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STATUS: Went to Frankfurt with a cold. Had the cold during all of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Brought the cold home with me. Truly, I like to hang on to things.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? SHE'S NO LADY by Lyle Lovett
I figured blog readers would get a kick out of this. Agents Agents! As far as the eye can see… Kind of like Water Water everywhere and not a drop to drink.
Jamie Ford, who was there at the Fair meeting with his many foreign publishers, said it looked like a sweat shop and wondered where the sewing machines were. Rather apt.
It's definitely not romantic in any way shape or form. Agents sit down with scouts, territory co-agents, and editors to highlight frontlist titles as well as nice selling backlist titles that are available for translation sales. It's not unusual for a rights person to have 12 to 18 appointments in a day, back-to-back, and in thirty minute intervals. Lunch is often optional.
And Frankfurt is not London, Paris, or Rome (not to offend any German blog readers!) but the downtown area is probably the least charming European city I've been to. I imagine outside of the city centre there are lots of nice spots but considering what was available within walking distance of the hotel, it was slim pickings.
To offset the rather bland Frankfurt, a day trip to Heidelberg was in order! From Left: Jamie Ford, Me, Luceinne Diver (also a client of mine) and Elaine Spencer of The Knight Agency.
6 Comments on Frankfurt--Day After And Then Some, last added: 10/21/2011
Frankfurt is a great place to...change planes. But I did like being in the millieu of the Book Fair for the years I was there. If you have the energy for going around town in the evening, Sachsenhausen is fun.
Yes Heidelberg is neat. Two of my daughters were born there. They have a fireworks display monthly in the summer called the burning of they castle or they used to. Basing a visit to Germany on seeing Frankfurt is like standing in the middle of a forest and saying you saw the forest. You did but not really...Hope you made some friends and contacts out of it all.
I'm glad you got out and about. My birth certificate says Heidelberg, though I was actually born on the Autobahn. As both an Army brat and spouse, I have spent more than a few years of my life in Germany, so perhaps I am biased when I say there are plenty of charming and romantic places there. On the other hand, I would not put downtown Frankfurt on that list, either.
I've only been to Frankfurt twice and I didn't find the city particularly ugly. (Perhaps because I had a great time there, meeting some old friends and making new ones?) It's a perfectly ordinary city where people go about their ordinary lives. It certainly isn't picturesque in that tourist-attracting way some other cities have, but "picturesque" can be a real hassle if all you want is go about your daily business. Try going to Uni in Heidelberg and you'll know what I mean. (Must have been great in the 19th century...) Or live and work in Heidelberg near the city centre where from spring till autumn, there's one street festival after the other and more tourists than residents. Some days, it's just insane. If I ever had to choose between living in Heidelberg and living in Frankfurt, I'd choose the latter.
STATUS: All last week I was knocked out of commission by a nasty head cold. Winter hasn't even begun. Like the overachiever I am, just getting it done early.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? MR. JONES by Counting Crows
This week begins the madness that is the Frankfurt Book Fair and guess where yours truly happens to be.
For the last three years, I've made a point of attending each of the main book fairs: London, Bologna, and now Frankfurt. I have a foreign rights person so it's not imperative that I go specifically so you might be wondering why I pursued this goal.
You can't best support someone who is representing your authors until you've seen for yourself what the fairs are all about. It's helps significantly to prepare the rights and press sheets so that foreign editors can best utilize them if applicable to their markets.
Also, if an editor has bought a lot of your clients, nothing beats a face-to-face meeting simply to connect on a personal level.
For this year's fair, I have two authors with me: Gail Carriger and Jamie Ford. Both have sold tremendously abroad and have been bestsellers in several other countries besides the US.
So what does one do at Frankfurt? Lots and lots of meetings in the agents' centre which is about the size of two football fields. And I'm not exaggerating here.
The Fair is so big, it can literally take 30 minutes to walk from an appointment at one hall to another.
To put this in perspective, it only takes me 15 minutes to walk from my hotel to the Fair.
Tonight I attended two parties--one at the German publisher S. Fischer Verlag and the other held by Hachette at the Hessischer Hof.
The Hachette party was so packed, I literally walked in and had to stifle the urge to turn around and walk back out. Elbow to elbow. I thought the chances of my finding anyone for whom I might be looking would be slim but oddly enough, it worked.
The undefinable magic of Frankfurt.
