What does Frankfurt Book Fair mean to the children's author in the street? Not as much as Bologna Book Fair - exclusively devoted to children's publishing - but it remains the largest trade fair of the year, and publishers from around the world are currently dragging their exhausted behinds from meeting to meeting, catching up with old friends and colleagues, holding a finger up to test the way the wind is blowing.
For many authors and editors this week usually heralds a blessed reprieve. When the cat's away, the mouse can get some decent work done. All the big wigs are in Germany, which means that no major meetings or decisions will be happening (unless at the Fair), deadlines can relax a little and the offices of publishing houses get a little quieter and much more productive.
Unless your manuscript becomes the 'Book of the Fair' (unlikely for most of us) you may not immediately see any difference after Frankfurt. But publishers often use these fairs to get a taste for how businesses are faring and what the latest fashion is. This year, the signs seem to be that people are buying and selling, despite the horrendous recession we're in the midst of. Rights people will soon be returning to their offices muttering ominously about dystopian being officially dead or science fiction being the latest new kid on the block. Acquisition meetings in the following months may start to shift in mood, and that's when authors could finally see the impact of a book fair. Publishing is horribly fickle - our writing should never try to second guess the market.
If you're writing non-fiction, the end of Frankfurt may bring good news with it. Hurrah - publisher A has sold coedition rights to publisher B, which means the print run can actually go ahead and you will actually be commissioned to turn that proposal into a real book.
But by and large, my author message about book fairs would be leave it to the professionals. Keep your head down and let the rights people sell rights, the agents champion their authors, the publishers decide what we'll all be reading over the next few years. When it's your turn to be involved in the process, people will let you know. Don't worry about feeling left out; trade fairs are distinctly unglamorous. Just be ready to react when people need you to. After all, the agent in the toilet queue who gets chatting to the publisher who admires her dress may strike up a lovely new professional contact that sees your book being sold. Everybody out there is making friends. And these are people who may one day want to be your friend, too.
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