October 2016

Crashing Frankfurt Buchmesse Party

As an author, the chances are, if you approach an industry professional out of the blue at a trade fair, they will say, ‘What are you doing here, and no, I don’t accept submissions / I’m not looking for any new clients.’  One I approached at the Frankfurt Buchmesse told me this three times, though I knew the state of play before I ventured to locate their particular stall, deep in the bowels of hall 6.  It pays to do research, and I had already gleaned the information that the soonest they might accept submissions would be 2018.  Expect brusqueness, and don’t take it personally.

I don’t blame the professionals.  Each publisher handles literally thousands of queries each year, from aspiring authors all hoping to gain recognition for their hard work.  But authors are the life-blood of all publishing efforts and – unless publishers are saying they can write as well as they publish – will be needed to feed the industry for as long as the industry aspires to exist.

The mainstream is looking for one thing, or maybe several things which all add up to one thing: success, big bucks and the next phenomenon in authorship.  The next Booker Prize winner.  But authors get the short straw at such events as these, relegated, for the most part either to public nuisance, or at best, to milking cow or strong ox that will make us lots of money.  Strangely, this does not depress or annoy me.  On the contrary, I came away from Germany inspired and totally determined to write, to hope for the best, and, having seen how it works on the ground, to keep writing and roll with the punches.  When shit happens, roll with it, not in it.

From the evidence I could glean, self-publishing remains a minute fraction of the publishing effort in Germany, occupying a mere two small desks on one level on one floor of the Buchmesse.  Compared to Britain and America, the inroads of KPD and CreateSpace to the German mainstream are negligible.  Whereas at the London Book Fair there were events and whole sections of floor devoted to self-publishing, to authors, to Kindle and to hybrid publishing options, in Germany, that particular option appears just to be waking up.

If the organisers would like to know how to expand their fields of interest and attract more visitors, they can learn from the London Book Fair, which offered extensive and interesting author participation events, brainstorming and a creative look at going it alone.  If the mainstream finds that uncomfortable, they might at least invite wider participation from authors, who so often find themselves uncomfortably stuck between stools: not an industry insider, nor a member of the public welcomed at the weekend opening.

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Visiting Frankfurt Book Fair

In the midst of everything else that has been happening, I haven’t forgotten my intention to visit the Frankfurt Book Fair, and finally decided to commit, and make a holiday of it, two weeks beforehand.  Our daughter has been on half-term break until today, and Daddy welcomed the chance of a breather, so I booked the fare, the accommodation and the Bookfair ticket, and we set off last Tuesday, arriving at Frankfurt mid-afternoon.  Here we are in Germany, I thought, at last.  Unfulfilled ambition – sorted.

The Frankfurt Buchmesse is the world’s largest event of its type in the publishing industry, attracting two hundred and eighty thousand insiders and professionals from across the globe.  I was set at liberty to get my bearings in the enormous complex of buildings that are the Messe Halle.  Six halls were used for the Fair, plus a central area outside, though there are eleven halls in total, with a twelfth under construction.  But though the space can get a bit noisy, the halls are so huge, there is never any sense of claustrophobia.

A typical conversation with anyone you randomly meet or bump into there – sharing a table, queuing for drinks – will start in German, quickly segue to English, and if that produces no reaction, into Italian or French. The locals are very patient, and enjoy practising an array of different languages.  After listening to my faltering attempts to converse in German – introductory phrases are fine, but conversations are another matter – daughter offered the sage advice to start in English and keep to that, or others would become confused.  She was correct.  Here are some other pointers, for any aspiring authors hoping to make the trip to Frankfurt next year.

• Start saving.  With the euro hovering at around parity with Sterling, travelling, dining out and having fun are more costly that we might imagine.

• If you really mean business, try to have a formal interview or two lined up before you go – with publishers or agents, perhaps – but not on the first day, which will probably be spent getting lost.

• Reconcile yourself to walking at least ten kilometers every day. Wear comfortable shoes and take a bottle of water.

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