Visiting Madrid's book fair

The past two weeks have been fun for Spanish book lovers. The Feria del Libro (Book Fair) at Madrid's lovely Retiro Park brought out all of Spain's publishers and major bookstores. Many foreign publishers also showed up. I've talked before about the value of going to book fairs, especially the London Book Fair, as well as fan conventions.

I joined a couple of members of my local writer's group to browse more than 300 stalls packed with books. I discovered two military history bookshops I didn't know about and some publishers that I might try to sell translation rights to. Writers should go to these things to see what's out there. Plus it's fun to buy books! I got a couple that will help me with a book proposal of my own in the coming months.

Seeing so many books together at one time really brings home how massive of an industry publishing is. The sight is simultaneously a reassuring and depressing one. Reassuring because there's room for all types of writers, depressing because it's so easy for your title to get lost in the avalanche.

I also got to see my old friend Claudia Gray, whose YA vampire fiction is selling well in both English and Spanish. She held up remarkably well during the day despite my having kept her out until four o´clock that morning showing her Madrid's nightlife.

So come on, writers, if there's a book fair or convention near you, go to it. You won't regret it.

Self-publishing silliness

I've been posting about my experiences at Eastercon, from the people I met to a lecture on swordplay for writers. The con was tons of fun, but an incident in the bathroom made me sigh and shake my head.

Get your mind out of the gutter! What happened was that as I sidled up to the urinal I was confronted with an ad. Not the usual ad for a TV show or safe drinking, but one for an obviously self-published fantasy novel. I looked across the row of urinals and saw one stuck to the wall above each one. A desperate self-publisher did the same thing at last year's London Book Fair.

Being curious, I took the urinal ad and checked the URL. Yep, self-published, and according to the Amazon rankings the second and third books in the series hadn't sold anything, at least on Amazon. The first book had a ranking of six million, meaning it had sold one copy, (probably to the author's mother) a few years ago. Even my London guidebook, which has been out of print for almost a year, has a ranking of 1.5 million. My book on medieval handgonnes, which doesn't come out from Osprey until October, has a ranking of 142,000 thanks to preorders. That's what a good publisher can do for you.

I've written before about how self-publishing is more often than not a pitfall for writers. It almost never leads to fame or big sales. And with the kind of associative advertising these jokers engage in, it only leads to ridicule.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. I tend not to take photos in public restrooms.

Why writers should go to conventions, even when they don't want to

A few days ago a writer friend invited me to Odyssey 2010, also known as Eastercon, an annual fantasy/science fiction/horror convention here in England.

At first I didn't want to go. It was 25 pounds for the day, I didn't know anyone, and it was more of a fan con than a pro con, unlike others I've attended such as the World Fantasy Convention or the London Book Fair. Plus I'd just arrived in Oxford, my favorite town, and wanted to enjoy it.

My wife convinced me to go and I'm glad she did.

After a short drive to a Heathrow airport hotel (convenient for out-of-towners, soulless for everyone else) my friend and I split up and we wandered around the convention. There weren't any panels I wanted to see until the afternoon so I headed to the dealers room. If I wasn't going to make any professional connections I would at least have fun stuffing my bag with books! I got a decent haul. Prices were lower than at previous cons I've been too. I'm not sure if this was luck or the financial crisis, but there was lots of vintage stuff on sale cheap. Even the new books were discounted.

I also made some unexpected professional connections. I met a medieval researcher who knows some specialists in medieval firearms, the subject of my upcoming book and perhaps a future one. I also met the owner of Atomic Fez Publishing, a new Canadian small press, who I'll be interviewing in an upcoming post, and lots of pleasant fans besides.

Most importantly I met Brett and Sandra, co-owners of ChiZine Publications, two judges in the Fresh Blood Contest. My book is a finalist in that contest so it was interesting to meet them. They invited me to a party that evening, and of course I accepted. My ride was leaving before then but a lifetime of Third World travel made me unconcerned with such trivialities.

Continuing to wander, I attended a hilarious and informative speech by Dr. Ben Goldacre on Bad Science and bumped into a Swedish friend who I didn't know would be there. We then started sampling Rosie's Scrumpy Cider (7.3% ABV) and buying more books. I made it to a panel on swordplay (another future post), drank more cider, and managed to stay sober enough to be presentable at the ChiZine party.

Publisher parties at conventions are an interesting mix of aspiring writers, published-but-unknown writers, famous writers, editors, artists, and the occasional why-the-hell-are-you-here oddity. Besides meeting two famous names (including one who gave me a ride to Oxford, I told you it would be no trouble), a photographer for the Romanian edition of Penthouse, and various Goths, I got to chat more with Brett and Sandra. While getting to know them better will have no effect on my chances of winning the contest, that's up to you, I did learn that they're smart, fun folks who love what they do. I could work well with these people. So even if I lose, they're getting a manuscript from me.

All in all, I had a great time, bought some books, got material for future blog posts, drank some good cider and mediocre wine, saw old friends, and made professional contacts. So if you're thinking of not going to that next convention, rethink. They're almost always worth your time.

