|
Despite 900 exhibitors being unable to attend because of Icelandic ash, and the stands more often than not resembling ghost towns, the fair was well attended by mainsteam leading publishers such as HarperCollins and Penguin as well as controversial ones like L Ron Hubbard (interesting, the times I walked past the stand it was full to capacity. No, Tom Cruise wasn't in attendance) as well as agents negotiating mega deals in hushed tones. I attended as an eager bystander, keen to snout out publishing booths, eavesdrop on interesting characters, learn hip new promotional ideas, check out the latest book offerings, mingle with rising literary stars (didn't happen) and finally, glean any info I could from the author seminars. Here's what I learnt: 1. Confidence: Despite the attendance being down, my well honed flapping ears heard many people talking the fair up...'yep, going well, too well...closing several lucrative deals...don't know how we'll handle all the new business...' When all else fails, puff out your chest! (My understanding is that between 50%-80% of all meetings were cancelled.) 2. Drink up: The several bars were always full - promptly at midday. Publishers and agents drowning their sorrows or perhaps talking up imminent deals? Either way alcohol was being consumed in large quantities. 3. Authors: Unless you're a celebrity or an established author, you need to hire your own publicist or an 8-week period (at least) to promote your book to the media, libraries, festivals etc. Even the big publishers don't have the marketing budget to spend on your book. (I guess I already knew that but even so, slumped into my chair at hearing the news.) 4. Publicity: When it comes to garnering publicity, it helps if you have an amazing and heart rendering back story - i.e. you're a writer but have no arms (true story). 5. Website: Having a dynamic author website helps...here's where you can display your writing skills by posting blogs, writing articles, and showcasing the first few chapters of your forthcoming novel. 6. Blogging: If you're going to do it, do it properly. Blog three times a week and make sure your blogs are always well-written, funny and relevant to your audience. (No pressure!) If you're primary audience is angora sheep breeders, fine! There's a market for angora sheep breeding bloggers but make sure you speak directly to your audience...imagine coming up with three entertaining blogs a week on that topic! Don't get disheartened! Look at Julie Powell who blogged about Julia Childs. She stayed on topic and got a book deal and a best-selling movie starring Meryl Streep. 7. Twitter: Hailed as THE new social medium, twitter is an invaluable tool for bloggers, writers and anyone wanting to build their profile. Rule number one: limit the in-joke banter between your five closest followers unless you actually only have five followers. It's great that you are deemed hilarious (within your inner circle) but if you have 500 followers, 495 are going to feel left out and quickly lose interest in your tweets if they're not privy to your musings. Going back to my sheep analogy, if all your followers are angora sheep breeders, stay on topic 90% of the time. Followers are there to interact but also to learn and exchange info. If you're keen on swapping jokes with your best cyber friend, instant message them instead. 8. Twitter 2: Having said that, Twitter is a great way to stay informed, promote your writing, make contacts in the publishing industry, share ideas and market your ideas to other writers. 9. Apple: If you didn't already know, Apple is taking over the world. As much as I hate to commit this to print, i-publishing and iPads are the way of the future...the competition to win an iPad was hands down, the most popular, as were their seminars. Limbs were twisted, promises made and deals done. Those reading Kindles (usually in bars) were viewed with a mixture of envy and distaste depending on which side of the fence you were swinging from. (Apple analysts expect Apple to sell roughly 5 MILLION iPads this year. Cheers!) 10. Frankfurt: Finally, for those of you who missed out on coming to London (Becky James, you have a right to feel pissed off!) the next extravaganza will be Frankfurt in October 2010. Even though I am reliably told many deals were done online during cyber cocktail hour, nothing beats a face-to-face meeting. So if you're keen for a trip to Germany in autumn, the Frankfurt Book Fair will be an event not to be missed. What are your thoughts? Are you a keen blogger, tweeter, or just someone who is under the delusion that once a publisher publishes you, your work is done? What are your experiences with marketing and promotion? Or the London Book Fair if you were there? BTW: Apparently Stieg Larsson (RIP) is very last year...am sure he'll be rolling in his grave...
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
