So today I went to my first ever London Book Fair, as Biteback and The Robson Press descended on Earl’s Court in all their glory. The London Book Fair, I hear you exclaim! What things to be learnt, what larks to be had! Well things I did learn, and larks I did have. Do you want to know what I’ve learnt? That, in general, people who work in publishing, and people who go to book fairs, are, well, a bit mad. In the best possible way, of course.
To demonstrate, here’s a list of things that happened today:
1) I read a book proposal which said ‘men have that hunter’s glance, which would be so useful if a woodcock darted through the living room, yet makes them unsuited to fetch butter in the fridge’. Indeed.
2) Whilst walking through the children’s publishing section, an exhibitor at one of the stalls burst into song. The song simply went ‘Gussy the ice cream man. THAT’S ME’. Repeat.
3) A gentleman who visited the Biteback/Robson Press stall asked me, for no apparent reason, if I’d have a picture with him, along with a copy of Shana Pearlman’s The Palin Effect. Naturally I obliged.
4) A man dressed in a bunny outfit hopped past our stall, asking, in a PAINFULLY high-pitched voice, if anyone had seen his friend, Alice. Cue everyone staring at the floor as if their life depended on it.
5) Sales & Marketing guru and all-round boss, James Stephens, spent a good while thinking he had lost/searching for his phone, only for it to appear in Jeremy Robson’s pocket.
And in a not mad, but actually quite good, part of the day, The Robson Press were on the front page of Publisher’s Weekly, as it was announced that they are to publish Gerald Hughes's, brother of Ted Hughes, memoir; Ted And I: A Brother’s Memoir. Wowza.
It’s been a brilliant first day! We’re here until Wednesday, at stall E380. Come and visit. Or forever hold your peace.