A BookTrail of London Book Fair

The London Book Fair landed at the grand Olympia stadium this week for its annual stop in the capital. Thousands of publishing people, agents, publicists, sales, rights agents and more descend on the event to talk, sell, auction books and to find out what’s coming up in the book world from trends to new discoveries.

How and where it all begins

It’s not a public event per se -It’s all the publishing professionals who attend – media, some authors, bloggers this year as on Thursday there was the inaugural bloggers awards event, but it’s not an event where you can walk around, get free books, chat to many publishers (they’re there to meet foreign agents etc) and those who come to pitch their novel will be sorely disappointed. There’s just  so little time to deal with the novels on offer already, let alone new ones!

So, unless you work in publishing in some way, I’m not sure how someone would benefit from it all. The BookTrail goes to meet twitter friends, make new contacts, find out how it all works, and find out about the novels of the future. It’s a great behind the scenes look though and you could potentially crack your pedometer with all the walking you’ll do!

Look at the size of this thing!:

There are only a few authors who attend and they tend to be there for a reason such as the Author HQ tent or a panel discussion. Some come to see their foreign publishers and even meet up with their translators to touch base and thank those responsible for getting their book out there into the world.

So, what’s the fair really like, what’s the atmosphere like and what’s it all about?

Here’s a handy guide…from The BookTrail…

Some facts to chew over

It lasts for three whole days – it might open at 9 and close at 6 but there’s plenty of discussions happening in pubs in and around Kensington…

You can tell first timers as they are wearing coats and very unsuitable shoes with heels etc (trainers are a must) I only wish slippers were too  or those wheelies kids have.

It’s one of the few book events I’ve been to where my BookTrail map training comes in handy with having to navigate what is essentially the Crystal maze of the book world.

Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books

There’s two halls about the size of a football pitch each filled with stands. There’s a special children’s section, an author ‘theatre’ where talks are held, a press centre, a bar, rooms set aside off the balcony for talks and workshops and on the main floors below – every publisher you can think of, big and small, has a stand where they display their latest novels and have tables for meeting new clients. Oh and the authors who were spotted wandering around …David Baldacci,  Kit de Waal, Jacqueline Wilson,  Caroline Mitchell…and the lovely Liz Fenwick!

There’s so many stands, each are signposted:

The elves come in overnight to build the stands….

It’s all very overwhelming. But perhaps the most overwhelming yet fascinating part of the entire fair is the hall upstairs, where only the hardcore agents and publishers go…the International Rights Centre

The International Rights Centre

Think Wall Street where all the best book deals are made – books are pitched from one party to another, foreign rights for a English book for example are sold to France, Germany eg and vice versa, agents, scouts and publishers chat deals, deals and more deals. This is where a lot of the action happens – so when you read that a book has been sold for 6 figures, it’s probably happened amongst the never ending rows of desks.

The International Rights Centre

The buzz here is amazing  – it might be hot and sweaty and very very noisy – but it’s the beating heart of the book world and it’s very overwhelming. Each meeting held at any one of these stands lasts a maximum of 30 minutes then it’s a quick turn around and someone else sits down and starting pitching, dealing or otherwise. Think of it as express dating experiment which in many ways it is – the best books match with the best people….

BAck down on the main floor, there’s some very fun stands with this year, one of the most impressive book marketing stands I’ve seen in a while – the new James Patterson out soon co written with former president Bill clinton. So, who do they invite for the launch….. a VERY good lookalike of President Trump complete with body guards. Several drinks including those following the bloggers awards were held here later on in the week so I can now say I’ve sipped champagne on the front of the Rose Garden and wandered around the Oval Office!

Is that…..?

The fair passes in a blur – an excited blur but a blur all the same. So many book deals made, so many meetings, so many emails to catch up on…..But with your feet aching like you’ll never walk again, at least you can do all the followup sitting down…

I popped back to this stand later on, and who else should I see….

Jacqueline Wilson in the President’s Office

And then there were none…

Halls emptied, books gone home and a time to chill out with  people as tired but as in love with books as you are….

Me, Chocolate Waffles book blogger and Karen Sullivan

So if you see an agent, publisher or author in the coming days, wish them well and offer to buy them some slippers and maybe a foot rub. They’ll love your forever.