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8 April 2014

London

F o r t h e l a t e s t f a i r c o v e r a g e , g o t o w w w. p u b l i s h e r s w e e k l y. c o m / l b f a n d w w w. b o o k b r u n c h . c o . u k

Digital Minds: Look beyond


the book, keynotes urge

t last years Digital


Minds conference,
author Neil Gaiman
encouraged
publishers to try
everything, advice that was
echoed at this years event, as a
morning of keynote speakers
urged publishers to look beyond
the book, writes Andrew
Albanese. I do not believe that
books will ever die, said author
Anthony Horowitz in his
opening keynote. At the same
time we cannot deny we are in an
extraordinary transition, and it
does seem to me sometimes that
publishers are not grabbing the
nettle because they are too afraid
of getting stung.
That fear, Horowitz noted,
was understandable. He opened
by comparing publishers of
literary fiction to animals in
danger of extinction, and ran
down the signs of trouble.
Borders is gone, Barnes & Noble
is not looking good, sales at US
bookstores are down by 22% in
five years, UK independents are in
decline, he offered. And then
there was Amazon. They really
are evil bastards and I loathe
them, and I fear them, and of
course I use them all the time,
because they are wonderful.
Thats the problem.
Horowitz praised publishers as
undervalued in the discussion
of Digital Books, but insisted that
publishers must grasp the deeper
value offered by digital. It seems
to me that anything is possible,
he said of the digital landscape,
but not very much of it is being
considered.
Horowitz also offered a
warning, citing library cuts and

News Day 1.indd 1

the lack of reading for pleasure


in schools. If you dont start
young, if you dont consecrate
readers, you will pay the price
down the line, he warned. If
I was to sound a warning for
the future it is that we need to
nurture our love of reading.
In his provocative closing
keynote, veteran technology
journalist and head of partnership
development at the BBC Archives
Bill Thompson urged publishers
to recognize that the Internet was
now the centre of the creative
universe. But he sharply criticized
the way the book industry was
developing the ebook future,
calling e-reading platforms and
devices such as the Kindle killing
jars for words.
The point about those
machines and those closed

ecosystems is that they deny you


the books electronic existence,
he said, offering readers
the simulacrum of a page,
piercing every letter with
needles to hold them in place on
the screen, and giving the
companies behind them control
of the ecosystem by limiting the
real possibilities.
It was time for publishers to
engage technology fully,
Thompson said. Weve had 70
years of digital, 40 years of
ebooks, 30 years of the internet,
25 years of the web, 10 years of
Facebook, and the iPhone is
seven years old. This is not new
technology. We should be
horrified at how slow we are to
adapt to something that has
been changing the world for
seven decades.

Visit us at
Stand G470

PubMatch
upgrade

ubMatch, the book


publishing and international
rights database founded by
Publishers Weekly and Combined
Book Exhibit, is introducing a new
upgrade at this years London
Book FairRights@PubMatch.
Developed in co-operation
with the Copyright Clearance
Center, Rights@PubMatch is a
transaction engine that empowers
its users to buy and sell rights with
a few computer clicks. The
system, which is powered by
CCCs RightsLink, allows
rights sellers to detail exactly
which rights are availablefrom
language to territory to format
and provides sellers with a
contract to execute a complete
transaction. If desired, buyers
and sellers can replace the
systems standard contract with
one of their own design.
Through Rights@PubMatch,
acquiring content has never been
easier: after a buyer accepts a
sellers terms, they are able to
purchase the right to the book
with a few simple clicks and a
credit card, the collections are
made and the net remittances are
sent to the seller. To ensure that
deals will be completely VAT/
withholding tax compliant,
Rights@PubMatch engaged
the international accounting
firm Deloitte.
PubMatch has more than
8,000 members, and has
featured more than 20,000 titles.

Rights@PubMatch will officially


launch later this spring. Demos are
available on Stand F405.

07/04/2014 16:58

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INDEPENDENT

PUBLISHERS

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DIGITIZED TITLES

HUNDREDS
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SERVICE

Visit us at The Perseus Books Group stand H900

D I G I TA L

P U B L I S H I N G

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ConstellationDigital.com
A Service of The Perseus Books Group

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 3

FAIR DEALINGS

PRH sets up virtual


bookshop service

enguin Random House


UK (PRH) has
launched a reader
recommendation
platform allowing
book-lovers to set up virtual
bookshops, share their favourite
reads and discover, recommend
and review books online.
My Independent Bookshop,
devised and developed with independent digital agency Collective,
aims to create a vibrant community of virtual shops and high
streets with human recommendation and discovering new stories
at its heart. The announcement
follows Sundays Observer interview with PRH CEO Tom Weldon, who said he wanted the
company to get to know and
establish a direct relationship
with readers to tell them about the
books they might fall in love
with. The challenge, Weldon
said, was not digital but rather
how you tell people about the
next great book.
The free site launched today, 8
April, in closed beta, kick-starting
a month-long period where select
authors and book fans will be
invited to join the community and
start creating their shops. Anyone
interested can register at www.
myindependentbookshop.co.uk

to be among the first to set up their


virtual bookshops when the initiative goes live to the general public.
Users can set up their shops
with 12 books at a time on their
shelves, changing the display as
often as they choose, and they can
also bring together their favourite
shops from across the platform to
create their own high streets.
There will be integration with
Facebook, Twitter and Googleplus. Incentives will include the
chance to meet authors and gain
access to early copies of new titles.
Fulfilment will be through Gardners hive.co.uk. Hive enables users
to link to high street independents,
which gain commissions from
purchases through the site.

imon Blacklock at Faber is taking on the role of Client


Director in addition to his leadership responsibilities at
Faber Factory Powered by Constellation (FFPC).
Blacklock will be responsible for delivering services to Fabers
clients125 publishers through (FFPC) and 28 publishers through
the Independent Alliance and Faber Factory Plus. He will report
to Director of Independent Publisher Services Will Atkinson, who
said: We aim to help other publishers fulfil their potential across
the global market for E and P backed up by excellent tools,
particularly concerning the use of data.

Reporting for BookBrunch by


Nicholas Clee and Liz Thomson

Reporting for Publishers Weekly by


Andrew Albanese, Rachel Deahl and Jim Milliot
Project Management: Joseph Murray
Layout and Production: Heather McIntyre
Editorial Co-ordinator (UK): Marian Sheil

To subscribe to Publishers Weekly, call 800-278-2991


or go to www.publishersweekly.com
Subscribe to BookBrunch via www.bookbrunch.co.uk
or email editor@bookbrunch.co.uk
London Show Daily produced by Jellysh Print Solutions 01489 897373

News Day 1.indd 3

ovels by Donna Tartt


and Eimear McBride
are among the shortlist
for the inaugural Baileys Prize
for Womens Fiction (30,000),
while notable longlisted names
to miss out are Margaret
Atwood and Eleanor Catton.
The six shortlisted novels are
AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fourth
Estate); BURIAL RITES by
Hannah Kent (Picador); THE
LOWLAND by Jhumpa Lahiri
(Bloomsbury); THE UNDERTAKING by Audrey Magee
(Atlantic); A GIRL IS A HALFFORMED THING by Eimear
McBride (Galley Beggar Press);
and THE GOLDFINCH by
Donna Tartt (Little, Brown).
They were announced at an

Blacklock up at
Faber

To contact London Show Daily at the


Fair with your news, visit us on the
Publishers Weekly stand G470

www.publishersweekly.com

Baileys announces 2014 shortlist


event at The Magazine restaurant in London yesterday (7
April). Adichie is a past winner of
what was the Orange Prize
(2010). Past winner Suzanne
Berne, also longlisted, failed to
make the shortlist.
The judges are Helen Fraser,
Mary Beard, Denise Mina, Caitlin Moran, and Sophie Raworth.
Fraserformer MD of Penguin
UK, and now Chief Executive of
the Girls Day School Trustsaid:
We feel you could give any one
of these books to a friend with
the absolute confidence that they
would be gripped and absorbed
and that maybe their view of the
world would be changed once
they had read it.
The winner will be announced
on 4 June.

egend Times, the


parent company of
L e g e n d Pr e s s a n d
New Generation Publishing
among others, is to run a
monthly self-publishing
competition in association
with the Guardian.
A judging panel including
the Andrew Lownie Literary
Agency, Lauren Parsons of
Legend Press, and authors
Stuart Ever s and Polly
Courtney will select the
winners, who will get
Guardian reviews.

Blurb service

Theatre
contenders

lurb, a self-publishing platform for illustrated books,


has unveiled a suite of
new tools including offset book
printing, short-term book warehousing and delivery fullment.
The company is also offering new
customization options.
Blurb claims to have been used
by more more than 1.1 million
self-publishers to produce 2.8
million titles, ranging from
architecture, childrens books,
photography, travel, how-to
books, and food books, to every
kind of design book.
Customisation options are available for orders of 300 or more.

he Society for Theatre


Research has announced
t h e s h o rt l i s t f o r t h e
2013 award.
They are: THE NATIONAL
THEATRE STORY by Daniel
Rosenthal (Oberon); THE OTHER
NATIONAL THEATRE: 350 YEARS
OF SHOWS IN DRURY LANE by
Robert Whelan (Jacob Tonson);
SPEAKING THE SPEECHby Giles
Block (Nick Hern Books); STAGE
BLOOD by Michael Blakemore
(Faber); WOODEN OS:
SHAKESPEARES THEATRES
AND ENGLANDSTREES by
Vin Nardizzi (Uni ver sity of
Toronto Press).
www.bookbrunch.co.uk

07/04/2014 17:16

8 APRIL 2014

4 LONDON SHOW DAILY

FAIR DEALINGS
LBF: Whats new
at Earls Court
for 2014

elcome to
the 43rd
London
Book Fair.
We
are
delighted to extend a warm
welcome to our visitors and
exhibitors from around the
world to Earls Court.
Over the next three days,
25,000 people representing 115
countries will gather in the
capital to meet international
colleagues and old friends, make
new contacts and do deals. All
within the wider context of
being able to listen, learn and
gain fresh insights into new
areas. What better city to get
creative insight than London,
which is one of the worlds
most important hubs for the
creative industries.
This year, you will see some of
those aligned creative industries
on the show floorlook out for
the Gaming Pavilion, run
in association
with Ukie in
Tech Central;
Brand Licensing,
in association
with LIMA
(Licensing Industry
Merchandisers Association);
and TV & Film, in partnership
with MIPCOM in the Childrens
Zone. All of these initiatives are
supported by a great seminar
programme, both on and off the
show floor. We have 11 streams
within our Insights Seminar
programme this year, with
a great new stream focusing
on skills required in this
transformational age of
publishing. Whether you dip
into the seminar programme via
the International Publishers
Association What Works
Education Conference; through
the seminars on Level 1; or
through the new show floor
theatre The Faculty, that
celebrates academic and
scholarly publishing, you will be
challenged, inspired and

Jacks Thomas

informed, as industry experts


and leaders debate key issues,
new trends and new markets.
A new attraction this year for
all golfers and gamers amongst
you is the new BIC Bar in
Tech Central featuring The
Chairmans Challenge virtual
golf tournamenta great way
to network and win a prize.
Talking of prizes, tonight
we are hosting, in partnership
with the Publishers Association
and supported
by the British
Council, our
inaugural
International
Book Industry
Excellence Awards, celebrating
the best international talent in
the industry. Watch this space
for the winners, chosen from a
stellar shortlist.
Lastly, but by no means least,
this year marks the end of the
Earls Court era, as 2014 is the last
year it is available as an exhibition
venue. In 2015 the London Book
Fair returns to a new-look
Olympia that, following a
major refurbishment, is much
bigger and lighter than before,
boasting connectivity between
all seven of its halls. There are
daily tours to Olympia; if you
havent booked yet, drop into the
Sales Lounge and reserve your
place on the daily Routemaster
bus tour.
Jacks Thomas is Director of the
London Book Fair.

www.publishersweekly.com

News Day 1.indd 4

Rights round up
Hannah Westland at Serpents Tail
has acquired debut novel GLASS
(2015) by Alex Christo, who is an
agent at Conville & Walsh. Serpents
Tail has world rights excluding
North America from the Jonathan
Pegg Literary Agency. Droemer has
pre-empted German rights. US
rights are being handled by Doug
Stewart at Sterling Lord Literistic on
behalf of Jonathan Pegg. The novel
is Huckleberry Finn meets Candide,
but with added window cleaning.
Ali Dougal at Egmont has bought
THE CLOCKWORK SPARROW (2015)
and a second novel for middleg r a d e r e a d e r s b y K a t h e ri n e
Woodne, Arts Project Manager at
Booktrust. Egmont signed the world
English deal following a fourpublisher auction conducted by
Lo u i s e L a m o n t a t L B A . T h e
Clockwork Sparrow follows the
adventures of recently orphaned
Sophie, a shop girl at the newly
opened Sinclairs Department Store
in London.
Angus Cargill at Faber has bought
debut thriller FORTY ACRES by
screenwriter Dwayne Alexander
Smith. Faber has UK and
Commonwealth rights from Caspian
Dennis at Abner Stein, on behalf of
Molly Friedrich, and will publish this
July, alongside Atria in the US. Forty
Acres is about a young, black attorney
who gets drawn into a powerful,
secretive cabal. Cargill describes the
novel as an absolute knockout, one
of the most exciting and daring
submissions Ive read for ages.
Amanda Harris at Orion has bought
world rights from Hellie Ogden at
Janklow & Nesbit UK in THE LITTLE
LOAF: HOMEMADE MEMORIES by
Kate Doran, proprietor of the Little
Loaf blog. Harris describes her as
an exciting new talent. She brings
a freshness and irresistible twist to
the treats and flavours of our
childhood. This is going to be a
beautiful book. The book will
appear in June 2015.
Lynne Drew at HarperFiction has
closed a signicant new deal for four
novels by Lindsey Kelk, author of the
I HEART series. The world deal,
negotiated with Rowan Lawton of
Furniss Lawton, cover s both
standalone and series novels. The
rst will be published in spring 2015.
Da Capo Press has acquired James
McGrath Morriss unusual study of
Ernest Hemingway and John Dos
Passos, THE AMBULANCE
DRIVERS: HEMINGWAY AND DOS
PASSOSLITERARY LIVES IN WAR

AND PEACE. Robert Pigeon at Da


Capo made the world rights deal
with Alan Nevins of Renaissance
Literary &Talent.
Dinah Wood at Faber and Frances
Coady at Atavis have signed THE
BLUE TOUCH PAPER, a memoir by
playwright David Hare. Coady
bought rights from Faber, which had
bought world rights from Casarotto
Ramsay. Publication will be in 2015.
The book will take Hare from
childhood up to the election of
Margaret Thatcher in 1979. Faber
CEO Stephen Page said: This
wonderful book is a landmark
publication for Faber. Like all the
very best memoir its story and
concerns entertain and provoke the
reader in turn, not least through its
portrayal of our society at a time of
great cultural and political
engagement. Faber has been Hares
publisher since 1970.
Fiona Slater at Oneworld has
acquired GAME OF QUEENS: THE
WOMEN WHO RULED SIXTEENTHCENTURY EUROPE, a new history
b y S a ra h G ri s t wo o d . S l a t e r
described it as a story driven by
blood, family and remarkable
personalities, and I am thrilled that
Sarah is going to be telling it.
Oneworld has UK/Commonwealth
rights from Peter Robinson at
Rogers, Coleridge & White in a very
strong five-figure deal, and will
publish in autumn 2016.
Jeremy Robson of the Robson Press
has bought the candid memoirs
of Michael Winner s PA, Dinah
May, who was the film directors
assistant, sounding board and
condante for over 30 years. She
helped with his films, ran his
household, accompanied him on all
kinds of glamorous occasions and
even played his sidekick in his last
TV series, Robson reports. He
signed world rights in SURVIVING
MICHAEL WINNER: A 30 YEAR
ODYSSEY direct from the author,
and will publish in September.
Tracy Chevalier is the sixth leading
novelist to sign up for the Hogarth
Shakespeare series (2016) of novels
based on Shakespeares plays. Clara
Farmer at Chatto/Hogarth signed
world rights through Jonny Geller at
Curtis Brown. Chevalier, author of
Girl with a Pear Earring, is to write a
version of OTHELLO. Italian rights in
the six titles have gone to ISBN/Il
Saggiatore, and Danish rights to
Modtryk. Hogarth publishes in the
UK and US, Knopf in Canada, Knaus
Verlag in Germany, and Lumen in
Spain.

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

07/04/2014 16:03

New spring and summer reads from


Please visit us at stand i605 to see our new releases!

Disturbing
Conventions

Decentering Thai
Literary Cultures
Edited by Rachel V Harrison

the Moses virus


A Novel
By Jack Hyland

Taylor Trade Publishing

Rowman & Littlefield International

brunCh

A History
By Farha Ternikar

the Dawn of tibet

The Ancient Civilization on the


Roof of the World
By John Vincent Bellezza

twilight of
the belle epoque

privaCy in the age


of big Data

The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky,


Proust, Renault, Marie Curie,
Gertrude Stein, and Their
Friends through the Great War
By Mary McAuliffe

Recognizing Threats,
Defending Your Rights, and
Protecting Your Family
By Theresa M. Payton
and Ted Claypoole

the referenCe
interview toDay

the enCyClopeDia
of the inDustrial
revolution in
worlD history

Negotiating and Answering


Questions Face to Face, on the
Phone, and Virtually
By Dave Harmeyer

Edited by
Kenneth E. Hendrickson III
3 volume set

International Ordering
Information:

NBN International
10 Thornbury Road
Plymouth PL6 7PP, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1752 202301
Fax: +44 (0) 1752 202333
Email: orders@nbninternational.com
Website: www.nbninternational.com

United States
Ordering Information:

Rowman & Littlefield


15200 NBN Way
PO Box 191
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214
Tel: 1-800-462-6420
Fax: 1-800-338-4550
Website: www.rowman.com

8 APRIL 2014

6 LONDON SHOW DAILY

London Book Fair Briefcase 2014


By Rachel Deahl in New York and Nicholas Clee and Liz Thomson in London

US
Curtis Brown, Gelfman
Schneider/ICM Partners, and
Sagalyn Agency/ICM Partners
(handled by Curtis Brown)
Chris Bohjalians CLOSE YOUR
EYES HOLD HANDS (Doubleday)
is about a now-homeless teenager
whose parents were killed in a
meltdown at a Vermont power
plant. From the Sagalyn Agency
is former CIA analyst Mathew
Burrowss THE FUTURE
DECLASSIFIED: MEGATRENDS
THAT WILL UNDO THE
WORLD UNLESS WE TAKE
ACTION (Palgrave). From CB is
the new novel from One Day author
David Nicholls, US (US rights not
yet sold; UK, Hodder).
Foundry Literary + Media
William Giraldis HOLD THE
DARK (Norton) is set in Alaska
and follows a wolf scholar called
in to help investigate a wolf
attack on a fishing village; rights
also sold in France. From Paul
Tremblay is HEAD FULL OF
GHOSTS (William Morrow),
about a family who seek an
exorcist after their 14-year-old
daughter falls ill. HOW TO
CATCH A RUSSIAN SPY by
Anonymous, with Ellis Henican
(Scribner), which was pre-empted
in the UK, is about the Cold War
hiring of an ordinary Joe as a
double agent.
Gernert Company
Rights in Chris Pavones publishingset thriller THE ACCIDENT
(Crown) have been sold in multiple
countries. From Priya Parmar is
VANESSA AND HER SISTER
(Ballantine), a captivating novel
about the lives of Vanessa Bell and
her sister Virginia Woolf; rights sold
in the UK.
Sanford J Greenburger
Associates
Brad Thors ACT OF WAR
(Atria/Emily Bestler) is a followup to the authors 2013 bestseller
Hidden Order. From Melody
Anne there are two romance

seriesSURRENDER and BABY


FOR THE BILLIONAIRE (on
submission in the US)that have
both sold in France. In the selfhelp category is Lorna Byrnes
LOVE FROM HEAVEN (on
submission in the US), which
delves into the origin of love;
rights sold in nine territories,
including the UK, Germany, and
the Netherlands.
ICM Partners
(handled by Curtis Brown)
A big author on ICMs list is
Richard Ford, for whom the
agency will be pushing LET
ME BE FRANK WITH YOU
(Ecco), a collection of four
novellas featuring Fords Frank
Bascombe; rights sold in Canada
and the UK. From Ian Caldwell
is BLOOD AND WATER (Simon
& Schuster), a thriller set within
the walls of the Vatican by the
co-author of The Rule of Four.
ICM also has George Saunderss
CONGRATULATIONS BY THE
WAY (Random House), which
is the text of the inspiring speech
that Saunders gave at a Syracuse
University convocation event.
Inkwell Management
Inkwell will be highlighting two
projects by Katherine Heiny
the writers debut short story
collection, SINGLE, CAREFREE,
MELLOW (Knopf), and her
debut novel, STANDARD
DEVIATION (Knopf). CANARY
by Duane Swierczynski (Little,
Brown) tells the story of Sarie
Holland, an ordinary college
girl who turns confidential
informant. The agencys hot
non-fiction titles include Arianna
Huffingtons THRIVE (Crown),
an impassioned and compelling
case for the need to redefine what
it means to be successful in todays
world; rights sold in 12 countries,
with other offers pending.
Janklow & Nesbit
The big non-fiction book from
J&N is Jimmy Carters A CALL
TO ACTION: WOMEN,
RELIGION, VIOLENCE AND

www.publishersweekly.com

News Day 1.indd 6

POWER (Simon & Schuster).


Chrysler Szarlans debut novel
THE HAWLEY BOOK OF THE
DEAD (Ballantine) is full of
suspense, passion and magic in
the exquisitely imagined tradition
of A Discovery of Witches; rights
sold in the UK, the Netherlands,
and Brazil. From Josh Weil is
THE GREAT GLASS SEA (Grove
Atlantic), a debut novel about
Russian brothers who work for
the same company until one
begins to ascend professionally
and the other slides into a life of
bare subsistence. Then theres the
anticipated new one from Anne
Rice, PRINCE LESTAT (Knopf).
William Morris Endeavor
Pamela Druckermans THERE
ARE NO GROWNUPS: AND
OTHER THINGS IT TOOK ME
40 YEARS TO LEARN (Penguin
Press, no pub date yet) is from
the author of the 2012 bestseller
Bringing Up Bb. From Dr
Meg Jay is SUPERNORMAL
(Hachette/Twelve), which WME
says will illuminate the secret
world of the heroic child.
Scottish writer Kirsty Logan has
GRACEKEEPERS (on submission
in the US, rights sold in the UK),
a fantasy novel set in a world
divided between those inhabiting
the mainland and those inhabiting
the sea. Meg Wolitzers
BELZHAR (Dutton) is about a
New Jersey teenager whose British
boyfriend has died and who is
now at a therapeutic boarding
school in Vermont.
Trident Media Group
The agencys fiction includes
Sherrilyn Kenyons DEFIANT
(St. Martins), the sixth book in
the Chronicles of Nick series.
SO CLOSE and TOO FAR (St.
Martins) are two titles from Sylvia
Days Blacklist series; rights sold in
multiple countries. Trident will also
be selling Nicole Edwardss SNIPER
1 SECURITY series, which revolves
around a security company servicing
two families, as well as the authors
ALLURING INDULGENCE series
(both Simon & Schuster).

Wylie Agency
Amos Ozs JUDAS (Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt) is set in
Jerusalem in the winter of 1959
and 1960 (rights sold in Israel and
Brazil). On the non-fiction side is
THE RISE AND (POTENTIAL)
FALL OF MODERN CENTRAL
BANKING: WHAT IT MEANS
FOR YOU (US rights not yet
sold), by Mohamed A El-Erian,
which sheds light on what
individuals, companies, and
governments can do today. From
Charles Duhigg is WHY THINGS
GET DONE (Random House),
which explores recent discoveries
in psychology, neurology, and
economics that illuminate why
some people seem to cram more
useful hours into each day.
Writers House
WH will be selling foreign rights
to Jonathan Troppers 2009 novel,
THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU
(Penguin), hoping to draw interest
because of the forthcoming film
adaptation. From Shawna Yang
Ryan is the novel GREEN ISLAND
(Knopf), about three generations of a
Taiwanese family. From the creators
of the popular podcast Welcome
to Night Vale, Joseph Frank and
Jeffrey Cranor, is a currently untitled
novel that paperback imprint Harper
Perennial has acquired. The major
non-fiction title from the agency is
SUNRISE OVER HIROSHIMA:
THE REMARKABLE TRUE
STORY OF A FAMILY DIVIDED
BY WAR (Harper), by Pamela
Rotner Sakamoto, about a
Japanese-American family with
two sons who fought on opposing
sides in World War II.

UK
Aitken Alexander
THE MOUNTAIN CAN WAIT
by Sarah Leipciger is set in British
Columbia, where a boy driving
home from a party is involved in
an accident that kills a girl (UK,
Tinder Press; US, Little, Brown).
GERMANS 1939-45 by Nicholas
Stargardt is billed as the first fullContinues on page 8

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

07/04/2014 09:01

8 APRIL 2014

8 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Continued from page 6

scale history of German society in


the Second World War.
Darley Anderson
James Carols WATCH ME is
the second novel in the Jefferson
Winter series (UK, Faber;
options in Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland, Thailand
and Turkey; TV, Sprout Pictures).
Diane Bankes Associates
Set in 1930s New York, CODE
NAME HELLGATE by Alix Kirsta
investigates one of the most
bizarre and astounding stories in
the realms of crime history (on
submission). In THE WAR OVER
WOMENS WORK, Ruth Pitt
argues that its not always men
who are holding women backbut
other women (on submission).
Blake Friedmann
THE THRILL OF IT ALL is Joseph
OConnors first contemporary
novel for 15 years (agent, Carole
Blake; UK, Harvill Secker; audio,
WF Howes, Netherlands, Ambo
Anthos). Benjamin Johncocks
BURNING, BLUE is a fictional
telling of the story of US astronaut
Jim Harrison (agent, Juliet
Pickering; on submission).
Luigi Bonomi Associates
In THE YETI ENIGMA, professor
of genetics Bryan Sykes sets out
on a quest to discover whether
the Yeti/Abominable Snowman/
Bigfoot has ever existed (world exc
US, Hodder). THE RETURNED,
the acclaimed French supernatural
drama, will be back for a second
series in early 2015; Pan Macmillan
has world rights in novelisations by
Seth Patrick.
Felicity Bryan Associates
Film maker Stephen Burkes first
novel THE GOOD ITALIAN is set
in 1935 in Eritrea, where Enzo leads
a lonely, monotonous life until he
hires an Eritrean housekeeper to
keep him company (UK, Hodder).
THE WELL-GARDENED
MIND is by psychiatrist and
psychotherapist Sue Stuart-Smith
(UK, HarperCollins; under auction
in the US; Dutch rights pre-empted).
Capel & Land
Katharine Grants SEDITION is
set in London in 1794, when a
plan by four fathers to get their
daughters married to aristocratic

husbands goes awry (UK, Virago;


US, Holt). Andrew Roberts is
writing a single-volume biography
of NAPOLEON (UK, Allen Lane;
numerous further deals).

new novel by Ros Barber, winner


of the 2013 Desmond Elliott Prize,
is DEVOTION, which is set in
a near future where religion and
faith are banned.

Conville & Walsh


In Sarah Halls THE WOLF
BORDER, Rachel Cain, the
premier British expert in wolf
biology and behaviour, returns
to her childhood home in the
Lake District (UK, Faber; US,
HarperCollins). THE OPINION
OF OTHERS, Harvard and UCLbased Professor Tali Sharots study
of decision-making, shows that
two, three or even 100 interacting
brains are not always better than
one (UK, Little, Brown).

Janklow & Nesbit (UK)


In THE SKELETON
CUPBOARD, clinical psychologist
Tanya Byron tells stories inspired
by her training (UK, Macmillan;
US, Flat Iron Press; Canada,
HarperCollins; Germany, btb;
The Netherlands, Unieboek/
Het Spectrum). I CONTAIN
MULTITUDES by Ed Yong
explains that we have been
looking at life on the wrong level
of scale (UK/Commonwealth,
Bodley Head).

Edwards Fuglewicz
THINGS I AM ASHAMED OF
is a memoir and a study of
ordinary foibles by Nicholas
Clee, author (Dont Sweat the
Aubergine, Eclipse) and co-editor
of BookBrunch (Kindle Singles).
Journalist and author Paul du
Noyer first met Paul McCartney
over 35 years ago and has
spent many hours in recorded
conversation with the former
BeatleCONVERSATIONS WITH
McCARTNEY is the result.

Andrew Lownie Literary


Agency
BEYOND THE CALL by Lee
Trimble with Jeremy Dronfield
tells the story of US airman Robert
Trimbles covert rescue missions in
1944-1945 from the only foothold
in Soviet-occupied territory (US,
Penguin). THE SPY WHO LOVED:
THE SECRETS AND LIVES OF
CHRISTINE GRANVILLE by
Clare Mulley is the biography of
one of the most glamorous, daring
and successful of all the Allies
female special agents in the Second
World War (UK, Macmillan; US,
St Martins; Poland, Swiat Ksiazki;
China, Beijing World Publishing;
Hungary, Gabo).

Furniss Lawton
HELP ME! is an account of
Marianne Powers year-long quest
to see if self-help can actually help.
GIRLS ON TOUR is the third
novel by Nicola Doherty (UK/
Commonwealth, Headline).
Gregory & Co
Belinda Bauers new novel
THE FACTS OF LIFE AND
DEATH is about a dark spiral of
corruption and manipulation (UK,
Transworld; Sweden, Modernista).
Kaz, the heroine of Susan Wilkins
THE INFORMANT, is trying to
go straight, but is caught between
the demands of her gangster
brother and of a relentless
policeman (UK, Pan Macmillan;
Germany, Droemer).
Rupert Heath
AK Benedicts JONATHAN
DARK OR THE EVIDENCE
FOR GHOSTS is set in London,
where a detective uses his contact
with ghosts to help uncover a
serial killer (UK, Orion; Germany,
Droemer; Italy, Eliot Edizione;
film/TV, Company Pictures). The

www.publishersweekly.com

News Day 1.indd 8

The Marsh Agency


Nadia Hashimis THE PEARL
THAT BROKE ITS SHELL is set in
Kabul, and intertwines the family
story of Rahima with that of her
great-aunt a century earlier (WEL,
Morrow; Norway, CappelenDamm;
Marsh handles translation rights).
Helen Macdonalds H IS FOR
HAWK is the story of a relationship
between a young woman and a
goshawk (UK, Cape; US, Grove
Atlantic; Italy, Einaudi).
MBA Literary Agents
LOCKED IN is retired California
police officer Richard Marshs
memoir of his recovery from a
major stroke (UK, Piatkus/Little
Brown; Czech Republic, Triton).
Madeleine Milburn Literary,
TV & Film Agency
CRAVINGS by Luana Lewis
explores obsession, jealousy,
and the fears and expectations

women have of each other (UK/


Commonwealth, Transworld; De
Bezige Bij/Cargo, the Netherlands;
Portuguese (Brazil), Rocco).
Laura Morris Literary Agency
(translation rights care of the
Buckman Agency)
In HOW TO WATCH A MOVIE,
David Thomson tackles matters such
as whom to watch with, trailers,
soundtracks, and the pleasures and
hazards of reviewing (WEL, Profile).
Peake Associates
To coincide with the paperback of
Jonathan Coes new novel, EXPO
58, Penguin will publish an ebook of
short stories, LOGGERHEADS AND
OTHER STORIES (rights in Expo 58
sold in more than 12 territories).
PFD
LOST FOR WORDS,
LANGUAGE, POLITICS AND
PUBLIC BEWILDERMENT is
by Mark Thompson, President
and CEO of the New York Times
(UK, Bodley Head; US, St Martins
Press). THE FORTUNE HUNTER
is the second novel by Daisy
Goodwinsumptuous and classy
historical fiction (UK, Headline;
numerous further deals).
Pollinger
PAYBACK by Kimberley Chambers
is a crime saga by the best-selling
novelist (UK, Harper; Pollinger
handles translation rights). PETER
OTOOLE is the subject of the new
biography by Robert Sellers (UK,
Sidgwick & Jackson).
Watson, Little
HOW I LOST YOU by Jen
Blackhurst is about a woman
released from a psychiatric unit,
where she was placed after being
convicted of her sons murder
(Headline, UK/BC; Bastei Lubbe,
Germany; Belfond, France).
United Agents
DEAR THIEF by Samantha
Harvey is the third novel by the
author of The Wilderness (UK,
Cape; US, Frances Coady/Atavist).
Ed Victor
THE BLUE GUITAR is the latest
from Man Booker Prize-winning
John Banville (UK, Penguin;
US, Knopf). A SPY AMONG
FRIENDS is Ben Macintyres
bestselling biography of Kim Philby
(UK, Bloomsbury; US, Crown).
www.bookbrunch.co.uk

07/04/2014 09:01

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 9

Taking the Beano to new audiences

he Beano comic celebrated 75


years in print in 2013, writes
Tim Collins. But what does the
future hold for this British Icon?
The Beano is fundamentally
still for children, with the vast majority of
our readers being boys and girls aged seven
to 11 years old. But, with declining numbers
of children reading print products, arguably
fewer parents buying magazines and the
huge competition from gaming, TV and
other media, the challenge is to keep the
brand, and its wide cast of characters
relevant and to build on the sales success of
both the weekly comic and annual with new
revenue streams.
Research indicates that the basic cast of
Beanotown, the formats and the consistent
comedy themes are still relevant today
children still want to be Dennis, or Minnie,
or Roger the Dodger and they still want to
play pranks. We also know they are
devouring apps and games, and they are still
very influenced by TV. Knowing this has
allowed us to invest in new products and
routes to new audiences, and we were keen
to expand the appeal of Dennis and the other

www.publishersweekly.com

Tim Collins - Children's Hub.indd 3

characters using original fiction. This led to a


partnership with Penguin, which brought
author Steven Butler on board; working
closely with the Beano editorial team, he
developed new ideas, alongside illustrator
Steve Mays deliberately more frenetic
looking Dennis.
We are also using the extensive archive, to
make new and or reformatted content with a
wide number of companies in the digital
space. These include Penguin, Made in Me
and Comixology. And, for the future,
gaming will be key too.
Even in todays digital world, engaging
directly (face-to-face) with readers is still of
great value. Steven Butler does lots of
speaking events, and last summer we created
a pop up Beanotown at the Southbank
Centre (linked to Southbanks Festival of
Neighbourhood) to help celebrate 75 years
of the comic. It ran for three months,
showcasing the brand through an exhibition,
shop, caf, shooting gallery, prank zone, and
a dress up and photo area. There were also
workshops for aspiring writers and
illustrators, and we even had animators
sessions with Aardman Animations.

A new animated series based around Dennis


and Gnasher launched on the BBC childrens
channel, CBBC, last summer. The new series
has been a huge success, with better ratings
than previous shows. We are also investing in
more brand marketingan example is a recent
sample Beano free in the Mail on Sunday.
With the books, TV and new merchandising,
and an exciting range of new digital content,
a stage show and a theme park in our future
plans, we are confident that there will never
be a quiet moment in Beanotownand that
in 2038, Dennis, Minnie and Roger the
Dodger will be ideally placed to celebrate
their centenary!
Tim Collins is Head of Brand, Consumer
Entertainment, D&C Thomson & Co Ltd. He
will be discussing Building the Beano into a
Childrens Brand for the 21st Century in the
Childrens Hub on 9th April at 4.00pm.
The Childrens Hub is the theatre in the Childrens
and YA area of the Fair; it will play host to a
schedule of seminars, case studies, demonstrations
and discussions celebrating the best of
childrens & YA publishing.

