The London Book Fair 2016 And Meeting An Agent

Every New Year I start counting down the weeks until I visit The London Book Fair in the Spring and this year I spent two days at the fair's 45th anniversary event. Although Olympia is more difficult to get to than Earl's Court (where the fair used to be held), its natural lighting and a balcony view of events and stands, make it an altogether more pleasant internal space. There's always a huge amount to be discovered at the fair. There were companies that could convert your book to digital, seminars that showed different approaches to marketing and the exciting thing is, you just might have a chance meeting that could lead to future success. Publishing professionals from around the world meet each year, to learn, network and do business. The London Book Fair is the leading global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. The fair is a unique opportunity to explore, understand and capitalise on the innovations shaping the publishing world of the future.

On Tuesday 12th April I saw some of the industry’s leading names, including acclaimed British novelist, screenwriter, director and actor, Julian Fellowes and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, John Whittingdale. Jeffrey Archer was also spotted in the English PEN Literary Salon where he shared his thoughts on all things publishing.

Tuesday’s Author of the Day was Marian Keyes. Marian is one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time. Storming into print in 1995 with Watermelon, Marian created a genre that she has dominated and redefined ever since. What a lovely lady with a delicious sense of humour.

Wednesday was a Shakespearian experience which was apt as it was the eve of the four hundred year anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. There was a full line-up of inspired readings, talks and appearances about and written by the Bard of Avon. The London Book Fair 2016 welcomed renowned writers to the stage in his honor. I listened to Tracy Chevalier at the English PEN Literary Salon, where she told a packed audience about her upcoming Hogarth Shakespeare project.

Wednesday’s Fair was also visited by prolific cookery book authors, Si and Dave. (Maybe you know them as the Hairy Bikers.) They visited their publisher Orion, at the Hachette stand.

It's easy to meet fellow writers in the cafes and become engrossed in conversation, swapping notes and simply enjoying the company of other writers who'd come to explore. This year a handful of writers had been given the chance to secure a one-to-one chat with a literary agent by submitting a chapter and synopsis, weeks before The London Book Fair started. I was delighted to have my work chosen and I was emailed by Midas PR and given a time to meet the agent. I met another lady who had also been selected to speak with a different agent, and I was delighted to have a chat with her and ease our nerves before our meetings. Sadly it wasn’t a pitch with an agent, but I had an interesting talk in the Author HQ theatre with Ed Victor Limited’s, Charlie Brotherstone. We discussed Vichy France, the continued popularity of war novels and the publishing industry in general. I did wonder why we'd been asked to submit sample work, but I imagine it’s because they wanted agents to meet with writers who were serious about their craft and had written complete novels.

Now it's back to work by continuing to write my fourth novel. I have until the end of August to send my manuscript to the Romantic Novelists' Association's New Writers' Scheme, so I'd better get writing...