copies in 10 different book stores, said Landon. Books also get points for being on an individual bookstore’s bestseller list. So the broader a book is selling, the more likely it will make the list. “You don’t have to have a huge book with a huge budget with big author events to make the list,” said Landon.

But the switch will probably make it harder to make the list. In the past, if a book came out locally and the author had multiple events at Bay Area bookstores as well as a book party, the chances of getting on the Chronicle list was high. It often only took sales of 100 books to get on that list. And getting on the list in the early days of a book’s release helped build that all-too-important momentum.

A comparison of the Sept 13 fiction bestseller list prepared by the Chronicle staff and the Sept. 13 NCIBA list shows they are different. There were 4 books on the Chronicle list that did not make the NCIBA list, including The Sower by Kemble Scott, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Vergese, ad 286 Bones by Kathy Reich.

The NCIBA list had some names the Chronicle did not, including Lisa See's Shanghai Girls, The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, and Homer &  Langley by E.L. Doctorow.

The two nonfiction lists had even more disparity: The Chronicle's list included Farm City by Novella Carpenter, The Healing of America by T.R. Reid, Born Round by Frank Bruni, and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The NCIBA list had Shop Class As SoulCraft by Matthew Crawford, Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Republican Gomorrah by Max Blumenthal, and Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin.

Interesting, huh? I don't know what it means, but it is interesting.

Another Book Review Bites the Dust

The Washington Post announced today that it was folding its stand-alone book review section. Reviews will be folded into other sections of the paper.

This leaves two stand-alone book reviews in the U.S. -- the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Even though the new Chronicle editor John McMurtrie said recently that the paper's publisher was committed to a stand-alone review, one has to wonder if it can really continue. On the bright side, I have noticed more book advertising in the Chronicle.

The next few weeks will be revealing. The Chronicle will soon start using its new presses, which has already led to some changes. The Food and Home sections, for example, made their last Wednesday appearance today and from now on will appear in the Sunday paper. (I am personally disappointed by this development as I always looked forward to the Wednesday paper for its fabulous food section.)

That change may be a precursor to other changes.

While I am encouraged that the Washington Post will continue to actively review books, there is a difference between running a review on the front cover of a stand-alone book section and running on in the Style section. The first example makes a statement about a book's importance. The second just blends in with other cultural coverage.

Interview with John McMurtrie, Book Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle

John McMurtrie has been editor of the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review since October 2008, and in his three-month tenure has seen the world of publishing deteriorate.

With the closure of the book review sections of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Chronicle is one of the few remaining papers with a stand-alone review. While McMurtrie tells Ghost Word that the top editors of the Chronicle are dedicated to keeping the review section intact, the economic pressures facing the publishing industry are intense.

2008 will be remembered as a year of upheaval and consolidation. In the Bay Area, two prominent independent bookstores -- Cody's and Stacey's Books -- closed or announced their imminent closure. A number of publishers, including Random House. Macmillan, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt laid off staff. The latter company also announced that it would put a moratorium on acquiring new books for now. Book sales were lower this holiday season.

Still, McMurtire has high hopes for the Chronicle Review. He has already made some provocative changes, such as asking independent bookstores to recommend interesting books each week. He is making the review more timely as well, by including news about Bay Area book deals, release parties, and author events.

McMurtrie lives in Oakland with his wife and two-year old twins.

GW: Can you tell me a little about your background? How did you come to book reviewing? What is it you like about being a book critic?

JM: I've been a journalist for 20 years. My love of writing and newspapers
and France (my mother was French) led to my first job, at the
International Herald Tribune in Paris. (I was an editorial assistant,
though a more accurate title might have been sports-agate monkey). This
is my 10th year as an editor at the Chronicle. Before becoming the book
editor, I regularly edited book reviews as an editor in the features
section. I also wrote reviews as well as profiles of authors. And I've
done freelance editing for book publishers.

What I love about journalism is the ability it gives you to learn a
little bit about a lot of things - to be a generalist - and to try to
share that knowledge. Being a book editor is an especially satisfying
way to feed that curiosity. I can read up on any number of subjects -
history, politics, film, food, fiction from around the world - and
consider what's of value for readers. I also like the challenge of
finding the right people to review books. Part of the fun is trying new
approaches - as an example, I recently assigned a book about golf in
Ireland to a singer/songwriter who happens to be a golf fanatic.

In the end, if readers of the section come away feeling that they know a
bit more about the world, if it gets them talking about ideas, perhaps
feeling inspired, then I'm happy.


GW: You have made some recent changes to the book review, such as adding recommendations from local bookstores and putting in some book news. What were you trying to do with these changes? Can readers expect other changes in the future?

I want the section to be about more than just reviews. I'll be running
more essays, interviews with authors, and the like. I've included weekly
recommendations from independent bookstores because the people who work
at these stores have such a wealth of knowledge that can benefit us all.
Also, I'm a fan of indie bookstores - they're a vital part of any
community, and I believe in helping them. As for reporting book news, I
thought it was important to help raise awareness of the vibrant literary
scene in the Bay Area. Meantime, there's a lot that's happening in the
publishing world these days (not all of it good, unfortunately) that I
think readers would like to know about.


GW:How do you balance reviewing local writers, particularly emerging writers, with running reviews of nationally-known authors?

No easy answer to that one - I decide on a case-by-case basis. For
example, I recently made "Going to See the Elephant" the lead review in
the section not just because it's by a first-time local author, Rodes
Fishburne, but also because it's set in the city and full of local
color. And it's a fun read.


GW: How do you decide which books will be reviewed?

I strive for a good balance of fiction and nonfiction, a wide range of
subjects, and a variety of voices. Some books are easy assignments (of
course I'm going to assign the latest John Updike), others might not be
as obvious but, on a closer read, are surprisingly good ("Wildwood," to
name just one, by the late nature writer Roger Deakin).

Also, it's a big world out there, and, speaking for myself, I'd like to
read more by authors from beyond our shores.


GW:Many other newspapers have eliminated their stand-alone book review sections. What do you see as the future of the SF Chronicle book review?

JW: It is sad what's happening to book review sections across the country.
My bosses tell me that our section is an important part of the
newspaper, they understand its relevance to readers, so I remain
optimistic about the future. And I intend to do all I can to make the
section valuable, intelligent and engaging.


GW: The Los Angeles Times, the New Yorker, the New York Times all have blogs about books. Will the Chronicle book review develop a web format?

JM: We've been discussing that. Watch this space, as they say.


GW: What are some of your favorite books?

JM: In no particular order:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz