Pub Rants

Category: book fairs

Bologna Children’s Book Fair—Day One

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: A rainy start to the day.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? KIM THE WAITRESS by Material Issue

Well, I do foresee a few problems with blogging this week but I will try my best. I will be spending the majority of my time in the Agents Centre and it does not have wifi. Yes, you read that correctly. Nor can I plug my computer in for the internet. It just doesn’t have it.

And the hotel’s definition of “high speed” internet greatly differs from mine. Working on my network is physically painful it’s so slow. I’ve also looked around for an internet café and geographically they are not handy. So we’ll muddle long as best as possible. In good news, the vino rosso is lovely and the formaggio even more so.

So this morning I’ll be heading over to the Fairgrounds around 11 a.m. to visit the Agents Centre and have my table assigned. I spent 2 weeks trying to figure out when they would send me my table number. At London, you get your assignment when you registered. Finally an agent friend took pity on me and mentioned that the table doesn’t get assigned until the fair begins. Aha. Seems a little inconvenient for the people trying to meet with me but when in Bologna….

Today is the SCBWI Bologna Symposium. I’m participating in a first pages agent panel. This is the workshop where the conference volunteer reads the first page of a variety of submissions and the agents then comment on it.

Hey, writers wanting to be gluttons for punishment is international! Grin. Seriously though, just remember that no matter how an agent responds to your pages today, this is not the make or break moment of your career. The greatest thing about writing is that you can grow and mature in your ability.

Since the fair hasn’t actually begun, I have very little to report but I do have two fun pics to share:

From a bookstore on Via dell’Indipendenza, the Italian bestseller, which is currently sitting at #7 on the list, IL GUSTO PROIBITO DELLO ZENZERO:

The Forbidden Taste of Ginger. Look familiar? Yes, it’s the Italian version of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet.

And four ladies take a Venetian Gondola by storm. I must say Antonio looks distinctly unimpressed.


From left, author Sarah Rees Brennan, her friend Natasha, and me. Ally Carter snapped the pic. I have other great shots but guess who forgot to bring the cord for her camera so I could download the pictures off of it….

Some BEA Observations

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’ve got so many great notes to share with you folks. Just not enough time in the day to blog about it all. Thank goodness we have the rest of the week.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LYIN’ EYES by The Eagles

I have to say that I’m very glad that I attended Book Expo this year. A lot of things are changing in the industry and it only makes sense that BEA is going to evolve, transform, change, or even disappear (although doubtful) in the years to follow.

I had heard that publishers were cutting back this year and now having seen it, I can tell you for certain that that is true.

Random House had a booth the size of a postage stamp.

Macmillan wasn’t even on the floor. They simply had meeting rooms in the basement—I mean the lower floor that held the conference rooms.

At past BEAs, aisles were so stuff with people, you had to do an interesting shuffle with a lot of “pardon me” to get through. This year, the open space was like walking down an uncrowded boulevard. I think the only time I felt packed in was when the new Balzer & Bray imprint had their champagne toast launch party in the HarperCollins booth. However, once all glasses were distributed, the bar magically disappeared. It was up for maybe 15 minutes total. The champagne bottles were not abundent.

At past BEAs, ARCs (otherwise known as Advanced Reading Copies) abounded. In fact, you couldn’t walk through a booth without tripping over one. This year? Scant would be the word I would use to sum it up. Unless there was an actual signing going on, very few galleys could be had. [Although I should have assigned my client Megan Crewe to be my stealth ARC gatherer as she totally scored with a copy of CATCHING FIRE (hot sequel to The Hunger Games) and a copy of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (which is getting some solid pre-buzz).] She managed to snag about 60 ARCs.

However, in general, I can’t complain about this year’s Book Expo. The show was very good to my authors as the pictures below will attest.

Photo 1: Hank Ryan draws crowds in the Harlequin booth for the release of her third book in the Charlie McNally series–AIR TIME.

Photo 2: Now this is good editor support. Notice how Devi Pillai dressed to match the poster colors. That’s going above and beyond the call of duty! (Actually, Devi hadn’t realized that she had done so until I pointed it out to her.)

Photo 3: Gail Carriger signs her copies of her debut fantasy SOULLESS. One of the few ARCs that were out and about every day for the taking, Gail had some really nice lines–especially considering she’s so new to the scene. In fact, in a funny related story, three separate people at random times came up to me during the weekend to tell me about this really cool ARC they had snagged. Imagine my surprise that at three different times, the book they pulled out to show me was of SOULLESS. I had to then ‘fess up that it was my book.


Photo 4: Nice signage for the third book in the Gallagher Girl series that is releasing next week!

Photo 5: Ally signs in the Brilliance Booth

Photo 6: Electronic Poster of THE SHIFTER in HarperCollins Booth for the Balzer & Bray Champagne toast for the launch list.

Brenda Novak Auction to Start and Final London Wrap Up

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Getting ready to head out the office door. I do plan to do reading tonight from home.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LUSH LIFE by Natalie Cole

It’s that time of year again! Time for the Annual Online Auction to Benefit Diabetes Research by the indomitable force of nature and wonderful author, Brenda Novak.

And I’m here to highlight that Nelson Literary Agency really stepped up to the plate this year and is offering a WHOLE page of items to be auctioned off.

Just to whet your appetite, I’m giving away breakfast with me at RWA and a writing critique with a 24-hour turnaround time. I will spend several hours on this critique—editing it just like I would a client’s manuscript.

Sara is offering a query-free submission.

NYT Bestselling author Jamie Ford is answering 10 Questions.

Sherry Thomas, query writer extraordinaire, is offering to help you whip your query into shape.

Mari Mancusi and Courtney Milan are offering opening chapters critiques.

Hank Ryan has her own page of good stuff!

And that’s just a brief glimpse of what is available. You might want to check it out.

But back to my London list as promised. I’m skimming through my notes and typing up what I see.

Germany
Looking for upmarket commercial fiction—not too literary
Crime fiction
Exotic and/or generational saga
Boy meets Girl with a literary voice
Commercial historical fiction

Finland Children’s
Literary fic as the market is strong
Fantasy
Science fiction is working

France
Fantasy
Chick lit
Historical romance
Historical fiction

UK
Romantic comedy with lit voice
Jackie Collins type novel
Literary vampires—like the Abraham Lincoln Vampire hunter or literary zombies
Books good for reading groups
Commercial women’s fiction
Mystery that is slightly cozy but has a dark edge
Urban fantasy
Paranormal romance
Horror (must be sophisticated)
Big historical fiction
Literary thriller

That’s all else she wrote.

Wrapping Up The London Book Fair

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I can’t say I’m completely recovered from jet lag but it’s definitely getting better.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? TROUBLE SLEEPING by Corinne Bailey Rae

So here’s the wrap up from London. First off, I had dinner with a good agent friend Jennifer Jackson while I was there and she had some huge news to share with me and since it’s so big, I have to blog about it.

I mean, it’s not every day that one of your clients hits the New York Times Bestseller list. And you know what? It’s not every day that the client nabs the #1 spot. This deserves a special shout out.

So CONGRATS Jennifer!!! (And maybe I should say congrats to Jim as well. After all, the author probably had something to do with it… Grin)

#1 NYT Bestseller TURN COAT

But back to talking about LBF. In browsing through Waterstone’s and Borders, it was very clear to me that the UK publishers definitely have a focus on literary fiction. There large book stalls that featured the classics. (I mean when is the last time you saw Thomas Hardy prominently featured in a book store?) Also, a good majority of the floor space was dedicated to contemporary literary fiction. Titles such as Aravind Adiga’s THE WHITE TIGER and Steig Larsson’s GIRL WITH A DRAGON TATTOO were prominently displayed.

Although quite popular here in the states, I really didn’t see any Edgar Sawtelles out and about on floor displays.

I talked with editors from the UK, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, China and Japan. Every single one of them asked about literary fiction that could have broad appeal. In fact, in several of the foreign territories, literary fiction sales were up. In talking with the editors, it was clear that it has a strong market abroad—in a lot of ways, much stronger than here in the States were lit fic can do well but lit fic with a commercial bent can be blockbuster. Some commercial literary titles like MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER did well across the seas but WATER FOR ELEPHANTS was stronger here at home.

Just interesting.

In Asian territories, literary/commercial historical fiction doesn’t work at all. The editors won’t even look at it. However, UK and European editors say bring it on–they’d love to look.

I may add more to this blog tomorrow as my notes are at the office (where Julie is typing them up!). I headed home early because the weather was bad and Chut is fundamentally opposed to walking in the rain. I’ll glance through them and see if I can come up with a few more “this is what they are buying” lists because I know how much my readers like it.

Demon’s Lexicon Signing in S&S UK Booth

by Kristin Nelson

And here is an extra blog shot of Sarah Rees Brennan’s signing for her debut. As a debut author, she had worried that no one would show up. As you can see, that wasn’t the case. Sarah twittered before the event to get the word out quickly.

Jackie Collins Anyone?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Last day of the fair. It might be 1:00 a.m. Denver time but I’m up and at ‘em to tackle the last round of meetings.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LIES by Glen Hansard

As I mentioned last week, one of the first things I did when coming to London was to check out the area bookstores. In looking at my notes from my Waterstone’s visit, the most interesting thing that sticks out for me is how popular sophisticated urban contemporary women’s fiction is.

Oh, you read that right. I just wasn’t using the term we called it over here in the States.

Chick lit.

This is a genre that actually still works across the pond. In fact, I even had a French editor ask me if I had any shopping in the city with martinis and twenty-somethings. Didn’t even have to be front list. She was happy to consider back list titles for publication in France.

Could have knocked me over with a feather because unless you are already established in the US (Sophie Kinsella anyone?), it’s not something editors say they are actually looking for.

On the shelves of Waterstones, I saw many titles by Marian Keyes prominently displayed. An editor of an imprint at Random House mentioned that Jessica Brody (The Fidelity Files) was working quite well for them.

Check out the cover. Classic chick lit if I’ve ever seen one.

Another popular author is Susy McPhee for the older set (Husband & Lies and The Runaway Wife). The editor even called it hen lit.

So interesting. But here’s what floored me. I visited all the major houses in UK and every editor mentioned that escapist fiction was working for them (well, no surprise given the economy) but what they were looking for was the big epic dishy and glamorous titles I have always associated with the 80s and Jackie Collins. Think Tasmina Perry’s Daddy’s Girls.

One house had high hopes for Immodesty Blaize’s soon-to-be-released Tease.


I can’t say I’ve had any editors in the US ask for the same. There was some excitement two years or so ago for Tilly Bagshawe (sister of the well established UK author Louise) and her debut called Adored but I don’t think it did as well as they had hoped over on this side of the pond.

I’ll be heading to New York for Book Expo next month. We’ll see what the US editors have to say then. Tomorrow I’ll be on a plane most of the day heading back to Denver so probably won’t be blogging. But don’t worry, women’s lit and shopping weren’t all that the UK editors were looking for. Literary fiction and upmarket commercial fiction is high on their lists as well. I’ll look through my notes and blog, hopefully, on Friday.

Have a happy Wednesday!

LBF Pics

by Kristin Nelson

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.

Here is the entrance to the LBF from the Warwick Road Entrance.

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)

US vs. UK

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s been some late nights this week and trust me, my proofreading skills are abominable when I’m blogging regularly, just imagine what it would be like if I were blogging at 1 a.m. London time.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK by Sting

And no, this isn’t the Battle of the Titans. What I’m learning is just how different these two markets actually are. Intellectually I know this (and have always known this) but I also think we like to lump it all together and say, hey, we all speak the same language (although the Brits might argue that point) so if we share the lingo, shouldn’t we share the taste? For some books, yes, this will align and match up but for a slew of other books, we couldn’t be further apart even if the ocean was wider between us.

To get a sense of the retail environment, I decided to check out the Borders at Oxford Circus, the Waterstone’s at Piccadilly Circus and then I popped by a Books etc. at Hammersmith. I’m not saying that this is fair representation of all the stores in town; it’s just the ones I managed to visit while I was here.

I took some notes on my observations and then shared it with all the editors I’ve been meeting with this week on both the children’s and the adult side of publishing. If I covered everything in one entry, this would be one heck of a long blog so I’m going to start on the children’s side. I’ll also try and do a couple of entries over the weekend to make up for my general radio silence this past week. Starting on Monday, it’s back to full days and spotty blogging.

So what is clear to me:
1. Boy adventure books are prime time in the UK. Eoin Colfer’s AIRMAN and the young James Bond books. It’s not to say those didn’t do well in the US, they did; however, shelf space, front table displays, etc. is all about the boy adventure books here in the UK. I wouldn’t say it’s getting equal time in the US. And another interesting tidbit. Sometimes wild success in the US does not translate completely over to the same success in the UK.

For example, Robert Muchamore and the Cherub series is big, big, big in the UK. They did do a US version and it hasn’t taken off as much as they hoped. In reverse, Riordan’s Percy Jackson & The Olympians series is big, big, big in US and although it’s seems to be growing in popularity in the UK, it hasn’t been quite the phenom it has been stateside.

39 Clues. Not making a dent in the UK market.

2. Some books nail both sides of the pond with equal success. Can you guess at the two titles with matched overwhelming success? One primarily has female readers; the other mainly male readers.

Oh, I’m sure you guessed one right off the top of your head and you’d be right. TWILIGHT series is equally popular in the US and UK. Interestingly enough, so is DIARY OF A WIMPY KID.

Rather cool, wouldn’t you say?

