London Book Fair: Here I come…
Some time ago I came to the realisation that attending events in the writing community would be a fun and educational way to spend time, would spur me on to do more writing, all while potentially generating friendships and contacts. A local literature festival was to be my first attempt at this last year, but two events clashing made that a non-starter.
To make up for that, I’ve decided to go for one of the big events of the publishing calendar: the London Book Fair. It takes place 19-21 April 2010 at Earls Court, and its website describes it as follows:
The London Book Fair is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels.
Taking place every spring in the world’s premier publishing and cultural capital, it is a unique opportunity to explore, understand and capitalise on the innovations shaping the publishing world. The London Book Fair brings you direct access to customers, content and emerging markets.
Makes me wish I had something notably pitch-worthy, providing me the dilemma of negotiating rights, sale and distribution…
So to be clear, it is not a literary festival where people leisurely read books and chat with authors and like-minded bibliophiles in between said authors giving talks about their new books, worlds or styles of writing. It is definitely an industry fair that helps determine the course of the publishing industry over the coming year, with wheeling and dealing happening all over the place.
In addition to the main Fair taking place from Monday to Wednesday, the weekend beforehand (17-18th) is when a number of seminars take place. And most of them are free.
It’s this combination of a ‘look inside the industry’ and seminars is precisely why I want to attend and have paid the £25 entry fee. I must confess it’s quite embarrassing looking at the attendee badge with its Matt Bruce – Author taking up most of the front, and I’m dreading the second shoe-drop at the Fair when I expect someone will ask, ‘Oh, so what have you written…?’ Still, this gets me access to all 3 days and any of the free seminars, though there is one paid-for seminar I’m considering attending: How to Write For Screen: Film & TV Masterclass. It’s just a shame this 2½ hour class costs more than 3 days entry to the Fair itself…
I expect to attend more fairs and festivals during the year, so I’ll post about it here.
So who else is planning on attending these kinds of events in 2010, and where and when are they?
