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Tuesday 20 April 2010

LONDON BOOK FAIR

This was the first time that I have ever attended the London Book Fair. It is a three-day event, but I am not going back for the next two days anymore. I found out that the name London Book Fair is a misnomer. It should be named London Business Fair. This book fair is not for readers, it's for business people. It caters specifically for people who are in the "book profit" business. With emphasis on the "profit" bit. So if you are like me, just a reader, they don't really want you there. In fact some of the stands/booths were distinctly unfriendly. Take for example the Chapter 2000 stand (pic on the right). They didn't even want me to look at their display! WTF! So... did they display their wares so that people will not look at them?! It boggles the mind! Not everybody there are assholes though. Take the IndePENPRESS for example (pic on the top left). I approached their stand and their people greet you with a smile even though they got plenty of other people to play host to. That is a 5 out of 5 people skills. That is what I thought having a booth is for. You invite people to look at your wares and publicize your product. And the gentleman their talked about their company with a passion and like he knows what he is talking about. Gives one the impression that if you do business with them, you would be in capable hands. It gives a customer confidence in the reliability of the company.

The book fair is so big though and I did not have time to go around all of them. There were Australian, American, Russian and middle east publishers there that I never knew existed! And of course the big players were there too. Penguin, Harlequin, etc. So as a reader, there are some things that you could pick up, but rare and few. So if you are a reader, the London Book Fair is not for you. If you are an author or a publisher, you might want to attend this event.

6 comments:

Patti (@TheLoveJunkee) said...

I'm so sorry that didn't work out for you. I would have been disappointed too.

Cheryl said...

That is crappy that they call it a book fair but it is a fair more for business than anything. You would think they would want the word out to everyone, especially people who read and blog. Whatever at least some of the people were nice and you let people know what this is really all about.

Tales of Whimsy said...

AWESOME! I want to go.

bittenbyromance said...

That stinks! I agree with Cheryl. The sad part is it looks fun form the picture.

Cherry said...

I did have fun. There were fun publishers there I never knew existed! The fun was just a little bit blighted with people like Chapter 2000.

Book Soulmates said...

I found you through Juju's page and I wanted to stop by and say HI! I really like your blog =)

I cannot even begin to tell you how jealous I am right now. London is my very favorite city in the world and just the though of the London Book Fair makes me *sighhhh*

I hope you enjoyed every minute of it! Great to meet you.
♥Isalys
Book ♥ Soulmates

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