Highlights from our visit to the London Book Fair
Praveen and I have just returned from an 8-day visit to jolly ol’ England – there to visit local literary landmarks, and represent The Booksmith as part of the American delegation of booksellers at the London Book Fair.
I’m responsible for the summary commentary; Praveen will post his great photos and bookseller interviews. Here are my observations and key take-aways from our trip:
• London’s venerable ol’ bookstores – Daunt’s, Foyles and Stanfords – are wonderful places to visit and lose yourself for hours at a time.
• The London Book Fair is an interesting counterpart to America’s Book Expo America. In the most critical view, booksellers are little more than an afterthought at LBF. A historical legacy of the LBF’s origins and current industry dynamics, publisher deal-making is the focus as the majority of attendees are present to negotiate publishing & distribution rights.
• Our American booksellers delegation was warmly welcomed by British Booksellers association, English Pen writers’ group, arts publishers Phaidon, the National Portrait Gallery, among others.
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Getting away and reflecting on our business with a group of fellow booksellers was by far the most valuable part of our trip. Our entourage included many well-known and respected booksellers:
● Chuck & Dee Robinson of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington
● Carla Cohen of Politics & Prose in Washington D.C.
● Barbara Morrow of Northshire Books in Manchester, Vermont
● Catherine & Tony of Sam Weller’s in Salt Lake City, Utah
● Roberta Rubin of The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Illinois
● Amy Thomas of Pegasus Books in Berkeley, California
● Neil Van Uum of Joseph-Beth bookstores
● Patti Pattee of Watermark Book Co. in Anacortes, Washington
● Roni Devlin of Literary Life in Grand Rapids, Michigan
● Melony Vance, formerly of Latitude 33 in Laguna Beach, California
● Morley Horder of Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Bainbridge Island in Washington
● Kerry Slattery of Skylight Books in Los Angeles, California
and of course yours truly….
● Christin Evans and Praveen Madan of The Booksmith in San Francisco, California
We started Friday night with a dinner hosted by the organizers of the London Book Fair, Reed Exhibitions, and met a couple of British independent bookstore owners. The weekend was filled with wonderful guided tours of the Tate Britain and Tate Modern museums, including an exhibit by rising star Peter Doig. We also had a guided tour of the painstakingly reconstructed Globe Theater, Shakepeare’s London company’s theater.
Tour of London’s Fine Independent Bookstores
A real treat for two bookstore junkies, London is host to several strong, local independent bookstores, and we had the treat to leisurely browse the shelves at Foyles, Daunts and Stanford’s.
Of the three, Daunt’s is the smallest in size (yet it still it has three floors and emphasizes a quality selection) which allows a wonderful browsing experience. It’s in a beautiful old Edwardian building with carved oak bookshelves and green library light fixtures and during the day natural light from skylights above give this historic bookstore a magical feel as one wonders along the wall of books, uniquely organized by place. An interesting approach to organization, world travelers can appreciate fiction, memoirs and travel guides alike are shelved together so that you might find an interesting read to take with you on your next journey.
Foyles is in the heart of central London not far from Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square on Charring Cross Road. I’m so envious of their art-gallery-cum-author-event-space and deep selection of art & photography books. We attended an Arab Authors night co-hosted with “Words Without Borders” which was standing room only. Along the wall behind the authors was an art exhibition of photographs from the book “London Street Art” by Prestel press. You can see the signs that the store has had to respond to competition from the chain stores (including one right across the street), and as a result offers selective discounts at the main entrance but Foyles has also really tried to cultivate departments which cater to niche interest groups including oddly enough a specialty department for Doctors & Veterinarians where you can buy lab
coats, scrubs, stethoscopes, doctors bags, along with medical school exam guides, related books and even a full skeleton if you require.
Stanfords may be the largest retail shop in the world specializing in maps & travel books. Originally known in England as the destination to secure a local Ordinance map, Stanfords has remodeled its space to cater to the numerous visitors that come to that part of London to patronize the large Covent Gardens and shopping environs. This store is so map-centric, you can find toy globes, note cards and gift wrap with map images and even a shower curtain decorated with a world map. Travelers must also appreciate their broad selection of travel guides and memoirs when planning their next trip.
The London Book Fair
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Earl’s Court exhibition hall served as host venue to publishers from around the world. The London Book Fair started nearly 40 years ago as a trade show gathering of publishers. Across the pond, the American Booksellers Association created their own annual gathering with a focus on booksellers.
Over the years, the London Book Fair has emerged a sprint-filled event for publishers seeking to buy or sell translation and distribution rights for their front and backlist titles. Unlike the American Book Expo which has a greater emphasis on marketing and promotion of soon to be released titles and the authors & publishers who are promoting them, London really downplays the bookseller’s participation, let alone the visiting American booksellers visit, as Carla Cohen of Politic and Prose observed in her blog, “I walked through the convention center floor today, and there actually was very little for an American bookstore representative to do. We can't order from British publishers and some of the forthcoming books will not be published in the U.S. for six months or a year.”
The British Booksellers Association (BA) which represents booksellers of all varieties including chains, supermarkets, and the independent bookstores had a large floor booth to welcome foot-weary visitors, and organized a handful of seminars with a bookseller focus. But I can understand why some English booksellers decide to skip the LBF altogether.
Photos and Videos from our London visit
Check out photos of our visit on Flickr here, as well as, Praveen’s video clips on YouTube of Daunt’s (first video, second video, third video, fourth video) and Foyles, and interviews with Carla Cohen of Politics & Prose, Chuck & Dee Robinson of Village Books (first video, second video), and Catherine & Tony of Sam Weller’s.