14 Comments on Frankfurt Book Fair - Day 1, last added: 10/14/2011
Wow, that sounds like a very crowded but very nice time. Getting to meet, greet, and connect with new and old friends. I hope you enjoyed it. And glad your headcold is over with.
I'm continually impressed with the NLA. I met Sara earlier this summer at a writing conference in SLC. And I met Anita this last weekend at a conference in Park City.
I think it's pretty dang awesome that you'll go out there for your clients. You rock Kristen!
I met Gail last year when she was on a panel I moderated, and I imagine it'd be tremendous fun to travel with her even if you didn't have the awesome book fair to attend.
I think I understand your reasoning. Sometimes you just need to experience something hands-on for it to help your job best. I work in collection development at a library, and my work really improved once I started doing reference duties as well and got to see how the resources were being used. It made everything more real instead of abstract.
I know it's work...but it sounds like tons of fun too.
I've only been to Frankfurt once (36 hour layover.) Sadly, I was so sick (very first weeks of pregnancy) that I couldn't leave my hotel at all. Such a bummer.
Germans are true party animals. I spent seven years over there in the Army. Two years on an exhibition parachute team doing the opening ceremonies for beerfests, winefests and air shows. As it is fall, beware of the harvest wine it is wicked stuff. Enjoy yourself. Hope to hear of your adventures. My old wives cure for a head cold is 1000cc of Vitamin C and two tablespoons of honey in my coffee. The vitamin C will dry you out for several hours and the honey I think fights the cold. Works for me anyhow...
I hope you feel better soon! I swear by EmergenC and using a neti pot - especially after flying, which is just like closeting yourself in a flying box of germs. lol.
I think you should really count yourself lucky for what you do. You not only get to read the best books just as they're coming out, but you also get to travel around the world. :) That's so awesome. (However, this is not to say that your job isn't demanding, bc I know it is)
Sigh. I envy your globe hopping... but not the cold. Feel better!
A. said, on 10/14/2011 12:09:00 AM
I love the helpful advice and insider tidbits, but I think your blog could do with out the status updates and current iPod selections. It doesn't add anything of value and distracts from your writing, which is what I come here to read.
I disagree A. I've think the status updates and iPod selections are a clever way for Kristen to give her readers a small insight into her life outside of the office - it allows us to connect with her more across the blogosphere in a more personal way, without the 'tidbits' taking over. Keep it up!
Guys Lit Wire (GLW) is currently hosting its annual book fair, helping Ballou Senior High School in Washington D.C. buy 900 books for its half-filled shelves.
Readers can contribute by buying books for the library through Powell’s Books. The video embedded above shows the actual library. The book fair runs until May 18th.
GLW contributor Colleen Mondor explained in a post: “Ballou is very special to me as school librarian Melissa Jackson made such an eloquent case for her students’ need for more books. Her video, which shows so many empty shelves, really gave me reason to pause. There are probably more books in my house then Ballou has in this video and that is wrong in so many ways that I don’t even know where to begin. At the time the video was made early this year there were just over 1,150 books on the shelves at Ballou; there are over 1,200 students in the school. So there was barely one book for each student (the ALA standard is 11:1).”
I was browsing the Scholastic Book Fair at my grandson's school searching for something to suit his energetic, enthusiastic, imaginative and self-confident four-year-old brother. I fondly call him "Full-throttle."
The title and cover illustration of this book intrigued me. "That looks like something that might hold his interest for more than 45 seconds," I thought. So I thumbed through it. Then
0 Comments on Scholastic Books - Shark vs. Train as of 1/1/1900
The winter and spring seasons are great times of the year for book fairs and festivals. Authors can combine a little travel with a little book marketing and book promotion. Book fairs are wonderful places to interact with fellow authors, publishers, network with book industry leaders, locate a book publicist or book editor, and learn what’s new in the marketplace.
The major book conferences and conventions involve travel expenses such as airlines and hotel lodging, and a week’s investment of your time. But book fairs can be found close to home, easily accessed by car and are often only one or two days. A typical regional book fair will have 1,000 or more attendees and 100 or more exhibitors, providing a realistic exposure of 300 visitors a day. Why would an author not want to spend a Saturday and Sunday within 100 miles of home to meet 600 readers or a reporter, editor or book reviewer?