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:38

8 APRIL 2014

10 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Freedom to publish

or many of us in the
UK and countries like
it, we can almost take
for granted the ease
with which we can use
books and newspapers to convey
ideas to the rest of humanity,
writes Richard Mollet. However, for many people in the
world, what we regard as this
basic activity, can be fraught
with (sometimes fatal) danger.
From the very first Sumerian
writers to those of the present
day, the act of writing has meant
the ability to convey ideas and
information. But writing only
makes an impact when it can
reach an audience. In the same
way that human rights charters
protect freedom of speech rather
than freedom of thought, so too
should we consider the conveyance, that is the freedom to publish, as being so very vital.
That is why this year the Publishers Association is proud to

Richard Mollet

welcome the addition of the


International Publishers Association (IPA) Freedom to Publish
Prize to the London Book Fair
International Book Industry
Excellence Awards. This annual
award, appearing for the first
time at the London Book Fair,
was created to honour authors or
organisations that have shown
exemplary courage in upholding
freedom of expression, and
contributed to promoting and

www.publishersweekly.com

Richard Mollet - Freedom to publish.indd 2

defending the freedom to publish


anywhere in the world.
The inaugural prize, in 2006,
was to Shahla Lahiji, founder of
Roshangaran publishing house
in Iran. Founded in 1983, the
house has gone on to publish
more than 200 titles, even in the
face of imprisonment, harassment and a petrol bombing of the
property (in 2005). Other past
award winners include such
names as Jonathan Shapiro,
known for the Zapiro cartoons; Ragip Zarkolu of Belge
Publishing in Turkey; Trevor
Ncube of the Mail&Guardian
Group in South Africa; Sihem
Bensedrine, Neziha Rjiba and
Mohamed Talbi of OLPEC in
Tunisia; Israpil Shovkhalov
and Viktor Kogan-Yasny of
Dosh magazine; Bui Chat,
founder of Giay Vun Publishing
in Vietnam; Irfan Sanci of Sel
Yayincilik Publishing in Turkey;
Hrant Dink of Agos magazine in
Turkey; and Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist.
Publishing, at its best, makes it
possible for anybody to express an
idea, to a mass audience, clearly
stated, well-constructed and
packaged for maximum impact.
Around the world publishing has
been responsible for more revolution and revelation than any other
industry, and it is essential that we
do not forget our role in making
this possible. Those against freedom of speech and thought have
certainly not forgotten the power
of our industry.
Our role as innovators and as
disseminators of information
and ideas has never been more
important. With the world ever
more connected, the importance
of the publisher as the conduit
between an author and their
audience is crucial. Whatever the
content, from childrens book to
political treatise, publishing is
essential to freedom of speech.
This has led to a very simple formula though: Stop the publisher, stop the publication, stop
the idea. For the publishers and
activists listed above, burning
books is not just metaphor.
This years shortlist reveals
once again the great shame that
the award should have to exist.

Irina Balakhonova of the


publisher Samokat, published
The Jester Cap by Daria Wilke,
a novel about a gay characters
struggle to find acceptance,
in 2013, despite the risks of new
Russian laws on spreading
gay propaganda.
Myay Hmone Lwin, who
founded publishing house Ngar
Doe Sar Pay when he was just 17
years old, has strived to publish
works of literary and cultural
significance, despite military
rule, censorship and a ban on
publishing in 2012. Nguyen Vu
Binh is a Vietnamese journalist
who served seven years imprisonment, on espionage charges,
for writing about human rights
abuses in Vietnam. Still subject
to police surveillance, he still selfpublishes online.
Ilbay Kahraman, of Ayrinti
Publishing House, in Istanbul,
has had a number of his books
subjected to investigation and
trial over their content, over
the last 25 years, often forcing
withdraws. The Afghan
PEN Centre, founded in 2003,
organises educational courses
and gives a voice to both male
and female writers in multiple
languages such as Persian,
Pashtu, Uzbek, Turkmen,
Pashayi, Baluchi and Nuristan.
Ihar Lohvinau, of publishing
house Lohvinau in Belarus, had
his publishing licence revoked, in
October 2013, after he printed a
book containing a photo of a
protester who had been beaten
up by the police. In each case they
have made a huge contribution,
not just to publishing, but also
freedom of speech.
As Ray Bradbury once wrote:
You dont have to burn books to
destroy a culture. Just get people
to stop reading them. The nominees for the Freedom to Publish
Prize work in the face of censorship, threat and at huge personal
risk so, though the books may be
burnt, people can still read them.
At the Publishers Association we
support the Freedom the Publish
Award because, ultimately,
publishing is freedom.
Richard Mollet is Chief Executive of
the Publishers Association.
www.bookbrunch.co.uk

03/04/2014 11:37

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 11

Authors, agents and self-publishing

literary agency has


a duty to its clients
to make them
money by finding
their audience,
writes Sam Edenborough. These
days this imperative requires
some innovation of the
Association of Authors Agents
(AAA) members as we help our
clients on their journey to
publication and beyond. The
agents role has developed in the
last few years; we are no longer
gate-keepers, but enablers.
Agencies are reconfiguring in
order to take advantage ofand to
developnew routes to market.
At the heart of this transition are
the new opportunities for authors
who choose to self-publish.
Agencies either have, or have
access to, editorial experience to
assist their clients and enable them
to present their work
professionally, including the look
of the book; they help with social
media strategies, and provide
valuable resources to authors who
prefer to spend more time writing
than tweeting. Agents act as an
interface between the author and
ebook retailers, helping the writer
to track sales and other data, and
to check royalty reporting.
Agents help by advising on the
timing of promotions, arranging
publicity and consulting on
publication dates. Selfpublication may be a deliberate,
initial strategy to test the market
and to build an authors audience
prior to approaching traditional
publishers. Or it may be a fallback position in the event of
multiple rejections by editors.
Following a successful selfpublication, agents are often able
to secure a deal for an author
with a publisher, even one who
may have said no first time
around. And in some cases, selfpublishing is the authors
preferred strategy altogether,
with their agents assistance.

Traditional routes
Its worth pointing out that
publishing houses remain the
backbone of most authors
publishing experience. Ebook
sales appear to be levelling out at
well under 50% of the market,

Sam Edenborough

and authors need to work with a


publishing house in order to
achieve even modest success in
print. This is particularly true in
the translation markets, where
ebooks account for fewer than
10% of total sales, even within
the EU. UK literary agencies
have spent many decades
building up expertise in selling
translation rights and when
our clients have self-published,
this wealth of experience comes
to the fore.
While English-language
authors have blazed a trail, selfpublishing is beginning to catch
on in other language areas too,
despite the modest market share
enjoyed by the ebook format
outside the Anglophone world.
Sander Knol, Managing
Director of Xander Uitgevers in
the Netherlands, comments that
he has recently acquired rights
(via an agent) in an Italian selfpublished writer, Franco
Zingoni. And he observes that
Dutch authors are beginning to
self-publish: Its a new area that
we watch, lets say from the
talent scouting point of view. As
a business model here in the
Netherlands, its very different.
Its not about volume.
While agencies in the UK have
been adapting in order to help
their clients take advantage
of the possibilities for selfpublishing, does this affect the
authors chances of a translation
sale? From a rights buyers
perspective, its very interesting
to see if people have been
successfully self-published
abroad, says Knol. Theres
always a reason for their success,
though sometimes its because
the books have been priced so

www.publishersweekly.com

Sam Edenborough - AAA.indd 3

cheaply. Its good to see a


response directly from the
readers. I asked him how he
saw the literary agents role in
this process. Theres no way a
publishing house like ours could
scan self-publishing activity
worldwide, agents act as a useful
filter, he explained. We can
only be in touch with so many
people. When an agent is
involved it adds a service of
discovery, and getting the
paperwork done and doing
business in a professional way.

Service of discovery
This view is shared by Naomi
Tongue, a Literary Scout at
Louise Allen-Jones scouting
agency, who told me: We
appreciate that agents spend their
time on things they believe in
on the whole submissions from
agents will capture our attention.
However she pointed out that
whatever route a manuscript has

taken to reach her, and in spite


of any commercial success it
may have enjoyed, the quality
of the material itself remains
paramount. As a scout, we take
into consideration sales figures if
the author has self-published, but
we have to view manuscripts on
their own merits as well as within
their wider context.
As agents, our fiduciary duty to
our clients compels us to explore
every possible commercial means
to generate value from their
rights. A central aim of the AAA
has always been to uphold
best practice in our sector and
the Association provides the
ideal forum within which to
develop our ideas. It gives us
the opportunity to help us
continue to do the best for the
authors we represent.
Sam Edenborough is President of the
Association of Authors Agents and
Agent at ILA.

