International Book Fairs - an Editor's Perspective
One aspect of international rights selling that authors rarely get to see are the annual international rights fairs. The major ones are Frankfurt, London and, for children's publishing, Bologna, which most publishers will attend. But there are several others (from Abu Dhabi to Zagreb...) throughout the year, some will be quite specialist, others more general, but all will have the same ultimate purpose: to sell rights in books as widely as possible.
As a trade publishing editor I attended London book fair several times (including the year of the Icelandic volcano meaning the halls of Earl's Court were eerily empty) and Frankfurt and Bologna once each. Bologna is, by far, my favourite - Pasta! Gellato! Prosecco! What's not to love? Frankfurt, as a vegetarian was a trickier affair and I existed on a diet of bread and cheese for the entire visit...but it isn't all about food. As well as socialising with publishers and agents from around the globe there is the very serious business of meetings.
The main halls (and there can be lots - at Frankfurt there is a shuttle bus from the entrance to some of the halls) are where each publisher has their stand. These can be huge - some even having an upper floor meeting space - and the export, rights and sales teams will conduct their meetings here, being visited by publishers, editors, wholesalers and booksellers.
There is usually also an agent's centre where agents sit at tables in regimented lines to wait for each of their appointments, booked in months in advance, to turn up. There is often security at the entrance preventing anyone from entering if they don't have a pre-arranged meeting.
Editors generally do most of the footwork, running between the various halls (I often look out for the newbies in high heels and worry for their wellbeing!) and the agent's centre for 20 to 30 minute appointments, back to back for the entire day. It can be mentally exhausting but it's also exhilarating - publishing thrives on passion, and when you get to listen to agents and publishers enthuse about their titles all day (and do a bit of enthusing of your own) then it's a lovely way to spend time.
In the run up to a fair, agents will send out the manuscripts they hope to conclude deals for during the fair. It can be an exhausting time for editors as they try to read everything in advance of meetings... authors beware: the weeks leading up to and following a book fair are absolutely not the time to submit a manuscript!
A typical day at London Book Fair would see me arriving at about 8.30 to stop off at the stand, grab a coffee and read the latest fair news before dashing off for a morning of meetings - if there was time to get back to the stand to grab a sandwich at some point during the day then that would be a bonus. The aisles are full of familiar faces and often gossip is exchanged in brief catch up sessions between meetings.
I would try, where possible, to leave time to attend some of the fantastic talks that are on during the book fair, but it wasn't always possible. After a day of talking constantly there might be a brief period on the stand to gather thoughts (and hastily fill in notes) before a dinner for export clients or maybe for all the foreign publishers of a particular book... Late nights are common (there's usually a particular bar where everyone gathers after their evening events) and then everyone returns to the fair, early, but maybe not so brightly, the next morning to do it all again.
It is rare now (although it occasionally happens) for a deal to be struck at the fair without any prior discussion, but it used to be what the fairs were all about. Now it's more about keeping up personal relationships and taking the rare opportunity to discuss matters face to face with people from around the globe.
In the interim, rights deals are done by email and over the phone and, with the advent of new internet technologies we hope to see more rights deals happening via sites such as IPR License.
-- Hannah Sheppard