Book fairs are often attended by best-selling authors who will be willing to spend time with you sharing tips on writing, on how to be successful, and advice on where to find the help you need. For more information about book marketing visit http://www.book-marketing-expert.com and for upcoming book events on C-SPAN2 visit: http://www.BookTV.org
Here’s a list of Winter/Spring book fairs and book festivals worthy of your attendance:
1. London Book Fair, www.londonbookfair.co.uk, April 11-13, 2011 Earls Court, London, global marketplace for sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels
2. Philadelphia Book Festival, libwww.freelibrary.org/bookfestival/ April 11-16, 2011, Parkway Central, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, attended by 35,000 and more than 50 authors, performers
3. 2011 Dayton Book Expo, Christian Writers Marketplace, www.Daytonbookexpo.com, April 30, 2011, Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio, a great opportunity for authors of books on Christian topics.
4. Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/ a big festival attracting 150,000 readers, April 30-May 1, 2011
5. South Carolina Book Festival, www.scbookfestival.org/, May 14-15, 2011, Colombia Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia, SC, more than 6000 attend
6. BookExpo America, www.bookexpoamerica.com, May 23-26, 2011, Jacob Javits Center, NYC, the premier North American publishing event of the year
The bottom line: Make it a priority to visit a book fair in the coming weeks and months. You’ll be glad you did!
Oh, this book is way too funny! Kindergartners and first graders love this one, I'm sure.
I bought Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas for my grandson. But I think I'm going to tuck it away on my own bookshelf and forget to send it home with him!
The illustrations are bold, graphic, energetic and hilarious.
The 221 words of text be-bop around the four expressive dust bunnies. The two components
3 Comments on Scholastic Books - Rhyming Dust Bunnies, last added: 3/25/2011
That it is, Linda. My K-5 grandson has read it to me about 20 times already! And it'son the NC Children's Choice List.<br /><br />Blessings,<br />Jean
Oscar-nominated actress Julianne Moore, Emmy-nominated comedian Mindy Kaling, and journalist Jim Lehrer will host breakfast events at this year’s Book Expo America.
Moore, author of picture book Freckleface Strawberry, will preside over the children’s writers’ breakfast. Kaling (a writer at The Office) and Lehrer (author of both fiction and nonfiction) will host two adult writers’ breakfasts.
Here’s more from the press release: “The other speakers who will be joining the hosts for these popular events include Sarah Dessen, Roger Ebert, Anne Enright, Jefferey Eugenides, Charlaine Harris, Kevin Henkes, Diane Keaton, Erik Larson, and Brian Selznick. In addition, Katherine Paterson, who is the current Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will be saying a few words at the Children’s Breakfast on behalf of the Children’s Book Council.”
Children’s book character Madeline stars in this year’s L.A. Times’Festival of Books artwork. The illustration celebrates the new book,Madeline at the White House by John Bemelmans Marciano.
Marciano is the grandson of original Madeline author/illustrator, Ludwig Bemelmans. Jacket Copyreports: “He never met his grandfather, but he uses the same materials Bemelmans did, including gouache and ‘pens that you have to dip in ink.’ Ludwig Bemelmans started with a pencil sketch and then did an ink drawing over that — as does Marciano.”
In this video, the author explains that the new book was inspired by his grandfather’s friendship with former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. In total, Marciano has published five Madeline titles, continuing the six-book series created by his grandfather. Marciano has also written Bemelmans: The Life and Art of Madeline’s Creator and stand-alone titles like Harold’s Tail and There’s a Dolphin in the Grand Canal.
There will be no Cape Town Book Fair this year. The organizers explained in a website announcement: “The reason for this new move is that publishers in South Africa have voiced their support for a bi-annual Fair, starting in 2012.”
Last year, the event was held at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC). It boasted over 240 events, 273 exhibitors, and 33,488 visitors. The next festival is scheduled for June 12th-14th, 2012.
In addition, iafrica.com theorized that the organizer scrapped the event because only four out of South Africa’s “Big Six” publishers (NB, Jonathan Ball, Jacana, and Pan Macmillan) participated in the 2010 book fair.
The Asian American Writers' Workshop is hosting "Page Turner," its first all-day literary festival, this Saturday at Brooklyn's powerHouse Arena—and on Friday night, the Workshop will present Sonny Mehta with its Lifetime Achievement Award in a ceremony that features an appearance by one of Knopf's literary stars, Michael Ondaatje. There are two levels of access to the Friday night event: $50 lets you in on a cocktail reception at 7 p.m., but for $500 you can stick around for the gala dinner afterwards. (Both tickets include full access to Saturday's events, which are also priced separately or on a day-pass.)
