Zoned Out in
London
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (MARCH 2003)
Defying
the duck-and-cover geopolitical indicators, this year’s
London Book Fair remains stolidly on-message
that it’s going to be more buzzed than ever when it
rolls out on March 16. The “Publishing Solutions Zone”
is — yes — “bigger than ever before this year,” with
60 stands, up by more than 20; the number of international
table-holders at the Rights Center was up 31% last year,
with jam-packed conditions forecast once again; and
don’t forget the new “zones” of specialization: Art,
Architecture, and Design; Christian (last year’s Frankfurt
boycott by Germany’s religious publishers should result
in a sellout for this sector); and, hearteningly, Travel
and Maps, a category that knows geopolitical fallout
when it sees it.
Then there’s (gasp!) The Public. Coming off last year’s
“How to get Published” event, there will now be three
“Master Classes” aimed at the writing masses. Held in
conjunction with English PEN, the courses cover
children’s fiction; memoir and biography; and film and
TV writing. Each session lasts two hours and is chaired
by a leading broadcaster (consumers can attend all three
for £85). The scribbling commoners still won’t be admitted
to the main hall at Olympic, but the idea seems to be
that they’ll feel as if they’re touching the hem of
the veil. And there’s Granta’s Young Writers
Sessions and the Hay Festival seminars — and
sponsorship by the Guardian and Daily Mail,
media buy-in to be considered by BEA organizers,
perchance.
The 3rd EpubLondon remains a two-day affair but
is a long way from the glitzy consumer focus of Rocket
eBooks and Questia.com. We’re talking e-learning,
B2B, content management, and metadata. Unfortunately,
the “Great Autumn Flood” panel, which PT previewed
last month, has been canceled (after being renamed “Running
To Stand Still”; apparently the metaphors got too depressing).
We’ll leave you with this note of consolation: The LBF
dates dovetail grandly with Paris’s Salon du Livre,
so there’s just enough time to pack up your stand and
your bags, recover from the week’s excesses, toddle
across the Channel, and do it all over again.
©2003
Publishing Trends