I just wish that the next day when I was playing with my son in the park my wife didn't notice a postcard sticking out of my back pocket and say, "What's that!"

It was a sample from the Romanian edition of Penthouse.

The Bloated World Of Publishing

Did I say tomorrow? Well, it's been three days now but I'm finally getting back to writing about the London Book Fair. I got busy writing my next novel and researching my next history book. Sue me.

One thing that really struck me at the London Book Fair was the sheer immensity of the publishing world and how much it repeats itself. I'm not talking fiction here, because while there may be plenty of publishers churning out fantasy novels or mysteries, at least those all have somewhat different plots. One would hope. No, I'm talking about nonfiction, my forté. I saw half a dozen publishers coming out with heavily illustrated histories of World War Two or the monarchs of England this season. A dozen different coffeetable books on the castles of Europe or Hollywood's greatest stars. Tens of "timeline histories." Countless cookbooks.

It seems the publishing world flows in comfortable grooves. One publisher comes up with an idea and the rest do their own spin on it, only the spin isn't all that unique. This is less noticeable in the average bookshop because all these titles aren't under one roof like they are at an international book fair, but one has to wonder about the economic viablility of such a replication of effort. The smart move for publishers seems to be to find a niche and dominate it, like Osprey does with its short, narrowly focused, heavily illustrated military titles. Or Taschen does with its gloriously beautiful photo and art books.

The redundancy is especially noticeable with guidebooks. Having written my own guidebook to London, I flipped through every London guidebook I came across. I'm not sure how many there were; I lost count after a dozen. Besides slightly different layouts, there really wasn't much to differentiate most of them. Mine had more text and background, plus a bigger museum section than most, but the same venues came up in title after title. Is it any wonder that many guidebook publishers are jettisoning titles in the face of recession? I got the distinct impression that half them could go under and it wouldn't make the least bit of difference to the consumer.

If the publishers figure this out, freelancers like me are going to find it tough to find work.

The London Book Fair: An Author's View, Part 2

As I said in my last post, I recently attended the London Book Fair and had an amazing time. The fair is mostly geared towards agents and publishers selling international rights, but it can be a productive place for authors if they go about it in a professional manner.

This last detail is key. On more than one occasion I saw writers desperately pitching ideas to people who were not in a position to make a decision, or whipping out a manuscript faster than Jesse James in a gunfight. Since the fair is basically an international business meeting, most of the representatives at the booths were from marketing, not editorial. These folks are good sources of information for what direction the company is taking, what subjects are doing well and what aren't, and who to contact in editorial, but there's no point hard-selling busy people who can't accept your manuscript. A little soft peddling and some educated questions can land the right business card, however.

The majority of authors I came in contact with were self-published, and hung around the big Authorhouse booth. Some made some rather odd attempts at marketing. One fellow set up a little stand of bookmarks on top of the recycling bin, which led to some cynical remarks. Another shameless guy put up stickers inside all the stalls in the men's room. Not only is this going to create even worse subconscious associations than the recycling bin marketing campaign, but it's a pain in the ass for custodial services, who were stuck with the job of scraping them off.

Despite the sometimes embarassing company, I found the fair to be very helpful. If you're a writer and decide to go, please keep in mind that the fair is not geared towards you. Maintain a professional demeanor, have something to bring to the table (like prior publications), don't be annoying, and realize that this will mostly be a learning experience, not a fast-track to publishing success.

More insights and news from the London Book Fair coming up tomorrow!

The London Book Fair--An Author's View Part 1

I just got back from the London Book Fair, the world's second-largest book fair after Frankfurt. Hundreds of publishers, printers, and other companies from around the world gathered in London for a flurry of deal making. This fair is mostly for publishers and agents to sell international rights for their titles and printing services to drum up new business. It's not a literary convention and writers were in the definite minority, but as an author I found it tremendously useful.

The first thing I did was stop off at the booth for Osprey Publishing, who will be coming out with my American Civil War Guerrilla Tactics this fall and have just signed me up to do Medieval Handgonnes: The First Black Powder Infantry Weapons. It was nice to finally meet a lot of the people I've talked to on the phone or email. It also gave me a chance to discuss other possible titles and discover that the marketing director reads my blog anytime Osprey is mentioned. Hi Richard!

I spent the rest of the time exploring the booths and seeing what new lines publishers were coming out with, and what developed lines are missing titles that I could write. I came back with a tree's worth of catalogs, pamphlets, and sample books, plus many, many ideas. While there weren't many people from editorial, the business folks know all about what lines will be expanding and what lines are not living up to sales expectations, so I gathered a wealth of insider information and contacts. I even had one publisher solicit me for a couple of titles! Will any of this lead to more books for yours truly? It's too early to say. In this business, until you have a contract, you have nothing. But even if I don't get anything, I certainly learned a lot.

I'll be doing several more posts on the book fair in the coming days, including tips on how you as a writer can get the most out of a book fair, the latest in POD technology, what's hot and what's not in the publishing world, and more. I've also posted some impressions on my other blog.