This year, due to scheduling issues, the London Book Fair will be held just a week before the Bologna Fair, causing problems for children's publishers who have in the past attended both. LBF takes place April 16—18, while Bologna runs from April 24 —27 (traditionally LBF is held in mid-March, while Bologna takes place in early- to mid-April). American publishers were left to decide whether to skip LBF, while British publishers had to grapple with the logisitics of attending both.
Although the date was always going to be a problem given the LBF's last-minute change of venue, children's publishers could be forgiven for thinking that the needs of their substantial business had not been given serious consideration, since doing two book fairs in consecutive weeks is difficult to say the least. So, unless the fairs serve very different purposes, many children's book publishers have had to make a choice.
Linda Summers, associate publisher (rights) at Random House Children's Books UK, summed it up succinctly. "Because Bologna is focused on children's books, you can showcase everything," she said. "It's even a U.K. trade fair, as there is such a strong presence from the U.K. booksellers. As part of LBF, children's don't really get a look in. We feel marginalized." It has always been hard for the children's publishers to establish themselves as a strong presence at LBF. Last year, some could be found in meetings at the Agents Centre, while others, such as Hachette Children's Books, HarperCollins and Random House, had a presence on the main company stand. It's a very different feel from Bologna.
 Walker Books publishing director Jane Winterbotham, author Anthony Horowitz, and Henrik Wesolowski, then Walker sales director, at last year’s LBF. |
When LBF moved to the Docklands last year, there was a concerted effort to be positive about it. The fair attracted a lot of support from the children's publishers who used it as a fiction focus, especially with authors of interest to the adult as well as the children's market. Walker held a big launch for Anthony Horowitz and HarperCollins showcased Louise Rennison. New publishing venture Catnip launched at LBF 2006 and many publishers reported a pre-fair buzz in the week leading up to LBF as publishers from around the world gathered in London.
But positive thinking won't necessarily help overcome this year's hurdles. Marlene Johnson, managing director of Hachette Children's Books, thinks that the proximity of the two fairs this year will have a detrimental effect on the impact LBF has for children's books. "Our view is that it will probably put LBF back to being an export fair for children's," she said. Part of that is simply a question of logistics. "We cannot get our stand to both [fairs]," she said, "because of the time issue. Clearly Bologna will be the priority."
Puffin, too, is very conscious of the problems caused by the quick turnaround. "The real challenges are the logistical ones of having one stand, which needs quick dismantling from London and transporting urgently to Bologna," said Francesca Dow, managing director of Puffin Books. "It is also very hard on the rights team, who have a very busy run of appointments over the two fairs."
Puffin rights director Sophie Brewer is more optimistic than some about the opportunities created by the two fairs being so close together. "Bologna has not suffered from having London so close to it," she said. "Many of our specialist children's customers are coming to Bologna but swooping by London on the way and having meetings in a more leisurely fashion in our office, with a quick followup at Bologna. A very few customers will not be focusing on Bologna but on London—but for most Bologna is still the focus."
Sophie Hicks, managing director of Ed Victor Literary Agency, is in no doubt about which fair takes priority for her. "Bologna is hugely important if you are in the children's book business. I have to be there," she said. And she does believe that children's publishers have been affected by the proximity of the two. "Because the fairs are so close together and because we represent authors who write for the adult market and authors who write for the children's book market, we have to separate them out. We will only deal with the adult books at LBF and then the children's books at Bologna. There is no point me talking up hot new children's books in London, when five days later I'll be in Bologna."
For Andersen Press, with its prestigious picture book list, Bologna is all-important. "All serious children's book publishers will go to Bologna," said Andersen founder/publisher Klaus Flugge. "As Andersen is part of the Random House Children's Book Group, I can meet some publishers and booksellers at the LBF from their stand but I certainly won't have a stand of my own."
Most publishers would agree about the importance of Bologna, partly because it is still very unpredictable who will attend LBF. "The Europeans won't necessarily come to LBF," Summers said. "In the past, there have been Eastern European agents who tend to represent a few children's authors as secondary to their adult list. They are likely to come to LBF for their adult business and so do some work for their children's authors too. But there is not enough business to make it worth it just for children's authors."
Philippa Milnes Smith, agent at LAW, is prepared to reserve judgment for the time being, saying, "I think we just have to wait to see what the result is this year. It's always been the case that some publishers have opted for one fair over the other, depending on the balance of their business, while others couldn't bear to miss either."
In large part because of the proximity of the two shows, there has never been a strong U.S. children's book presence at LBF. Since they are just a week, not a month, apart this year, it could be seen as a way to round up everything in one transatlantic flight. But that is not how Random House Children's Books U.S. sees it. "Because the way the dates are set up this year, we don't have anyone attending both," said publicity director Melanie Chang. Division president Chip Gibson will attend Bologna but not LBF, in large part because of the awkward time period in between.
Michael Stearns, editorial director and foreign acquisitions manager at HarperCollins Children's Books, will be at both fairs, as will staff from HC's sub rights department. "As for other staff," he says, "some will attend one fair and the others will attend the other." Stearns is turning the time between the fairs into a working week in London. In choosing which houses to visit with in London vs. Bologna, Stearns pointed out, "Most publishers seem to be reserving their appointments for Bologna—allowing them more time to prepare materials, I'd guess," he said. "There's really no cause to meet with people twice in two weeks, and while the earlier LBF used to allow for some amount of buzz building about books that would be routed at or just before Bologna, the proximity now pretty much makes that impossible."
