London Book Fair: An Affirmative Occasion

A strong rights turnout and a growing U.S. presence helped solidify its new role as a Frankfurt rival

by Jeff Zaleski -- Publishers Weekly, 4/15/2002

It had been a turbulent six months: the attacks of September 11, the plunge in book sales and then in American attendance at Frankfurt; the war in Afghanistan, the depressed global economy, the introduction of the euro. Publishing professionals looking for shelter from the storms found it at London Book Fair 2002, an energetic event that affirmed both the robust health of the book industry and its vital role in human affairs.

"It's been a very buzzy fair," noted HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman on the exhibition's third and final day. "We have done a lot of business. I've seen all my European comrades. I missed them at Frankfurt." Friedman, stylish in a black suit and purple tinted sunglasses, made the comment amid a sea of tables at the expansive HarperCollins booth within Olympia's Grand Hall. Encompassing 3.5 acres roofed 100 feet up by a vaulted barrel ceiling supporting 2,500 panes of glass, the Grand Hall, built in 1886, proved to be the perfect refuge, its majestic proportions a monument to Victorian confidence and steadfastness, and now to endurance: 100 years ago, the Grand Hall hosted a performance by Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show.

Americans were back in force a century later, with the reduced American presence at Frankfurt spurring many, like Friedman, to seize the opportunity to do global business. Eighty-nine U.S. companies took booths, and at the International Rights Centre (see sidebar) 86 American companies booked 110 tables (all figures up from last year and especially impressive given BEA's move this year to within six weeks of LBF). High-profile names abounded: Perseus's Jack McKeown, Overlook's Peter Mayer, Trident Media's Robert Gottlieb, HC Canada's David Kent, Barricade's Lyle Stuart, public relations star Lynn Goldberg and international man of mystery Otto Penzler, among others, were seen walking the floor, while in the Rights Centre, PW observed the venerable Roger Straus shaking hands with overseas visitors and Grove Atlantic's Morgan Entrekin leaping up from his table to greet one colleague after another. As Don Linn, the new (48 days and counting) CEO of Consortium, said, "The amateurs aren't here. The caliber of the people is first-rate. I want to know these people."

All the movers and shakers of the British book industry were in place, with some, like the Bookseller's Nicholas Clee, in shirtsleeves, at work getting the next issue out. They and the Americans mixed with exhibitors from more than 40 nations. There were French, Spanish and German collectives, and Iran was there, represented by its leading publisher, Shabaviz; and so were Albania, Iceland and Kenya, and Greece, led by the elegant Socrates Kabouropoulos, with that country's National Book Centre, who told PW he was at LBF "to make contacts" and to help Greek publishers sell rights into new markets. The food served around the fair had an international flavor as well, with the ever-reliable ploughman's lunch competing for appetites with noodles from Thailand, pizza and pastries from Italy and an array of bistro offerings from France. Nothing testified more clearly to LBF's ascension within the global industry, however, than the rise in press attendance, up 36% over 2001.

Even so, major news announcements were few. The biggest concerned the acquisition of the admired Harvill Press by Random House, where Harvill will run as a separate RH imprint, with Christopher MacLehose staying on as publisher. Also notable were several rights deals, including Bloomsbury's winning Donna Tartt's second novel, The Little Friend, at auction for £1 million, and the purchase of Kathleen Tessaro's debut novel, Elegance, for a rumored £400,000 by HarperCollins UK. The announcement of the long list for the Orange Prize for Fiction drew attention, as did the launch of Hesperus, a British outfit that plans to publish out-of-print classics.

Above all, this was a fair at which to conduct business. But how best to do that? Most companies took either a rights table or a booth, though a number (Bloomsbury, Random, Harper, Hodder Headline, etc.) did both, while some of the smaller firms eschewed both in favor of sturdy footgear. On the gallery overlooking the Grand Hall, PW encountered Tom Todd and Hillel Black of Sourcebooks, which this year relinquished a booth in favor of two rights tables. "The only reason to get a booth is to get walk-by traffic," said Todd. "But we're here to buy and sell, and if we don't have a full schedule before the show, why come? So we're booked solid for the show." Of a different opinion was Lionel Leventhal, a founding father of the fair and now managing director of Greenhill Books. "I find a use for those who walk by," Leventhal said. "At a table, you're trading only with this year's partners. What you should have is a stand, to meet future partners, and then have your rights people at a table upstairs." Rebecca Cornell of the Caroline Davidson Literary Agency, meanwhile, explained why her firm took neither: "We're down on the floor walking," she said, "because it is the most efficient way to see the editors you want to see."