Full disclosure: GalleyCat senor editor Ron Hogan is one of many guest speakers Saturday; he'll be moderating a discussion about "Queering the Asian-American Coming of Age Story" with novelists Alexander Chee, Abha-Dawesar, and Rakesh Satyal that afternoon.
The dust has finally settled on the 2009 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair and I am back in Portland and more or less recovered. I'll start with an apology for not posting while there, but the days were very long and I was stretched a bit too thinly.
We headed down on Thursday to drop our cases off, check into our hotel, check out the preview at Skinner and attend the cocktail event at the Boston Athenæum. The highlight of the day was unquestionably the wonderful even at the Athenæum.
I've included two images of from the BA's remarkable fifth floor. Membership (an extremely reasonably deal) is entirely justified by the privilege of spending some quite time in Boston in this extraordinary space. One image tries (and fails) to capture the beautiful design and execution of the bowed room at the end of the hall. The other shows one of the several alcoves and upper areas (this with Ken Sanders gazing down upon all he commands). Note the stairs built into the alcove face...there are many of these.
The evening at the BA was co-sponsor
0 Comments on Report from the trenches: Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair 2009 (and related bits) as of 1/1/1900
Well, we have made it safely...our books made it safely and all is well. We arrived on Tuesday and had the afternoon to have a wonderful late lunch at House of Nanking. I was lucky, several years ago, to have the person who first recommended it tell me to ignore the menu completely and ask that the chef just send out little things (the functional equiv. of dim sum). They ask how hungry you are (very) and they send out the right amount. We also discovered that they have a newly opened sister restaurant (see below). I also picked up three new books...woohoo.
Wed. Suzanne worked while I, too, worked...however, her work involved phone calls and reports and cogent mental efforts, whereas my work involved going out to North Berkeley and visiting one of the few truly great experiential shops in the US. It is difficult to say how much I
love Serendipity Books, Peter B. and the nature and spirit of the shop. I found a few things and took home something that has hung in the shop as long as I can remember...more on this at some point in the distant future.
We had a very nice dinner Wed. night at Miss Siagon with Brad and Jeniffer (of The Book Shop). The food was good, the company was better. We went back to the hotel (our strange and pleasing little literary themed inn down the road from the hall)...I catalogued for a bit but mostly rested up.
We were at the hall at 8am. I left at about 5pm. To be fair, I kibitzed a fair bit and even did a bit of shopping. Thee booth looks pretty good...amazing what having nice books to show will do for a booth . It is always amazing what comes out of the woodwork at fairs. Strong contingent of UK booksellers, all of whom will head down to LA next weekend. Really just a great group. It is shaping up to be a good show...now we just need humans to come wanting to buy books.
A pretty big group of us (10) all traipsed over to Fang, the recently opened "sister restaurant" to House of Nanking. We were able to do the same thing...that is, ask the chef to bring out surprises for us and he did a remarkable job. All told, about 13 dishes were brought out (including some alternatives for the two vegetarians in the party). The two standouts for me were the "duck bun appetizer" (think peking duck slider...very interesting and wonderfully flavorful) and the "Lettuce Beef" (no lettuce, wickedly good). I had a nice unfiltered sake. We finished with a complimentary little desert and a chinese liqueur that was a lovely, simple finish.
I've a few new slips to clip and then to sleep. Show opens at 10am. Come join us if you can.
0 Comments on Set-up for (and a great dinner in) San Francisco... as of 1/1/1900
It was a quite a day. We started a bit late...arriving shortly after opening this morning. I think we both thought it opened at 11am...and we were good and early for that . Once there, things were great fun. We bought a lovely book this morning for a client...always nice when you can make a friend happy buy buying a good book and make one's clients happy for selling them a good book. Met some interesting folk during the day and sold a few more.... Happy book folk all around...
The show wrapped up at 5pm. We packed up our cases and turned them over to Caladex, a logistics company that specializes moving books, art and the like from point A to point B. In this case, the value of having them put my cases on a pallet, wrap them in plastic and take them down to LA where they will magically be waiting for me in my booth is of great value... We made it back to the hotel, had a nice, quick dinner with friends (and a very decedent desert: "funnel cake sunday"...every bit as healthy as it sounds).
A special thanks to Philip Pirages. At the end of the day, I changed into comfy cloths (and, most importantly, comfy shoes). When I changed in the men's room, I placed my iPhone, hotel key, a check or two and various other bits of brick-a-brac on the wee shelf. When I did this, I *consciously* thought, I must not forget these things. ... In the ensuing minute or two, I completely forgot them... Philip came by the booth about 15 minutes later, my wayward bits in hand, and asked if I was missing anything. I am very grateful to have friends and colleagues who try to save me from myself. Philip Pirages, purveyor of beautiful books and finder of misplaced critical items. Thank you, again.
