It Doesn't Just Drizzle in Beijing

In my life I've spent a total of maybe 18 days in Beijing (with about 4 left on this trip) and, while that's not exactly a long time, I've never seen a single rain drop. Today, the second morning of BIBF 2009, its absolutely pouring outside.

Bad news for formal wear, but, if you want to follow me in this medaphor, maybe good news for us. The first day of the fair didn't drizzle, it poured. Halls were packed with people, meeting tables had every seat full, Spain-the country of honor-was hopping with activity, the American Collective Stand was abuzz, and where I am in the International Children's Publishing Exhibit was packed wall to wall. The weather today might be soaking, but the people inside are bright with enthusiasm.

A few negative notes that aren't really new news include some major downsizes or complete lack of presence at the show from some major players. We in the US, as well as the UK are smaller, Canada's not even here, and many of the other international collectives are smaller than previous years.

But its still pouring with activity insid-and I'm going to project, perhaps because no one wants to get wet outside?-that today will be a good day in the halls.

(Let's ignore that I haven't blogged since London, ok?)

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Important Update!

I could not have dropped the ball further when it comes to posting blogs. However, I know when soemthing's worth dropping everything and writing about, and I know that a letter I got today is just that.

The following comes from my friend, a librarian in New York City:

"I will be honest. I want to save my job. I actually quite like it. And I think the kids do too! People start lining up 30 minutes before the library opens to get tickets for Toddler Time. We string yarn across the conference room and crawl through the web. (Then, we sit in the middle and learn about spiders.) We make shadow puppets. We create our own computer animations. We dance!

Most importantly, we read (yes, kids still do that).

I urge you to write your City Council Member or Mayor and tell them how important the library is to you. NYPL has a pop-up prompt on their homepage that will help generate an email to your local official within minutes. Please, pass this on."

If you don't live in the NYC area, this letter isn't directly to you, but it can serve as a wakeup call that your local area library system might be facing the same issues. Take the time to find out, and see if there's anything you can do to help!

Whether your a reader, a publisher or an author, libraries are your place to get a new book, sell a book, market a book, promote a book, sign a book, and help everyone READ!

Coming to an End...Again

I feel like my life is made up of a few three-to-four day periods at a time, and sadly this, one of the better three day periods, comes to an end later today. But, as it's not ended yet, and I still need to recap yesterday, I'm not yet ready to call it the end, just coming to it.

Yesterday, the second day of London Book Fair 2009, was another one full of great traffic, lots of meetings and lots of inquiries to the New Title Showcase. Aside from the exhibits I'm working, lots of "future of publishing" and "next big market" discussions were had. I can only speak for me, but I'm getting a big impression that although India is the Country of Honour here this year, The Arab World is still the buzz. They're still striking up a lot of conversations--even one's that they're not actually involved in--and while a lot of people seem to be sold on India as one of the next great English Language markets, the Arab World is still an unexplored territory that a lot of people are happy and excited to explore.

Aside from official business, I spent a lot of my day yesterday doing things surrounding the Society of Young Publishers here in the UK. I've spent at least six months trying to conjure up something similar in the states (with lots and lots of help of course), but we've so far just had a few ideas. However, yesterday I was re-energized not just from the great stuff fed to us by the SYP, but also by the few American's there that are pumped to start something similar as well. (I should not that the AAP has a group for Young Publishers that is just great!..but it doesn't meet the needs of many of the people I've met around the world). The SYP also hosted an event that they call Cannon Tales, which is a series of publishing professionals sharing their stories in different ways. Last night's stories were told with pictures. Each presenter had 7 minutes to tell their story using different pictures that remained on the screen for 21 seconds each. It was awesome...

...and so has been LBF!!

Not Quiet

A few nights ago when I went out to dinner, the bosses and I were deciding what to wear, unsure if the restaurant was more formal or casual, when one of my bosses said "everyone could use the money, what are they going to do? Not seat us?" to which our friend from the Publishers Association here in the UK replied, "I don't think we've been hit as hard as you yet here." The hard hitting she spoke of was, of course, the economy, and judging from the traffic here at London Book Fair, she's completely right.

That's not to say that it's busier than years past (or year past in my case as I've only attended once before), but it's certainly not "no one has any money for the fair" quiet. It's really great.
And, speaking of really great, the New Title Showcase, in its new location is making a killing. This is the first time the exhibit's not at the very front of the hall, but in the main thorofair between the two halls of the show. It's a much more logical location for people to spend their free time than the front of the hall, and it garners traffic from people who have destinations anywhere in the hall. And we're collecting quite a lot of impressive leads from some pretty impressive visitors to the exhibit. Let's hope they all lead to good things.

Today is the International Society of Young Publishers conference that I'll be attending. I'm interested to see how other countries facilitate young publishers, in the hopes we can expand what's currently in the US. Lots more on all that after.

Excitment Fom Home Whilst in London

We're two days into building our stand here at the London Book Fair. Things are going more smootly than we could have imagined (knock on wood). Everything's built and spotted, and all that's left it to unpack a TON of stuff. Surprising that we're not even unpacked after two ten hour days, but we have a lot of space here, including the New Title Showcase.

However, while all that is all well and good, the really exciting news of our day (which is coming to an end soon, as it is approaching 6PM here), is that PubMatch got covered in Publishers Weekly!! You all remember PubMatch, don't you? Well we're expecting lots of big things from the site, and now that the news is officially released, we're hoping to help connect publishers, agents, authors and soon illustrators world wide! Keep checking the site for new members, and maybe your perfect match is there too!

Cheers!

Does Time Fly or What?

Wow! You know what I’m doing tomorrow? I’m going to London for The London Book Fair. If that doesn’t say time flies, I don’t know what does. I literally just unpacked from Bologna.

Not that I’m complaining—I love being busy, in part because it makes the time go by so quick, and it doesn’t feel like such a long time before fun and exciting things like The London Book Fair. Before you know it, it’ll be BEA, and I’ll be waiting in line to get Chuck Klosterman’s autograph. That’s right, the Klosterman will be there. Be sure to check out the BEA site and see who else is signing this year.

In the meantime, will I see you in London? I’ll be there with bells on, and I’ll be plenty busy there too. In fact, if you’re there, and consider yourself part of the young demographic, I definitely recommend checking out the Society of Young Publishers round table about international young publishing groups. I’ll be there giving some perspective from the US on the topic. Why? Because I’ve done my research, and I might have something related planned for YOU. Seriously.

Drop me a line if you’ll be in London and we’ll enjoy near-the-source Guinness together!

For Us, For You

I'm currently away again, in upstate New York for the New York Reading Association. The first full day is today, so if I'm lucky and can keep my eyes open, I'll try to update something about it later tonight or tomorrow. But in the meantime, BookBrunch, a daily publishing industry newsletter has a very short note about Americans and the Bologna Book Fair. Check it out here.