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www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:31

8 APRIL 2014

12 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Agent Fox Media


Liz Thomson talks to Rick Mayston about his new role as a literary and multimedia agent

n the last decade or so, as publishings


tectonic plates have shifted, but not yet
settled in the digital landscape, many
of those whose industry roles were
once clearly defined have found
themselves struggling for a foothold. None
more so perhaps than agents, particularly
(though not exclusively) those dealing in
non-fiction. Advances everywhere are down,
making once bankable projects unviable. As
everyone becomes more digitally savvyas
those whove grown up with smartphones
and tablets come into adulthoodreaders will
want more from a book than straightforward
text and photos. Music or film footage
perhapsa one-stop experience.
Trade publishers need to find a way of
monetising multimedia in a way that many
childrens publishers are doing, suggests
Rick Mayston, who spent years putting
book deals together for Getty Images before
stepping out last month as Agent Fox Media.
Childrens publishers, academic
publisherstheyve embraced the iPad. But
adult trade pubs have not been able to make
their books work financially in the same
way, other than as text-driven books on a
Kindle. What then happens to those
generations growing up with interactivity?
Adult trade publishing really has to get its act
together. It needs to find a way of working
with the Kindle Fire and the iPad, ensuring
they can monetise interactivity successfully. I
see myself at the hub of that, helping them
make the transition.
Mayston speaks admiringly about the
multimedia projects Nosy Crow have
brought to fruition. How dull straight books
are going to seem to the kids who have
grown up on them! Adult publishers have
to learn from their example. Theres possibly
been a lack of understanding about the
difference between digital format and an
app, and theyve not been able to monetise
apps sufficiently because the financial
structure of the distribution network means
the numbers dont add up.

Multimedia skills
The multimedia experts are therebut book
publishing has failed to attract them in sufficient numbers. Publishing needs to be sexier so that multimedia people look at books
as well as going to the games industry. If
book publishers want to create a fully interactive product they need at present to go to
three people with three different lots of
expertise, which isnt cost-effective. Thus,
publishing houses need to recruit individuals
skilled in all multimedia.
www.publishersweekly.com

Liz - Rick Mayston.indd 2

Rick Mayston

Publishing has got to find a way of


monetising digital thats sustainable without
destroying the book, Mayston continues.
As to those books that dont obviously lend
themselves to digital format, there will
always be other ways of expanding such
projects. Publishers need to be bolder,
stealing a march on their competitors, where
currently theyre content merely to keep up.
They have a fear of acting unilaterally, of
spending money only to find the rest dont
follow. But unless book publishing tries to
get properly on the digital bandwagon it will
continue to be led by people from outside the
industry like Amazon and Google, and
publishers will lose control. The real
problem is that newspapers and magazines
have embraced the iPad rather than the
Kindle, and theyve done that because they
can change and update their content in real
time. That means they can capture much
more sustainable revenue from a
subscription model. The revenue is locked
in. With book publishing, the content is
static and seasonalso how do you monetise
it effectively?

Unique products
Mayston, who has had an unusual career
trajectory, believes he is well-positioned to
hold peoples hands and point them in the
right direction tech-wise, so enabling them
to evolve their own unique products.
Theres a package of licences that I can provide with my connections, which other literary agents probably cant. And since a
mighty handful of projects Mayston originated in his hybrid role at Getty Images
including Alexander McQueen: Genius of a
Generation, Lords: A Celebration in Pictures and Fifty Years on the Streethave been
significant sellers, its not unreasonable to
assume he knows what hes talking about.
Something of an autodidact, Mayston
went straight from school to work as a
design and paste-up artist at Royds

Advertising. He spent two decades in the


business, so I always saw things with a
designers eye and I had a bit of business
acumen, which a lot of creatives didnt have.
Even then I was looking at different ways to
sell myself and what I was doing. He went
freelance and began working on projects
around brand identity, all Rotary pens and
SprayMount until the mid-90s, when
people whod grown up with the first Apple
Macs came into the business with new ways
of doing things.
Mayston started to look at alternative
business opportunities and, as a massive
sports fan, hit upon the idea of creating
bespoke sticker books for football fans and
selling them through the clubs. Virgins Rob
Shreeve loved the idea and Mayston and a
small team were off and running, sourcing
material via Allsport, Britains number one
sports agency. They were well under way
when it was discovered that the Premier
League had sticker albums sewn up under an
exclusive deal.
Shreeve suggested Mayston instead help
create a book of football records, a quirky
version of the Guinness concept. It was my
first opportunity to work with a publisher,
gathering the images and helping to design
my first book. At Allsport I was seeing things
from the content sideand I was like a kid in
a candy store! When a researchers job
came up at the agency, he went for it and, at
37, found himself embarked on a new career,
researching, selling, licensing. When
Allsport was bought out by Getty Images in
1998, Mayston went with it and started
going to Frankfurt.
Suddenly, I found myself working in
publishing, he recalls, paying tribute to
Charles Merullo, his former Getty Images
colleague from whom he learned an awful
lot I was his wet-behind-the-ears pupil,
not quite knowing what I was doing for the
first two years. But if youre passionate you
soon become knowledgeable, and people get
to know you and trust you. I gradually found
myself maybe more a part of the publishing
industry than the picture industry. My only
real problem was to get people to stop
thinking of me as exclusively sport and to
realise I was now covering all genres. From
the get-go, Mayston was always trying to
think out of the box.
A good deal of his years at Getty Images
was spent on core licensing, changing
industry perceptions of a gem-packed
agency that was often seen as expensive. He
became the go-to guy for trade and academic
publishers, corporates and indies, the
www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:26

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 13

generalist and the specialist. Eventually, he


became Director of European Book
Publishing at the agency in which role he
began to notice that many of the big-money
books were from genres that did not need
picture agency content. With cookery for
example, a name photographer would be
commissioned to create all the necessary
images; with text-driven A-list memoirs,
more often than not they came directly
from the author.

Thinking laterally

Liz - Rick Mayston.indd 3

to make their life easier and therefore take


away some of the risks in terms of
production costs and so onjust by having
the right connections to bring everything
together cost-effectively. Hes also built up
good relationships with a number of
bespoke crowd-sourcing operations, which
enable a limited edition project to be sold
direct to a fan-base before being turned
into a high street version.
In the old days, traditional literary
agents would represent their author, do
a deal with the publisher and then, apart
from the royalties, walk away. I feel
now that with multimedia, the social
networking, and with all the technology
thats available to us I dont want to walk
away. I can continue to add value for
everyone concerned, Mayston concludes.
Im trying to be a very valuable catalyst in
bringing all of this media together, he
concludes. We need to all start working
together to ensure best practice throughout
the media world.

Publishing has got to find a


way of monetising digital thats
sustainable without destroying
the book.