Booksellers were in greater supply than ever, with a 10.2% increase over last year. to 1,765, and with as many reasons for attending. M. Welz of Borders Ltd. said she was here to look at new and upcoming releases, while Joanna Hammond of the Little Green Dragon Bookshop in Alton, Hampshire, mentioned "picking up catalogues" as one purpose for showing up. Books were everywhere, of course, though the BEA practice of giving away huge stacks of galleys at booths hasn't caught on here; but seers could descry future bestsellers lists via the posters on display at every major booth, from Bloomsbury's for the new Donna Tartt to Hodder Headline's billboards for Stephen King's next novel, From a Buick 8.

LBF in every aspect was a tasteful affair, offering a balanced mix of probity, hard dealing, educational panels, professional and consumer enticements, and glitz. While e-books presented a far less visible face than in years just past, POD came on strong, with more than a dozen firms offering services, most of them in the new Publishing Solutions zone on the Grand Hall's upper level. Panels covered topics from the provocatively titled "Who Needs Publishers?," one of three seminars sponsored by the Institute of Publishing and accounting giant Deloitte & Touche, to a popular discussion by PW's John Baker and Harper CEO Jane Friedman of current trends in U.S. publishing. Other notable events included a reception sponsored by the Zimbabwe International Book Fair to announce the winning titles in the Africa's Best Books of the 20th Century project, and the launch of a series of Bloomsbury Business Brunches.

In a gesture to consumers, who show up increasingly at the fair, albeit in relatively small numbers, LBF offered several new events, including a How to Get Published seminar sponsored by the Daily Mail and WH Smith, which drew more than 400 visitors to hear, according to the seminar's promo, publishing professionals reveal "trade secrets." At end of day Monday, the ornate Victorian Pillar Hall hosted Readers and Writers night, featuring a sophisticated chat between Scottish crime novel star Ian Rankin and Peter Florence, director of the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival, followed by the Grand Author party, open to all.

On the floor, the highest wattage was cast by ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, who wandered in to promote his forthcoming Dorling Kindersley memoir, The Rolling Stones. Wyman proved an articulate, amiable fellow, even if, slightly wizened and wearing glasses, he looked more like one's aging uncle than the rocker who laid down the bass line for Their Satanic Majesties Request. Ironically, close by the DK stand, a man who has dealt with true evil held court at the New Era booth. There, NYFD lieutenant John McCole, in full uniform, spoke with riveted listeners about rescuing victims at the World Trade Center on September 11, and about how Dianetics has helped to "free his attention" away from the horrors.

Several parties were held at Olympia, including the annual Beer Bash on opening day and the Grand Author party. But the shutting of the exhibition hall's doors each night didn't stop LBF from grooving on. The most glamorous party was thrown by Jane Friedman (the uncontested winner of PW's Iron Woman award for LBF 2002) and HarperCollins UK CEO Victoria Barnsley at the classic British venue of Home House on Portman Square, where, in a clubby atmosphere accented by leather chairs and animal mounts on the wall, a who's who of the fair jostled for drinks and information. Among those present were many Harper brass, superagents Ed Victor, Ralph Vicinanza and Nick Ellison, Lynn Goldberg and Nicholas Clee, and New Millennium publisher Michael Viner. Morgan Entrekin and Canongate publisher Jamie Bying arrived fashionably late, perhaps practicing for their wee-hours party planned for the following night at the trendy nightclub Woody's, where Bying would deejay in honor of the forthcoming Canongate title Be Happy.

In his first year managing LBF, Alistair Burtenshaw, the fair's exhibition director, found much to celebrate. "The response from visitors and exhibitors alike to LBF 2002 has been extremely positive," he told PW. "And the buzzing halls and International Rights Centre were, I feel, testament to the business being done at the fair this year. I was also extremely pleased with the very considerable US presence.... I am really pleased that they chose LBF as their forum for conducting business with attendees from all over the world."

Burtenshaw reported that LBF 2002 has already received requests for 89% of the booth space, and added that next year's innovations will include a travel publishing zone and an art, architecture and design zone. One expects this fair to continue to flourish, but hopes that it will never outgrow the magnificent Olympia and its sustaining grace.--with reporting by Amanda-Jane Doran

For Rights Dealers, a Sold-Out Balcony

After years of growth, the International Rights Centre had reached the point that no more tables could be added (by Fire Department order), but the London Book Fair managed to open a wall on the mezzanine floor--and easily found tenants for the 16% additional table space made possible. Perhaps mere numbers don't impress (289 agents, scouts, publishers and packagers, working from 371 dedicated tables), but the trading names included many of the world's biggest in each category (Random House/Bertelsmann, Penguin Putnam, S&S, the Curtis Brown Group, William Morris and many more).

"Just like Frankfurt!" exclaimed Eva Koralnik of Zurich's Liepman agency, who sells into the German-language market for some of the biggest. She showed an appointment calendar indicating meetings every 30 minutes all day for each of the three days of the fair. In fact, as she does at the autumn fair, she had arrived a couple of days before the opening for prearranged meetings. "Like Frankfurt--only more pleasant," she added with a smile.

