London Book Fair Report: Day 2
April 13, 2011 
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Yesterday I posted a London Book Fair Report of day 1 courtesy of Leila Dewji. We looked at what the fair is like from the outset, news and other happening ans shared some great news coming out the fair for self publishers what glossy papers concerned. Well, Leila is doing coverage of all three days, amidst being extremely exhausted. Here is her report.
The fair is simply buzzing with digital possibility. Authors and agents want to know from us how to make the most from ebook and print-on-demand publishing. Even established authors are looking towards self-publishing because the return is simply better, they can be in complete control of publication and their old publishers may no longer show interest in them.
In a hasty, overdue lunch break, a senior director at McMillian said:
In all my years of publishing there has never been a time like this, everything is up for grabs,…
Acorn’s self-publishing masterclass was jam-packed today (yesterday). Ok, we did promise party bags as it was Sales & Marketing Director, Ali’s birthday, but it was a full house nontheless. All sorts of people are keen to know more about self-publishing, young, old, experienced authors and debuts too. I gave a potted history of the publishing industry according to me, based on my experiences at Orion (part of Hachette) and at a literary agency.
Things being remembered.
- Price fixing.
- Aggressive discounting.
- Supermarkets becoming booksellers.
- Recession.
Something had to give and, unfortunately, it was the authors.
Discussion points.
- How the print-on-demand model works
- How ebooks are made
- How authors can really make money from ebooks
- The critical path a manuscript goes through to become a book on sale in a book store.
Interesting stories.
One of our launch authors, Kate Nivison was on hand to talk about her experiences of self-publishing vs. that of trade publishing. There were so many questions, that the organisers had to usher us out of the room, but we were followed by a crowd of authors with interesting questions to ask.
One woman grabbed her bags and ran out the door, informing us Kazuo Ishiguro was being interviewed, but we weren’t offended at all. We were just glad that we didn’t lose any more of our audience – quite an author to compete with!
Challenges vs. opportunities.
The opportunities of self-publishing seem to be stretching ever-wider with printers offering a larger range of paper stocks, binding options and jacket finishes for print-on-demand. We spoke to one printer today that was confident he could deliver a beautiful art paper hardback photography book as print-on-demand – we will be scrutinizing samples and getting back to you.
Importance of distribution.
Tomorrow we will be tackling the distributors.
- Distribution is a key part of the self-publishing process.
- Authors need to be able to get their work in to the right catalogues that bookstores actually buy from.
- The relationship between the printer and the distributor needs to be solid.
No doubt we will have some ‘interesting’ discussions about wholesaler discounts tomorrow – we’re sticking to our guns…
FREE BONUS FOR AUTHOPUBLISHER READERS!!!
Leila could unfortunately not make an audio available to use of their masterclass that ran at the LBF yesterday, but she has made it (the information and deals) available in ebook format. Get your Acorn Self Publishing guide.
About Leila.
Leila is the editorial director at Acorn Publishing. She read English at Christ Church, Oxford and spent time as a journalist before moving into book publishing. At Orion Books, she honed her editorial skills and gained editing qualifications before being head-hunted by literary agent, Sonia Land. Whilst at Sheil Land Associates, Leila developed many authors and lead one of the first literary agency e-book programs in the UK. Leila leads a passionate team of experienced editors who have all been trained at top international publishing companies.
Leila’s social media platforms.
I love the inside look into trade shows and fairs and this has definitely been a great coverage. Thanks again to Leila and her team. I am excited to read the last installment of this story tomorrow.
Are you at the London Book Fair. Have anything to share from your point of view? We’d love to hear from you. I have received word from a blogger that he’s going to cover the entire event from an authors viewpoint. That’s gonna be an interesting read indeed! Can’t wait for that!
This post courtesy of Acorn Independant Press Ltd.
Image courtesy of The London Book Fair.
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Stop dreaming and make it happen!
Ivin Viljoen
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