Posted on April 21st, 2009
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.
