The London Book Festival is perhaps the most intense and interesting industry experience of my life. Getting to see how the work of publishing works, creating networks, these things impressed and terrified me. While I was unable to make more friends and talk to the people and companies I wanted to speak to, I was able to get into the spirit of the event and wander around and explore and share the passion of others who live and breathe books, writing them, reading them, editing, promoting, and marketing them. For the first time I felt I was in a good place.

My walk from the hotel was interesting, for the traffic in the area was intense. The Olympia was an imposing building and there was a steady stream of people entering from one end and coming out. I was intimidated by the security presence there, but that made me feel more secure. A publishing conference is a place where great and radical ideas are bred, and so a prime target for hate groups, as has been shown in America.[1] When I entered the venue, I was intensely intimidated by the sheer size and the immensity of the event. I began to panic, the busyness did not compel me to want to talk to anyone, and this brought out a great deal of anxiety in me.

I was, however, able to attend three talks on genre[2] and how to write a bestselling novel on KDP.[3] These were intensely interesting: I was able to listen to well-respected writers of their respective genres. With my own experience as a writer and a publisher in training, I wanted nothing more than to talk to writers of shared genres and get their insight into their experience with writing, but the busyness prevented this from happening.

I was unable to remain very long at the event due to anxiety and mental health issues, but what I was able to do was get a hint of what the publishing world was like and experiencing the work of publishers big and small and share their love of books and their love of stories and presenting them. It was also such an honour to see publishing houses from different parts of the world, especially countries with a reputation for oppression of marginalised people and seeing them publish progressive books.

The London Book Fair was my first experience in a bookseller’s conference with the great publishing houses around the world. Though I was prevented from interacting with the people and companies I was excited to speak to and get insights to, it has given me the confidence to go to other conferences and festivals that live, breathe, and love books the same way I do.

I am preparing for the next festival and hoping to make more connections in the publishing world, and however that might go, I am excited to experience the world of books and stories.

Bibliography

[1] Jonathan M. Ladd, Why America Hates the Media and Why It Matters (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012)

[2] Beyond the Love Story: Sharing the Future of Romance in Publishing, Saara El-Arifi, William Hussey, Beth O’Leary, and Andi Forsythe, Wednesday 12th March

[3] How to Write an Amazon Bestseller with JD Kirk, LJ Ross, and Jen Barrett, Wednesday, 12th March