For book packagers and publisher the most important moments in the year are international book fairs where we meet our client publishers. For us it is the London Book Fair in spring but the main one is Frankfurt Buch Messe which is mid October.
For children book publishing there is also Bologna and other book fairs are minor and of local interest.
Preparing Frankfurt
The countdown is on and we had today a very important meeting in Paris to select which titles from Leduc.s Editions and all our imprints (Leduc, Alisio, L’Inedite, Charleston, Diva) should be selected for the rights catalogue.
You can imagine a book fair: from 9.00 to 17.00, one meeting every 30′, we are going to see more than 100 publishers and present them Eddison Books and Leduc.s lists.
The goal
Our mission is simple: find readers for our books and projects. We need to find the right publishers and present them the stories in a way they can believe in and invest in translation and publication for their language.
Every book is different and it is interesting to challenge each other, raise objections and find answers to explain the why and the who.
The road map
There is still a lot to do for the catalogues:
– select the titles
– translate the blurbs that are still in French
– prepare the book covers
– design the catalog
– edit and revise
– mail to clients
But we need also:
– finish the design of the stand
– print the covers
– prepare the dummies
– pack everything for delivery on time at the fair
– book all the meetings
– estimate all the costs and the budgets
The future
Are the book fairs going to disappear?
I went to Frankfurt for the first time in 2002 with my father, it was just before the creation of Leduc.s Editions and it became a confirmation. The fair is reducing its size year after year but it is still a vibrant and exciting business. I love it.