"You've simply got to be here," put in Sergio Machado of Editora Record in Brazil, one of that country's biggest spenders for bestsellers. He admits it took some reflection at the outset. Should he drop London for BookExpo America now that it had come back to New York? But then he might miss out on some of the books being sold in London before New York. Better not take that chance.

This was not to say that rights traffic in London was limited to the mezzanine. Down on the floor, the large (2,100-sq. ft.) French collective stand served as a miniature rights center, with editors and rights managers receiving visitors the Frankfurt way. A hundred French imprints were represented, but no fewer than 160 living and breathing French men and women actually worked the stand. Across the aisle, the 8,200-sq.-ft. German collective managed by the Frankfurt Fair hosted 25 houses, with individual publishers receiving their business partners on-site. Further along, Spain came in with 1,140 sq. ft., up 10% from last year. And, mixed in with the stands of their British and foreign colleagues, 89 American companies together occupied 16,000 sq. ft. of exhibition area.

It was generally being said that London came of age when the Americans joined the fair, and they have, with a vengeance. Most of them were agents and scouts, while only a handful of publishers actually worked out of the Rights Centre. (One who did, internationalist Peter Mayer, was found to have an appointment book as dense as that of the agents and scouts.) Linda Michaels of her own New York-based international agency attributed the comparatively low turnout of American publishers to the fair's proximity to BEA. And yet London had become a must--both because "you can see everybody" and because "it only lasts three days."

Longanesi publisher Luigi Brioschi, who had begun shopping for books at the offices of British agents and publishers as early as the Thursday preceding the Sunday opening of the fair, was discovering that many projects had become ready just at fair time--fortuitously or intentionally. That confirmed that London had come of age.

Lothar Menne, star buyer for the Ullstein-Heyne list in Munich, found a lack of compelling books, and a corresponding and gratifying absence of hype. "In the past, everybody thought they could make their year with a sale to a German publisher," Menne observed, implying that those days are gone. Without there being a conspiracy, German publishers were all behaving more cautiously. Just prior to the fair, Random's Peter Olson had gone to Munich to shake up the Random/Bertelsmann German trade group, making it clear that business had to improve, and soon. And that had dampened whatever enthusiasm the rest of the publishing community might have mustered, or so Menne thought.

As for the future of London, there were indications it could only grow. Thus Balcells's Gloria Gutiérrez had received a large number of requests for appointments before the fair that she could not grant. "There should have been three of us." Surely next time there will be. Young Albert Bonnier, descendent of the founder of the eponymous Scandinavian group, had been to earlier London fairs before moving into new-media ventures. Now he was back in books, and back in London with an imprint of his own, Bonnier Fakta, specializing in nonfiction. Standless, he wandered the aisles looking for promising books for his list, above all renewing contacts with old publishing friends. Expect him back next year, at the very least with a table.

Delight and Despair at E-Book Conference

Spirited debate over e-publishing's present and prospects enlivened E-PubLondon 2002. "Discover How to Generate Revenue from E-publishing" was one tag line adopted by the conference, placing the ultimate business challenge directly in front of the attendees.

More than 100 attendees, mostly British, filled many of the seats at London's Olympia Conference Center during two drizzly days in mid-March just prior to LBF 2002. Despite relatively new and widespread agreement that e-publishing is not going to change the industry beyond recognition, presenters and panelists, chaired ably once again by new-media consultant Tony Feldman, differed dramatically on just how to generate revenue. One interesting proposal, ventured by Jan Velterop, group publisher at scholarly/professional house BioMed Central Ltd., was that e-books follow the postage model: that the senders of e-books, i.e., the authors, pay for the delivery service provided by e-publishers, rather than asking the recipients, or readers, to pay, as is now the practice.

Meanwhile, others praised or despaired of e-books. Jonathan Glasspool, product director of the Electronic Media Division, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, stated that e-book publishing in its current formats "is a waste of time" because "e-book technology is a lousy technology." Jeremy Ettinghausen, e-book editor of the Penguin Group (UK), announced that "nearly four of every five e-books we sell, we sell directly from our Web site," but declined to specify how many he has sold.

"This is one of the only conferences in this area to still run," pointed out Debbie Giness of Reed Exhibitions, who was managing E-PubLondon for the first time. The briskly paced event offered numerous panels and talks on digital rights management, content distribution and ways to maintain business while beating the competition. As Leo Hollis of HarperCollins put it after a coffee break on the conference's first day, "E-publishing is more about publishing than it is about the 'e' prefix." And, Hollis added, "Print-on-demand may have a massive effect on publishing, far beyond the role of e-books," a sentiment supported several days later by the large number of POD stands at LBF 2002.