0 Comments on Day Two in SanFran, Packing up, & another reason I am fond of Phillip Pirages as of 1/1/1900
We checked out of the Carriage Inn (think typewriter carriage, not horse and...). It was as it has been previously, nice, clean, quite inexpensive and very well located for the shows at the Concourse. We look forward to returning in 2011.
Our luck on this trip continued (twice) today. When I went to pick up our rental car (in theory, a "mid-sized") for the one-way trip to LA, I was asked "if I minded" driving a larger/nicer car down. I said, "No...I really wanted the small POS car I had requested". The clerk, however, was charming and persuasive, so I finally relented and accepted the Ford Flex (it is the bastard child of a Ford Bronco and station wagon...largish and squarish). Interestingly, as soon as I plugged the my iPhone and iPod, the car synced my playlists to the car's system (not expecting this, surprised when the car spoke to me that it had synced ). It also effortlessly paired the car system to my phone. Very slick in a rental... Thus we were off to Woodside, CA to visit old, dear friends and have an outrageously good lunch. We pulled into Whit and Mary's around 1 and immediately headed off to lunch (though, sadly, Mary could not join us as one of their wonderful Tibetan Mastiffs was just back from the doctor and she needed to baby her).
We returned to the scene of last year's gastronomic excess, The Village Pub...this time for lunch. The volume might be different for lunch, but the style, substance and flair is every bit as wonderful. We each ordered...with the agreement that we would all share...I love foodies. For lunch we had:
Delicata Squash Soup / Brown Butter (this was a gift of the house)
Rabbit Boudin Blanc / Braised Cabbage and Pancetta / Sautéed Pink Lady Apples (Ian) Wild Nettle and Goat Cheese Agnolotti / Meyer Lemon Cream Sauce (Suzanne) Slow Grilled Leg of Lamb / Mint Pistou / Chickpea Fries and Sauteed Rapini (Whit)
Pear and Frangipane Tart / Vanilla Ice Cream (Ian) Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta / Huckleberry Compote / Sour Lemon Meringue (Suzanne) Trio of Gelatos (Whit) (and) Bottle of 2005 Mas Doix "Salanques" Priorat (mostly Suz and Whit...Ian driving) Tanzanian Peaberry coffee (French press) (Ian)
I am not going to go into further detail. Suffice it to say, The Village Pub is one of my favorite places to eat and I am very grateful (both re girth and wallet) that I am only in the area once a year or so. Do not miss an opportunity to eat there.
We had a nice visit, as always, with Whit talking about tech, crypto, food, wine, books, dogs, other bits of this and that (being nearer to Whit and Mary would be one of the few compelling reasons to move to the west coast). We made plans to meet in the east when Whit is over to speak (Bonus: Short TechReview Interview re Security & Cloud Computing). We also met the newest (and shyest) of the dogs. Though we missed Mary, we had a wonderful time.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
We then headed down to the B&B recommended by our friends Dan and Susan, The Jabberwock Inn in Monterey. Here our luck (on several fronts) continued. Having booked their smallest room (and been pleased to be extended a winte
0 Comments on SF to Monterey-Great Food, Friends and a few books... as of 1/1/1900
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….
12 Comments on Bologna Children’s Book Fair—Day One, last added: 3/25/2010
You lucky thing! Enjoy the food, Bologna is the nation's food capital. I've never been to Bologna, but if it's anything like Venice then you'll have a wonderful time (when you can sneak out of the conference).
Oh what fun!!!! I know the lack of wifi stinks but that only succeeds in making our mouths water all the more for details of your trip! And the food...
I'm along for the ride. Haven't been on a gondola in 25 years! Been all over Italy backpacking, but not to Bologna. Enjoy and thanks for sharing. This will be my first vicarious conference!
Hi Kristin, Kay Rush here. An American ex-pat-author-journalist who spent most of her adult life in Italy. I read about you in Agent Query and was about to send you a query letter for my two (published in Italy) novels and then I came upon your blog...and there you are! In Italia! If you eat meat, make sure you try the lasagne al forno and ragu Bolognese. Kay Rush (Internet in Italy: if it were up to Berlusconi,the Internet would be censored as it is in China)
How did we ever survive before high speed internet?!
