Earlier this yr, I lastly fulfilled a long-held dream: I acquired a job doing advertising in publishing, for an indie I’ve had my eye on for a whereas referred to as Gallic Books. And as a part of that, I acquired to fulfill one other long-held, if extra modest, dream: I went to the London Book Fair for the primary time.
The London Book Fair, like BookExpo America within the earlier than occasions, is an industry-facing occasion. Meetings are held between movers and shakers and wannabe movers and shakers; translation rights are purchased and bought; enterprise playing cards are exchanged over complimentary white wine. Seminars are largely led by insiders explaining the most recent e-book tendencies or serving to previous people like me perceive TikTok. By and massive, there aren’t a lot of creator occasions and there are barely any ARCs to nab. (I used to be devastated to miss out on getting Yellowface early.) But nonetheless, should you’re a nerdy bookish kind, it’s a fascinating look into the publishing {industry} and a probability to rub shoulders with the individuals who make books occur.
While many in-person e-book gala’s and conferences have been on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re seeing a return to these. Whether you’re going to considered one of these insider occasions, or one thing extra reader-focussed just like the Brooklyn Book Festival or LitFest within the Dena, listed below are a few ideas and methods to enable you to profit from your time there — i.e., issues I want somebody had advised me earlier than I set foot in Kensington’s Olympia convention centre.
Dress in Layers
In London — particularly at Olympia with its glass ceiling if it occurs to be sunny — you’ll most likely be too sizzling. In the U.S., the land of environment friendly if overzealous air-con, you might be too chilly. You’re going to need choices.
Grab a Coffee on the Way There
There might be a lengthy queue for any refreshments contained in the centre very first thing within the morning, and you may not have the ability to assure its high quality. (This might or will not be very true in London.)
Pack Snacks
There can be locations to purchase meals, however it would possible be overpriced and the alternatives will not be nice. And, once more: queues, as a result of everybody rushes to them at the identical time, when periods finish. If, like me, you often survive the working day on cups of tea and chocolate biscuits, be type to your self and purchase moveable equivalents. (Diet Coke is my caffeine substitute on these sorts of events.)
Bring a Portable Phone Charger
I swear that about half my time at the London Book Fair was spent on the lookout for a plug to cost my cellphone. I assumed there can be masses, all over, however they solely appeared to exist in cubicles, and it feels very awkward to sneak into one and simply kind of stand round pretending to be thinking about somebody’s show whereas your cellphone slowly comes again to life. It didn’t assist, in fact, that the organisers of the honest had determined to go “paperless” this yr, which meant consistently wanting at my cellphone for the schedule and attempting to determine the place issues have been — consuming up my battery twice as quick.
Take a Tote Bag
Maybe it’s a UK factor, or perhaps it’s a post-2020 factor, however I had to bodily go on the lookout for a free tote bag for all of the leaflets I’d picked up at the London Book Fair. This being a publishing occasion, I actually thought I’d have about a dozen of them thrust into my fingers within the first 10 minutes, however no.
Take Business Cards
You will possible make new mates, and probably new enterprise contacts, so give them a simple means to bear in mind you and discover you on LinkedIn (which could be the saddest of all of the social media platforms, however can be arguably essentially the most helpful nowadays, at least professionally). Also, “let me give you my business card” doubles as a sublime means to convey a dialog to a shut if it’s time for you to go dwelling otherwise you want to maintain circulating.
Get There Early
This recommendation would have been wasted on me as a result of I’ll all the time choose an additional 5 minutes in mattress over being organised, however should you like to know the place you’re going and not spend half a day completely confused, it’s a good concept to get to the honest early in an effort to determine the lay of the land — which cubicles you’re going to need to go to, the place the seminars you’re most thinking about can be held, and in fact the place the bogs are. Also, you possibly can sneakily ask the larger publishers in the event that they’re possible to be giving out ARCs (or, to use London Book Fair converse, “proofs”), in an effort to be poised and prepared. Learn from me and don’t miss out on a probability to get your fingers on the e-book of the yr.
Book gala’s are a lot of enjoyable, if barely exhausting. You get to meet all kinds of attention-grabbing individuals — all of them bookish, which I feel you’ll agree are the very best form of individuals. And armed with the following pointers, you’ll have a nice time.
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