Hallo from Germany—as mentioned last week, I won’t be able to do a full post this week because I’m at the Frankfurt Book Fair. (Though let’s be honest, that selfie could have been taken anywhere. The interiors of convention halls are like a parallel universe where nations and cultures cease to exist, replaced by carpeted concrete, wifi, and plastic-wrapped sandwiches. I’m now a citizen of Hall 4.2.)
Jeff, is every book fair similar or can you tell which country you are in by the nuances in what publishers are looking for? Perhaps it's just the beer labels??
Well, I should clarify that I usually only go to the London and Frankfurt book fairs, so I can't speak to what Seoul, or Turin, Jerusalem, Guadalajara, or the host of other international fairs are like. For London and Frankfurt, the international attendance is quite similar -- I usually meet up with more UK editors at the London Book Fair, but otherwise I'm (hopefully) seeing publishers from all over the world at both of those fairs.
There are little differences, to be sure: I can get a sausage with sauerkraut at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and they put a little extra effort into their chocolate chip muffins (in my opinion), but the overall sandwich game at the London Book Fair is superior. We're talking about slivers of difference, though -- I'm convinced the carpeting for both fairs is cut from a gargantuan single-ply roll that is shipped back and forth.
Jeff, is every book fair similar or can you tell which country you are in by the nuances in what publishers are looking for? Perhaps it's just the beer labels??
Well, I should clarify that I usually only go to the London and Frankfurt book fairs, so I can't speak to what Seoul, or Turin, Jerusalem, Guadalajara, or the host of other international fairs are like. For London and Frankfurt, the international attendance is quite similar -- I usually meet up with more UK editors at the London Book Fair, but otherwise I'm (hopefully) seeing publishers from all over the world at both of those fairs.
There are little differences, to be sure: I can get a sausage with sauerkraut at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and they put a little extra effort into their chocolate chip muffins (in my opinion), but the overall sandwich game at the London Book Fair is superior. We're talking about slivers of difference, though -- I'm convinced the carpeting for both fairs is cut from a gargantuan single-ply roll that is shipped back and forth.
Thank you Jeff for your wonderfully detailed response :)