How quickly we got used to it. I never touched a real computer until I was around 20 and the "web" didn't make an appearance for several years after that - and many years after that before high speed, but still if a page takes more than a second to load I'm grumbling about how slow it is!
Wish I was there too - or anywhere but here where it's 10F today and windy. I'm still deciding on a birthday trip for my birthday in December - maybe go to something like this!
STATUS: Currently sitting on a terrace in Florence and drinking wine.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? Nothing at the moment.
I’m back!
A bad internet connection at my hotel made any daily blogging difficult. I actually tried popping up to press room one afternoon as it had been rumored there was free internet there. Alas, that was not so. I’m also on vacation this coming week so I’m going to post a bunch of entries today to get you through the week.
Bologna in a Wrap Up.
1. The “big” book of the fair was a middle grade fantasy called EMERALD ATLAS. From the buzz I heard, there was a large auction in the US for the title at the same time a lot of foreign publishers decided to kick in some good money as well.
On the whole, this was seen as a positive sign that middle grade could make a little resurgence soon as sales have been slow in this arena—despite a lot of editors looking for good MG material.
2. Almost all foreign editors expressed some fatigue in vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and all things paranormal. Despite that, these titles were still selling like crazy in their territories so I’m not sure what to tell you. I actually got a lot of interest in my fun vampire books as they are a bit different but on the whole, foreign editors weren’t jumping on things paranormal unless it was a ‘big” book.
3. YA is still hot.
4. Foreign editors love Ally Carter. She seems to be the one non-paranormal author who works well abroad. We just found out she is a bestseller in Brazil. How fun is that?
There it is in a nutshell really.
8 Comments on Bologna Children’s Book Fair—Days 2 Thru 4, last added: 3/30/2010
That's good news about middle grade books. I also read that Harper Teen picked up a new series in a seven figure deal from a debut YA author named Josephine Angelini.
Your nutshell of information is so helpful. I'm glad to hear that there's a need for more middle grade fiction since that's what I write. Have a great vacation.
Thank you for taking the time to blog even with your vacation looming! I'm curious. What is considered a 'big' book? Is it a book with a lot of buzz, or one of extreme length, a la Twilight etc?
STATUS: Fighting the flu. Kristin—0 Flu—10 I’m getting my you-know-what kicked.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? NOTION by Kings of Leon
As you can imagine, the first week back in the office after being gone for 2 weeks is a bit chaotic. In fact, today I didn’t even make it there thanks to being sick. I really had no desire to pass this lovely illness on to Anita or Sara. If I don’t have a fever tomorrow, maybe I’ll go in but I’m thinking it will be more like Wednesday.
As promised (since blogger is no longer acting up) I can finally share pics from the Bologna Children’s Book Fair so you can get a visual—a little snippet of what it was like to be there. Besides, this is all my brain is capable of doing at the moment.
Here I am sitting at my table in the Agents Center. Behind me is Riley Ellis from 20th Century Fox Studios.
Out to dinner. Author and Agent comraderie! Starting from left: me, clients Sarah Rees Brennan and Ally Carter. Next to Ally is Cassandra Clare's husband Josh, Cassie Clare, Maureen Johnson and her agent Kate Testerman. Cassie's agent Barry Goldblatt is taking the picture.
Jamie Ford's HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, an Italian bestseller, in the front window of the main bookstore in Bologna. That was so cool to see in person.
In the Agents Centre. From left: me, Irene Calpe of Versatil Spain. Next to her is Sarah Rees Brennan. Irene is Sarah's Spanish editor for THE DEMON'S LEXICON. Standing next to her is Consuela, Editorial Director of Versatil.
STATUS: Today I worked on finishing a contract (pre-new boilerplates) which did conclude. I really tackled emails in my inbox as well. Now I just have to tackle the slew of royalty statements we get in April.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? GREETINGS TO THE NEW BRUNETTE by Billy Brag
Today is a little potpourri of things.
1. Penguin Australia issued a more formal apology for Cookbook misprint. Sounds like a PR person got a hold of the situation. Grin.
2. Foreign rights co-agent did not make it to London (as you probably have already guessed). On the upside, perhaps more folks will come to BEA at the end of May. As you can imagine, reports from the LBF floor have been quiet. Great for the folks who did make it there though. Will the lack of a robust LBF deter foreign sales? Well, nothing beats conveying enthusiasm for a title in person so that’s the downside for sure. On the whole, I don’t think so. It will be hard to have the “big book of the fair” but I imagine most sales will get done via email and phone.
