Having been there and come back, I'd better give a summary of my impressions, which might help anyone else contemplating a first visit.
On the first day, I got to the door even earlier than intended. Not having a working watch, I set off using the time displayed on my laptop and
allowed for summer time, forgetting that the laptop was already on summer time. Other early arrivals were gradually drifting towards the doors, and
one anxious lady was trying to communicate with the security people standing ready on the other side, asking for a definite time when they would
unlock.
I had a very pleasant encounter with an enthusiastic girl who must have been almost literally fifty years my junior. She asked me when the doors would
open, and I had to admit that I was a first-time visitor myself, which was why I was holding back and letting someone else take the lead. Then she
noticed the "Author" label on my Visitor's badge and was in danger of being a little over-awed, so I had to explain about my semi-amateur status. This
was my first experience, incidentally, of receiving a badge by e-mail and having to print it out myself, collecting a lanyard inside the doors.
She said she was aspiring to be an author, hoping to write historical fiction. I've been a student of history since I was nine years old, so that
awakened my interest (though I'd rather work out the real story from source documents than read a fictionalised version). On being questioned, she
admitted that she did not have a specific era in mind and had not even read any history. She was interested in writing about epidemic diseases, so I
offered a few thoughts to feed her imagination. I told her about the Victorian cleric who famously lost a clutch of daughters in a cholera epidemic,
and about the scholar who researched the mind-set of fifteenth- century western Europe and concluded that they were obsessed with thoughts about death
(thanks to the Black Death of the previous century). All this was interrupted when they started to summon us inside.
Almost the only people inside the halls at that early stage who those involved in setting up their own Exhibitor's stalls. I could find my way around
in the absence of the crowds and work out where everything was. The "national" areas. The huge areas controlled by major publishers. The gallery where
the smaller publishers were located. The large quadrant of desks assigned to the literary agents, arranged in rows. Some exhibitor areas had empty
tables with seating, but I wasn't sure if they were really meant for the convenience of visitors looking for somewhere to drink their coffee, and did
not take the risk.
The first leg of my task was supposed to be approaching the Christian publishers. I discovered, when I tried, that they were being represented by
their book-selling departments rather than their publishing departments. One firm had two representatives squeezed into a small space, looking bored
because nobody was approaching them, but still uninterested in engaging with me. They were willing to pass on my information, though, which works for
me because I explain myself better in writing than across a table. It was a similar story round the corner at S.P.C.K. (one person covering a longer
frontage), but at least I managed to offload a couple of my prepared "introduction packs".
I also exchanged contact details with another "self-publishing" firm, but this won't go anywhere because I don't have the cash to go down that route
again. When I told Advantage that I was going to the Book Fair to look for publishers and literary agents, they offered to publish my next book free
of charge, so I'm much more likely to take up that offer first.
I took some refreshment, and then the second leg was to be among the agents. I was on the look-out for the names of four firms which had listed
"religion" among their areas of interest. In theory, agents would be more interested in authors as potential paying customers. But it was evident as I
entered the area that the spaces were filled with people who had made advance appointments. I made one enquiry to confirm the point, and that was
that, really. The catch-22 of not being able to contact someone unless you've contacted them first. But that still works for me, for the reason
already given. The experience has gifted me with a more original opening paragraph for my letters of self-introduction; "I was hoping to meet you at
the Book Fair, but not knowing the system...". That would make a change from a more banal "Let me introduce myself...", and by the time they get to
the end of it they've already started reading.
After that, there wasn't much to be gained by spending any more time there. The advertised "networking" lunches and drinks sessions sounded inviting,
but I could guess that they were really for the benefit of people who knew each other already. Nobody was going to approach a wallflower with an
Author badge. There were also seminars designed to benefit authors, on topics like social media and "How to get a badass deal", but the intervals
between them were long enough to leave me at a loose end. So I came home. I'm keeping the badge and lanyard, because there will be other occasions
when it might be useful to identify myself.
edit on 22-4-2023 by DISRAELI because: (no reason given)