Bologna Book Fair

I know that Kirsten Nelson is there, though she hasn't said much about it yet.

Wrong, she started blogging about it today: http://pubrants.blogspot.com/

My agent's there now and she's got a large chunk of my manuscript with her. Am waiting to hear if she's going to show it to anyone.

MM

I know some people who do acquisitions of books to film are gonna be there.....

I loved Kristen's pic from the gondola.

So, regular peeps go there like they do to SCBWI or is it just the biz peeps?

What is the main business going on? Is it publishers promoting books to booksellers, with editors acquiring as a secondary occurrence? Or something else?

There are a number of literary agencies with official stands - see catalogue.

Bologna is basically one big schmooz where all kinds of deals are negotiated. As far I can tell, it's about building relationships as much as anything else. I'm not sure about representation from the US, but major European and UK booksellers will be attending to find out what's hot.

kellion92:
What is the main business going on? Is it publishers promoting books to booksellers, with editors acquiring as a secondary occurrence? Or something else?

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According to the Bologna website here:

Bologna Website:
In Bologna, authors, illustrators, literary agents, TV & Film producers, licensors and licensees, packagers, distributors, printers, booksellers, and librarians meet to:
• sell & buy copyright
• find the very best of children’s publishing and multimedia production
• generate and gather new contacts while strengthening professional relationships
• discover new business opportunities
• discuss and debate the latest sector trends

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I've heard it's also a bloody good laugh.

MM

Exactly. The parties and dinners are reputed to be magnificent.

Lots of cross-selling between publishers too - translation deals etc.

All adds to the pot.

my agent is a book scout as well as an agent, and she's all over these fairs -- lots of facilitating international deals. I happened to be in Frankfurt a week after the Frankfurt Book Fair, missing both her & it. I mourned. LOTS of free books, I hear.

My agent said it's one of the biggest book fairs of the year....and that I probably won't be hearing from editors the weeks before/during/after or so because they are all over there. Boo!

Mine too, Roly.

I've only sent a few requests out with virtually no response. I don't expect to hear anything until mid April now - still checking the inbox though!

Roly said:

Does anyone know much about the event, what's going on, who's attending etc.?

Is anyone there now or know someone who's there? Going by twitter, quite a few agents/YA authors are there now

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*slips in the room* Here's some data in it--

It's the biggie for international sales in "kidlit" (incl YA), whereas Frankfurt & London have a wider scope.

Some deals happen, of course, but a lot of the deals are afterwards or right before to "get a jump on" the fair. My agent & my US publisher & most of my overseas publishers are there. My US subrights team (bc my WL books were sold to Harper as World Rights, so they handle internat'l deals) will meet w representatives of many of my overseas houses. They do this for their catalogue, but they also make deals & reach out when theu are here at home.

Like BEA, a few books have giant posters in the booth. Harper, iirc, has 6 or 8 of them. AFAIK, my books don't have one this year, but they have in the past. These are sorta like movie posters--lures to make folks stop.

My agent & the foreign rights folks at my agency are there too. Most of the big agencies go, & some of the boutiques go. Aside from selling, there are business things they will tend for me while there (in part bc Writers House handles rights to my adult books).

Yes, film agents are there too. Mine actually found me bc of Bologna last year. There was some buzz, & she returned stateside & inquired. . . which worked out pretty well bc a few months later I needed an agent bc Universal came calling.

So, in part it's like BEA--lots of houses showcasing their wares. Some author panels, signings, & chances to meet your overseas team. To contextualize: BEA showcases them for booksellers; ALA does it for librarians; and the European bookfairs (London, Frankfurt, & Bologna) do it for international sales. Bologna is primarily kidlit.

I am not there, but I'm sorta giddy that my agent, my film agent, my foreign rts folks are all there. PLUS, my editor is out this week . . . I'm loving their absences (& subsequent lack of email) more than I would love being there

Hope the data part helps.