So yesterday I told you about how people who work in publishing are a bit mad. Before I tell you about our second day at the book fair, I must tell you something that I discovered last night. I had assumed that book fairs were quite staid affairs. You came, you discussed literature, you brokered some MEGA deals, you air kissed etc. etc. Well, that does happen, but apparently at half five they also crack out the wine and the canapés. Massive kudos to Livres Canada Books for having the nicest canapés. And to, well, quite a few places for having lovely wine. Free wine. Ahem.
So to day two. It started off like any other day. It was raining. The Metropolitan Line was irritating, both in terms of the fact that it was running late and the man next to me had a body odour issue.
At Earl's Court the day soon brightened up. As we lounged at the Biteback/Robson Press stall, a man walked past wearing nothing but a tie on his top half. He dropped off a book for Biteback MD, Iain Dale, which, according to his female friend, was ‘sealed with a kiss’. Oo-er. Did I mention that Sex Academy is published this Thursday?
Let me see, what else? I saw a woman try to go the wrong way up the escalator. Whoever was in charge of Earl's Court’s central microphone appeared not to realise that it was on and simply…breathed into it for a good few minutes. We lamented the fact that we couldn’t be at the launch of The Spicer Diaries. People were giving out free massages. I paid £3 for a bottle of ginger beer. OH IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES. The Biteback and Robson Press teams had lots of very important meetings. There was a very strong rumour that Adele was supposed to be at the fair. We all flocked to the stall that she was supposed to be at and…well, she wasn’t there. Awkward.
Anyway darlings, I’d love to stay and chat but I’ve got terribly important business elsewhere – discussing books, air kissing, brokering some MEGA deals etc. etc. Of course, there’s also the chance that I’m just off to hunt for the best free wine and canapés. Yep. That’s probably it.