Because the Book Fair was enormous, I’ve decided to break what I learned into halves. 1)  What I learned about the business side of books and 2) what I learned as a writer.  I’m going to start with the business bit because it was such an eye-opener for me.

Everybody loves a book…good news for the industry.

1) Books are big business.  I know, that’s like saying China has a wall, but really, until I was there in amongst it, I could never have imagined exactly how big of a business books truly are.  To help those of you who weren’t there, think on this:

Think eight giant halls filled to capacity with publishers, agents, printers and rights management companies. It took me all day to work my way through one hall.

Think one entire week where the public are not welcome but during which publishers, agents and rights management agencies schmooze and do deals.

Think on one small publisher talking about how they plan to grow their business from an annual turnover of 21 million dollars to 40 million…by the end of next year.  That’s a small company.

2) Publishers are not stand alone entities. They’re less like polyps and more like coral in that they exist as a giant, tangled mass of connections across multiple countries. They build off and grow on each other in an ever expanding mass.

In order to overcome language or cultural difficulties, polyp publishers (as I like to think of them) hire translators and ‘rights agents’ who are clever, multi-lingual negotiators.  Rights agents, take what a polyp publisher has on offer in their own country and sell it to polyp publishers from other countries. Thus they become coral. Each one using and building upon the other’s input.

New generations of book people.

In this negotiation of shared resources,  reinvention is unnecessary. Each polyp publisher receives maximum benefit for minimum effort.  One small UK publisher of children’s books told me it was his aim to have at least one of his books in every country in the world…he’s almost done it and that’s thanks to his awesome agent.

3) Books are not dying.  Not even close.  They might be morphing, new trends are always washing through, but they are, quite frankly, too big to fail.  Alongside the multitudinous displays of paperbacks and hard copy books, there were ebook publishers and ebook manufacturers (notably Nook was present but Kindle was not). At the Frankfurt Book Fair there was no divide between electronic and paper the way we feel it in the writing world. All things book were considered equal…that was rather nice.

Now, onto what I learned as a writer.  I’m doing this bit second because what I learned as a writer largely relates to the eye-opening experience of books as business.

1) Because books are a big and international business, publishers don’t see your book as a unique, thoughtful, wondrous work of art (the way you do). They don’t see your book as a mindful, thought provoking, inspirational work (as a reader might).  They see your book as a product.  A product they want in as many countries as possible.  For writers that means your book must be translatable. So, ask yourself the following questions:

Can you guess why children’s books look so similar?

- Is my book so specific to a place/location/way of life that someone from another country will have trouble relating?

-Does my language/jargon/slang translate?

-Will the jokes work in other languages?

-In the case of children’s books, will the story still work without the rhyme? (I know, I can feel Dr Seuss spinning in his grave).

On the one hand I can see how this works for publishers; but on the other hand, as a writer, I’m mortified.  The uniqueness of books is dying in favour of a homogenous (read ‘flavourless’) product. In this global industry, very few of my childhood favourites would ever have seen the light of day.

Just a small sampling of the supernatural and paranormal bent YA is currently on.

2) Childrens books and young adult novels are huge in every country, however they deliver less diversity than that offered by adult fiction.  Paranormal and fantasy novels are still going strong within the YA category but there is very little by way of ‘reality’ or ‘life experience’ (refer to point 1, lifestyle is not homogenous). Also, a large portion of the YA books on display, specifically targeted girls.  Is that because girls read more, or do boys stop reading when all that’s available are books for girls?

Who’s your favourite anime character?

3) Comics and graphic novels are a very big deal.  Anyone who ‘pooh poohs’ them has missed the boat. Every country imaginable was present in the comic/graphic novel/manga/anime hall.  Adults, young adults and children attended the fair, dressed as their favourite characters, complete with colourful hair and oddly uncomfortable shoes.  Fans of these genres are obsessive in their attention to detail and enthusiastic in their support for favourite authors. In fact this whole department  and the atmosphere surrounding this area within the book fair made me wonder if I oughtn’t try for a ‘cross over’ into this world.

Allyson Noel doing her book talk.

4) Book talks by authors were crammed events, so the idea that publishers buy an author rather than a book, is absolutely true.  I can’t imagine the number of books Alyson Noel sold off the back of her interesting and thoughtful interview regarding shamanism and the soul-seekers series.  What I saw was every person in the crowd clutching a copy.

5) Adult fiction and non-fiction across every culture and boundary were also present at the book fair.  Niche markets in non-fiction are definitely ‘the go’ (niche but not too small, don’t forget the international rights).  In the adult fiction world there seem to be fewer ‘rules’ than in the YA market. There was more diversity on offer and publishers seemed to be taking more risks.

I was left with mixed feelings at the end of the Frankfurt Book Fair. One part of me felt a sense of boundless possibility.  If there are so many publishers, surely it shouldn’t be so hard to find ‘the one’.  Yet at the same time, I came home to cry on hubby, because underneath all those publishers with all their connections, their rights and their business plans, there are authors. To satisfy the nutritional needs of the giant reef that is book publishing, there are more authors than could fit onto a stage at the fair. As one of those authors, being just  a lone little person clutching my bag of goodies in one hand and my dreams in the other…I felt incredibly small.

Statistics at a glance: More than 110 countries with 7500 trade exhibitors and 300,000 visitors over 5 days.  That’s a BIG book event.