STATUS: Just had some wonderful Indian food before heading to bed. 8 o’clock is a typical dinner hour around here.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? NESSUN DORMA by Paul Potts
I heard there was quite a bit of chaos this morning as the fair opened but since I had a breakfast meeting off site, I missed the hoopla. By the time I hit the Fair floor around 10 a.m., everything had been sorted out.
I have to say that I did expect the mood to be rather somber but in the meetings I had, that was not the case. Editors from Germany, Finland, Japan and Brazil, all expressed optimism, were interested in many titles (although admitted that escapism was good) and had mentioned that book sales in their countries had remained steady. Some titles, such as James Hunter’s THE SERVANT, had really broken out. Something like 2 million copies in Brazil. That’s an eye popping number.
A Japanese editor mentioned that publishers there were aggressively pursuing the mobile phone reader market, which didn’t suprise me at all. Where digital is concerned, that country has a lot of early adapters.
I also had one UK editor that popped by my table simply because she was a blog reader and wanted to say hello. That was quite fun.
Here are some pics to tide you over until I can skim through my handy dandy notebad and pick out some tidbits on what is working abroad.
The escalator up to the International Rights Center floor.
On the floor of the International Rights Center. Agents, Rights representatives, and publishers hard at work.
View of the fair from above.
Sarah Rees Brennan in the S&S UK booth pointing to her soon-to-be released title THE DEMON’S LEXICON. She’ll be signing in the booth on Tuesday, April 21 at 1:30 p.m. (13:30)
Wow! It looks amazing and fun. I love going to conference because of the high energy that seems to flow through everyone (at least the first day or two).
I can’t wait to hear more about what you learned through all your contacts!
I can’t even imagine how much fun it would be to do a book signing in London! Looks like an incredible (and HUGE) event.
Ah! This is torture! Le sigh. I lived in London for three years before I had to be tossed out when my visa expired. Earls Court was right near where I lived, and I passed the convention centre every day on the way to work. These pictures, they just bring back zee memories. I miss that city so much!
Sigh.
Still.
Looks like a really awesome time, and it’s lovely to hear about the optimism. Reading the blog on PW about Bologna made me a bit sad. This has definitely raised my spirits!
Love the pics – thanks for sharing.
Great to get a feel for the US -UK contrasts and similarities. Thanks.
Mobile phone market will be interesting to watch.
All these very interesting – have linked from my LBF article(s).
LBF-What’s the Big Deal?
This is very surreal – I’ve been reading your blog for ages and think of you in Denver. Yesterday I was at the book fair too! I was upstairs in the agent section too. If you glimpsed some of the Hodder people playing with knitted finger puppets, and generally misbehaving that was me (and my editor, and the foreign rights director!)
Have a great fair!
x
natasha
That fair looks amazing! Fingers crossed that Sarah’s book climbs effortlessly to the bestseller list!
Thanks for sharing the pics, Kristin! 🙂
Way cool pics.
And good luck SRB on the upcoming release. Here’s to killer numbers!
Manga and “cell phone novels” have done phenomenally well in Japan. On average, their teenager’s cell phones have larger screens than ours do, on top of which they ride the train everywhere, so reading while commuting is a natural part of their lifestyle. More suited to U.S. lifestyle is reading online or e-book editions of manga for computers, but most of them have been reluctant to enter that market.