I don’t envy their journey home…
3. Business has resumed in Poland. We’ve been careful about waiting but today we got emails from folks in that territory so we felt comfortable resuming communication, negotiations, etc.
4. In watching Deal Lunch for the last couple of months, I’m starting to see quite a few more sales listed than I have in the past months. This is a good sign as I take it to mean that editors are starting to get back to buying.
Kristin, I'm glad to hear you say that editors are starting to buy again. :) You aren't the first agent I've heard that from this week. (My fingers are crossed. Maybe the economy is turning around...)
Hmm, I know you have some Orbit authors. What do you think of the new digital short fiction program Orbit is launching? Scalzi talked about it quite a bit on his blog and sounded extremely skeptical about it.
It brings us no greater pleasure than when we see tangible examples that prove that the bookpocalypse that is constantly being predicted is not imminent. Hence my joy at this wonderful PW article citing that this weekend’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was a great success that drew record crowds of 130,000 attendees. Nice going LA! The Huffington Post has a good recap of the events--uh, including a seemingly unrelated Tetris flash mob at the festival. But who am I to complain? I love a good flash mob almost as much as I love Tetris.
What’s your favorite thing about book fairs, readers? Aside from mingling with like-minded book lovers, of course!
4 Comments on The LA Times Book Fest, last added: 4/27/2010
Finding new authors and getting the chance to get old books signed by favorite writers, for sure. I'm so sad I happened to be out of town the weekend of the LA Book Fair. Next year for sure! I will fight the traffic to get there.
I have to say it's the sheer choice. I went to a book fair in Bangalore a few years ago and it was just tents and tents FULL of books. Many were books I'd heard of, and even more were books I was just so thrilled to discover for the first time.
I'm convinced my love of buying books will bankrupt me. But that's exactly why I think the 'bookpocalypse' is never going to happen. Too many people love to read far too much.
Book fairs are well-stocked buffets where I can sample the works of new authors, meet fellow book enthusiasts and continue stocking my already groaning TBR pile.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? YOU AIN’T THINKING (ABOUT ME) by Sonia Dada
You guys can’t possibly have missed that Book Expo is next week in New York. Yes, I’ll be heading there on Sunday. Y’all know what this means. Spotty blogging unless they’ve got good free wireless from the fair floor.
I’ll have my netbook handy just in case so I can blog at a moment’s notice.
So you tell me, what do you want your intrepid literary agent blogger to report from the floor?
I’ll try and accommodate.
21 Comments on Book Expo 2010, last added: 5/23/2010
And how would it be possible to get signed first editions of e-books. Annd how one would submit their original e-book manuscripts to a library of archive
Anonymous said, on 5/20/2010 9:33:00 PM
Various self-publishers (Lulu, iUniverse, etc) have been offering authors "have your book featured at the BEA" -- i.e. pay money and the book will be featured in a catalog, available at a booth, etc. I've been assuming these are basically new ways to rip off naive authors, but I am curious whether anyone is actually visiting those booths, and if so who and what are they looking for? Thanks :)
What YA trends are holding or wanning? Hope the Backspace Conference is great, too. I loved this conference last year, but wasn't able to go this year. Maybe next. :)
I'd also love to know what publishers/agents foresee as the next trend in middle grade & YA, and also, if you can find out what they'd like to see published (aka their "wishlist". Thanks, Kristin! :)
Kristin, I'd love to get a sense of the level of resources being put into marketing at the Expo--ie, the displays, an abundance (or lack of) ARCs, if display materials are being cut back significantly, etc...Thanks!
What trend or book is there that you think everyone is missing?
Or what book do you think has the potential to be big and what's holding it back right now to where it isn't a hot topic at BEA? And what made you notice it?
When it comes to creating a buzz about books, book bloggers are definitely an appreciated group within the industry. Immediately after BEA 2010, the first Book Bloggers Convention took place in New York City's Javits Center.
As a wonderful resource for publicists, agents, and authors, the convention site offers a directory with all the book bloggers who attended as well as links to their respective blogs. Follow this link to explore the list.
The event boasted an attendance of almost 250 book bloggers who heard speakers discuss topics such as ethical professionalism, marketing, the author-blogger relationship, and a keynote speech given by Maureen Johnson.