3. Another interesting observation at the UK bookstores that I wish they’d do more of in the US. All three of the UK stores I visited, did crossover shelving in the children’s and adult areas. Here are three titles that were shelved in both sections:
a. Twilight
b. Graceling
c. Harry Potter

The Harry Potter books even had different, adult covers. There might have been more titles but those were just three that I managed to glimpse while browsing the book stalls. I love that. I don’t think I’ve seen a teen book shelved in the adult section of a US Borders, BN, or even at the Tattered Cover. I could be wrong as I just might need to pay closer attention but it looked like it was rather common practice here in England.

And last but not least for this entry, US and UK covers couldn’t be more different if you tried. For example, I was showing editors my upcoming titles that will be releasing in the UK this fall. I had both the US cover and the UK in my portfolio for people to see, pick up, look at cover copy etc.

For Helen Stringer’s SPELLBINDER, all the editors said, “ah, yes, that’s a totally US approach. That wouldn’t work over here.

And then when I showed the UK cover, all their faces lit up and they really oohed and ahhed over it. They couldn’t help themselves and had to pick it up.

That was absolutely fascinating to me! These two covers, the titles, the approaches are radically different as you can see.

Let’s hope that both sides of the pond are right in what kids will reach for when the book hits shelves.

Bologna By Day & Night

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Heavens it was a crazy day!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? Nothing at the moment.

And I haven’t got the energy for a proper entry. Sorry. But hey, PW’s Craig Virden is blogging Bologna By Day & Night. And for those of you living under a rock, we are talking about the annual Bologna Children’s Book Fair—THE rights fair for anything in the children’s realm.

Report From BEA (Part Two)

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s always a crush when I’ve been out of the office for a week. I’m proud to say I’m now finally seeing open spots on the desktop for the first time today.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BACK HOME AGAIN by John Denver

Here’s how I can sum up my BEA. With the exception of the Graphic Novel Author Breakfast on Saturday morning, any event I had planned to attend was a bust—real snoozers.

And the one panel that was a spontaneous choice was the one I enjoyed the most—and that was the panel discussion on Hardcover versus original trade paperback for a debut novel.

Basically there was no consensus on whether it helps or hurts an author. Several examples were given for both—of how a trade price point really helped to break out an author and how an author got sunk by the hardcover pub with the higher price point.

There was even mention of my larger concern about not getting the audio deal and foreign rights for an original trade pb (although I have to say that foreign publishers seem very flexible with what they buy and the format doesn’t seem to impact too much).

My hope was that the discussion could veer into new territories, like setting up the possibility of rethinking how original trade paperbacks are bought, their marketing/promo plans (because let’s face it, as agents we are mostly worried about original trades not getting the love from pr and marketing and the reviews needed to really succeed as those aspects have been slow to evolve), and perhaps discuss new trade original royalty structures if more and more books are pubbed as original trades and not hardcovers. Those percentages haven’t changed in a hefty while

I don’t care if something is going to pub in trade pb if I know I can get the support, the backing, and that my author could earn as much via that medium than through hardcover as the original format.

Lots about pubbing original trade make sense and yet, there’s still those possible issues that make it hard not to be hesitant. Still, I see it’s where the industry seems to be leaning so I’d just like to see some other aspects about this format embraced.

But back to the Graphic novel breakfast.


From left: Jeff Smith (author of Bone), Jeph Loeb (producer of Heroes and currently writing Hulk for Marvel), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), and Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer Prize-winner of Maus)

Here’s what I learned. Folks who write and illustrate comic books are passionate about them and a lot of writers have been doing this for some time—long before it was popular.

1. They all were slightly amused by the term graphic novelists.
2. They are, and always will be, comic book writers, thank you very much.
3. They are all slightly amused to be considered “cool” now as well.

The tipping point for comic books happened, for some reason, about 4 or 5 years ago and they knew it when librarians started coming to them with “no need to sell me on the format, I get it but what should I be buying? What’s Good?” That’s when the format had arrived into the mainstream. It’s also not just about comic book publishers anymore. Many traditional publishing imprints (like S&S and Random House) are buying comic books and positioning them like traditional books (for lack of a better word).

I found the whole breakfast, and especially Spiegelman’s visual presentation about the history and the how and why of how he go into it, particularly fascinating.

I certainly can’t say that I’ve been a long-time fan or anything like that but I’m interested. I certainly had a bunch of comic books when I was growing up (boy did this bring back memories) and many of my college buddies wrote, illustrated, and collected comic books so I was certainly exposed to the medium. Now I just need to get back in touch with those guys and say, “hey, your time has come. Maybe we need to dig out those works.”

Last but not least, I thought you’d get a kick out of seeing the author autographing stalls. One author called it horse racing in reverse. It does rather mimic that!