Book fair season - but not as we know it

It is as though ‘Bologna-time’ is hard-wired into children’s publishers; the smell of spring in the air makes us think of our new publishing, new potential deals and exciting times ahead. Travelling to Italy certainly helps the feeling, but it turns out that it still happens for us whilst at home!

Over the last fortnight the Macmillan Children’s Books Rights team of 10 colleagues has held a virtual Spring Fair with 250+ sales meetings with international publishers across 50 countries.

There are many positive aspects to a virtual fair. We have meetings across two weeks, rather than a few days, so we can spend more time focusing on our customers and territories, and meet a wider range of publishers big and small, including those who might not have made it to the fair at all. The meetings are less frenetic: you don’t lose your sales materials and dummies across the stand, and there is time to go into the detail of the books. We’ve also built stronger personal relationships, connecting in a deeper way with our international friends, as they have shared their own struggles.

During these weeks, we have held short virtual author events and online celebrations. These can’t replace the drinks and dinners we would have had at a physical fair, but it has been an engaging way to celebrate our books, authors and illustrators. These events don’t take up much time in the diary and we have welcomed lots of guests who were delighted to have some fun in their days.  

The hardest thing is managing that we are still ‘at the office’, as well as being ‘at the fair’ in a way that is different to being on a physical stand. With everything being digital, we are pulled in more directions and have had to work harder than usual as a team to keep everyone supported while these weeks take place.

It’s difficult for our customers too. Publishers have held their virtual fairs on different dates, which is protracted and tiring for them. Across my team, we speak 10 languages fluently, but for the other languages we present in English and are aware that watching a presentation on screen while listening to a non-native speaker can be a tough combination. We have digital sales material and videos to showcase our novelty titles and have our fingers constantly crossed that the wi-fi holds up. It is hard for some customers to make decisions with teams that are furloughed or part-time working, but our digital Rights Guide has been devoured in more detail by more editors and this has helped the business keep flowing. 

There’s no queue for the toilets, of course, but there is also no opportunistic bumping into old friends in that queue either. And the coffee is just not up to the same standard - or as readily on tap!    

We have worked strange hours to accommodate time zones as we know our customers appreciate our flexibility. Meetings with the US have gone on late in the evening and meetings with Asia start before dawn. We have asked a lot from partners and family, and called in favours to keep family life running. It would be true to say that if we were physically away we would be asking partners to do more, but we would also not be bravely presenting a new middle grade series whilst hearing our toddler crying for their mummy at bedtime.

Like any fair, there are funny stories that emerge to lift a day. There are the Italian takeaway food orders that help feel as though we might be in Bologna. The cats make regular appearances and charm customers - one was asked to come back to say goodbye at the end, another unfortunately disconnected the screen…

Then there are the children: one did a ninja roll behind her parent’s chair trying to stay out of shot. Wi-fi drops out because the teenagers are calling their friends. A team member discovered that having a teething toddler means you get as little sleep as you would at a normal fair, but for less fun reasons!

Trends in our selling conversations have been a reflection of the times we are in; activity books remain strong, across all themes and for all ages. Everyone is looking to keep children occupied in what continue to be uncertain times. Social Emotional Learning is a key topic and publishers are looking for books that can help parents support their children in new ways; sadly this includes titles that deal specifically with grief. But customers are also looking for light-hearted, illustrated and fun middle-grade stories to take people’s mind off what is happening in the world.

The virtual fair has been a great success for us. Business is good and the deals still happen. But nothing replaces the unique elements that a physical fair offers: the chance meetings in exhibition halls or at social events with new or old customers, or the opportune sighting of a book on a stand which a customer falls in love with. At book fairs, we celebrate books together in the same place for a concentrated time and it reminds us why we do what we do. It is exhilarating, exciting and fun - and tiring in ways that only Rights sellers can know! But we do it together. Frankly we can’t wait for it to return. Is it time for a glass of prosecco?

Currently rights director for Macmillan Children’s Books, Michele Young has had a 20 year career in publishing including reaching the milestone of over 100 languages sold for the much-loved The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and was awarded 2016 Rights Professional of the Year at The Bookseller's British Book Awards, for her outstanding work in all areas of rights.