Support Your Fellow Kidlit Authors and Illustrators! Event, readings, and signings in Southern California for the month of September are as follows:
SEPTEMBER KIDLIT EVENTS:
Thursday, Sept 9th
7 pm: Kathy Charles presents and signs John Belushi is Dead at Book Soup 8818 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90096 Phone: (310) 659 3110
Friday, Sept 1oth
4 pm: Nancy Holder presents and signs her new YA Fantasy Crusade at Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop located at 1030 Bonita Avenue, La Verne, CA 91750.
Saturday, Sept 11th
10:30 am: Naomi Howland reads from and signsPrincess Says Goodnight at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, California 91101
11 am: Lee Wind, M.Ed. present SMASHING STEREOTYPES! Writing Workshop with author Francesca Lia Block at Book Soup 8818 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90096 Phone: (310) 659 3110.
11 am: Jamie Lee Curtis signs her newest book My Mommy Hung the Moon at A Whale of a Tale Bookstore at 4199 Campus Drive Suite A, Irvine, CA 92612.
Thursday, Sept 16th
4 pm: Brian Lies shares his children’s book Bats at the Ballgame at Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop located at 1030 Bonita Avenue, La Verne, CA 91750.
Friday, Sept 17th
6:30 pm: Vroman’s Young Adult Book Group discusses The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor at Vroman’s Hastings Ranch 3729 E. Foothill Blvd, Pasadena, California 91107
Monday, Sept 20th
4 pm: Adam Jay Epstine and Andrew Jacobson share their book The Familiars at A Whale of a Tale Bookstore at 4199 Campus Drive Suite A, Irvine, CA 92612.
4 pm: Jennifer Fosberry reads and signs her picture book My Name is Not Isabella at Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop located at 1030 Bonita Avenue, La Verne, CA 91750.
Thursday, Sept 23rd
10:30 am: Sara Penny Packer and Marla Frazee read and sign the new book in the Clementine Series at Children’s Book World at 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064.
4:30 pm: Sara Penny Packer and Marla Frazee read and sign the new book in the Clementine Series at A Whale of a Tale Bookstore at 4199 Campus Drive Suite A, Irvine, CA 92612.
Saturday, Sept 25th
11 am: Jamie Lee Curt
0 Comments on September 2010: KidLit Events in Southern California as of 9/10/2010 12:38:00 AM
According to Book Signing Central, former President George W. Bush will make an appearance on November 11th at the National Museum of the US Air Force. Next, Bush will open the Miami Book Fair on November 14th.
The Washington Post reports: “Bush is scheduled to speak at the 27th annual Miami Book Fair International, which runs from Nov. 14-21. The former president will present his memoir ‘Decision Points,’ on Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. Book fair organizers told The Associated Press that tickets to Bush’s presentation are $40. That includes a presigned copy of the book.”
Children’s book character Madeline stars in this year’s L.A. Times’ 
There will be no Cape Town Book Fair this year. The organizers explained in 
The 
Well, we have made it safely...our books made it safely and all is well. We arrived on Tuesday and had the afternoon to have a wonderful late lunch at 
According to 
Frankfurt is a great place to...change planes. But I did like being in the millieu of the Book Fair for the years I was there. If you have the energy for going around town in the evening, Sachsenhausen is fun.
Yes Heidelberg is neat. Two of my daughters were born there. They have a fireworks display monthly in the summer called the burning of they castle or they used to. Basing a visit to Germany on seeing Frankfurt is like standing in the middle of a forest and saying you saw the forest. You did but not really...Hope you made some friends and contacts out of it all.
I love the beer.
I'm glad you got out and about. My birth certificate says Heidelberg, though I was actually born on the Autobahn. As both an Army brat and spouse, I have spent more than a few years of my life in Germany, so perhaps I am biased when I say there are plenty of charming and romantic places there. On the other hand, I would not put downtown Frankfurt on that list, either.
Frankfurt - I went there on a business trip, alone, about 15 years ago. I hated every minute of it. Worse city I ever visited in my life.
I've only been to Frankfurt twice and I didn't find the city particularly ugly. (Perhaps because I had a great time there, meeting some old friends and making new ones?) It's a perfectly ordinary city where people go about their ordinary lives. It certainly isn't picturesque in that tourist-attracting way some other cities have, but "picturesque" can be a real hassle if all you want is go about your daily business. Try going to Uni in Heidelberg and you'll know what I mean. (Must have been great in the 19th century...) Or live and work in Heidelberg near the city centre where from spring till autumn, there's one street festival after the other and more tourists than residents. Some days, it's just insane. If I ever had to choose between living in Heidelberg and living in Frankfurt, I'd choose the latter.