So Mayston began to think laterally,


taking ideas from the vast Getty Images
archive and forming book projects
around them. His first agented book was
Nick Veaseys X-Ray: Seeing the Unseen, an
idea he soon sold to Jonathan Goodman and
Piers Murray Hill at Carlton. It has since
sold into several languages and Veaseywho
X-rays everyday objectshas gone from 20
hits a week on his website to 25,000 a day.
That made me realise I could be successfully proactive utilising the resources Getty
Images had, Mayston reflects, not as a
packager, but as an agent.

www.publishersweekly.com

In his new life as Agent Fox Media, he can


cast the net more widely, drawing on his vast
network of contacts to produce book
projects, photo shoots, exhibitions,
documentaries and dramatisations. He can
connect book publishers with content
agencies, celebrity agents, publicists,
newspapers and magazines, screen writers,

photographers, broadcasters, production


houses and potential sponsors.
If youre the hub, then you can
effectively create a brand identity for your
client. Because of the experience Ive gained
over the last 18 years, Im uniquely
positioned to do that, and to bring value to
the project. Im not saying I know more than
any other literary agent, Mayston
continues, b ut Im trying to bring a
package of ideas and publicity to a publisher

Rick Mayston can be contacted at rick@


agentfoxmedia.com.

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:26

8 APRIL 2014

14 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Korea Market Focuscome and meet us

uring the London


Book Fair, the Korean
Publishers Association
cordially invites you to take the
time to browse through our
special exhibits and attend the
many seminars that have been
prepared, writes Koh Youngsoo. By browsing through our
collection of newly released
titles, you will gain an overview
of recent trends in the Korean
publishing market. You can also
learn more about the Korean
publishing industry through
panels and presentations that are
focused on specific topics and
issues. (A list of todays events
can be found below).
In the display area, there are
dedicated exhibits on renowned
Korean authors and their works;
ebook content and ebookrelated technology, development
and solutions; and modern
Korean literature and the
Lifeline that highlights the
Korean War as seen through
contemporary Korean literary
works. There are also exhibits
that detail the literary and social
importance of the Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ) between North
and South.

Koh Young-soo

As an IT powerhouse, Korea
has been the leading pioneer in
Webtoons, a format we believe
will lead the Korean Wave into
Europe. To support the expansion
of Webtoons, we have prepared a
special Webtoon exhibit for the
Fair where attendees are invited to
peruse and enjoy the digital
editions of many Korean manhwa
(comics and cartoons).
Also during the Fair, many
meetings between Korean and
British writers are scheduled, and
a variety of seminars for
publishing executives from both
countries are planned. We believe
that these events will introduce
the best of Korean literary works
to the UK marketone of the most

www.publishersweekly.com

D1_p14_Korea Market Focus - Day 1.indd 2

e are honoured to be
the Mark et Focus
country at the London
Book Fair, and we are most
delighted to have this opportunity
to provide Fair attendees and
exhibitors an insight into Koreas
vibrant publishing industry,
writes Eric W SYang.
I firmly believe that the 2014
Market Focus will be a genuinely
stimulating environment, where
people from different corners
of the worldunited by a love
of booksshare their vision
for a brighter future in
publishing. I am confident that
the Market Focus Pavilion will
be fondly remembered as a
place where new ideas were
sparked, new titles born and new
friends made.
Our staff members preparing
for the Korea Market Focus at
LBF 2014 have spared no efforts
in lining up an exciting series
of cultural events, seminars
and special programmes. This

important publishing hubs in


Europeand help to uncover new
ways to build a closer relationship
between the two countries.
I sincerely hope that your
time spent at the Market Focus
will deepen your understanding

Eric W S Yang
is a great opportunity for all
visitor s to experience and
explore Korea.
I hope that the 2014 Korea
Market Focus will be a runaway
success, and that the London
Book Fair will continue to
establish its status as the worlds
most renowned book fair.
Eric W S Yang is the Chairman,
Executive Committee, Korea Market
Focus 2014.

of the diverse content and


exciting new titles produced by
Korean authors and the Korean
publishing industry.
Koh Young-soo is the President of
Korean Publishers Association.

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

06/04/2014 13:01

8 APRIL 2014

16 LONDON SHOW DAILY

A bit too much information?


A shift towards streamed subscription models for content distribution allows for more
data about users to be collected. Duncan Calow looks at the potential pitfalls

o heres the thing. Must the lessons


learnt, and still being learnt,
by the music business be applied
in publishing or are the challenges
and solutions in the digital
media world too content-specific? As the
publishing industry attends London Book
Fair, it is tempting to compare notes with
MIDEM, the roughly-equivalent music
event held a month or two ago in Cannes. Its
a fair guess everyone will be wearing a little
less black at LBF, and not thinking so much
about tour dates and Harry Styles. But,
beyond the obvious, just how different will
the agenda for debate be?
Take the hottest of hot topics in the South
of France, fan data. Those within the music
business, from the labels and the operators
to the artists and the managers, are well
aware of the new ability to connect directly
with the music fan. If data really is the oil of
the digital economy, the music sector offers
rich reserves for obvious reasons. An
audiophile resurgence in vinyl aside, it is
dominated by the continued growth of
online distribution platforms now shifting
towards streamed subscription models,
which offer an increased ability to track,
measure and record behaviour.
It has a primary audience demographic
of savvy digital natives, active mobile
users and early tech-adopters. Its fans are
enthusiastically engaged across social
media, and are comfortable sharing and
interacting on both a public and private
basis. The music business knows all this but,
at MIDEM, it wasnt always clear what it
wanted to do about it.

Wariness and weariness


Alongside a data-driven developers hack
day (sessions where computer programmers
work together to create new software), and
an elaborate array of service and app demos
promising the ability to map and control all
this information, was a clear wariness
almost weariness. There was concern that
relying too heavily on likes, tweets or pins as
a creative or commercial measure was
dangerous and that pumping out a track-bytrack record of listening habits was likely
over-kill for fan and service provider alike.
Discovery and recommendation were
accepted as crucialand the value of tailoring
content on the basis of data, not guesswork,
recognisedbut at what point was there
more noise than signal (in the words of
Nate Silver)? Despite the brands and ad-men
heavily in attendance, there was also a
www.publishersweekly.com

Duncan Calow - Fan data.indd 2

so many years an often overlooked area. Yet,


as a Google executive has memorably
described, concern over privacy now runs
through online life like a live-rail on a train
track, and treading without care can bring
nasty consequencesfor unwary music and
publishing players alike.

Law and best practice

Duncan Calow

perceptible discomfort for some with the


notion that, ultimately, and in the relevant
hands, the data might itself be worth more
than the music.

Dodgy data
Back at Earls Court, maybe in more sensible
shoes, the publishing sector will surely be
discussing much of the same. Last year,
at the Charles Clark Memorial Lecture,
Richard Hooper was already warning of
the problems of dodgy data. His focus
was on metadata and content itself, but
his speech raised a wider general issue
of awareness. Indeed, while Hooper felt
that publishing businesses were probably
in better shape with their content databases
than other media sectors, many will not
have had anything like the experience that
their music counterparts have of the type of
data-use described above. That, of course,
is changing, with some online publishers
experts in the field and in certain areas of
publishing, at least, a far closer and
more comfortable relationship with the
world of advertising. There is a clear
content hierarchy in publishing, true,
but there is still a potential for added-value
data use at most levels.
Audiences of music fans and audiences of
readers may look and behave very
differently, but there is no inherent reason
why digital environments, which allow the
collection and interrogation of greater
volumes of information (whether permitting
greater creative insight or releasing greater
commercial value), cant flourish in both.
Just how far is what we have to debate.
Yet this is not just about Big Data. With
publishers output now being created,
promoted, sold, consumed and discussed in
a digitally recordable form, there is certainly
a potential and need for Smart Data. This
is where the law comes in, with first, and
foremost, concerns over data protectionfor

Relevant rules vary by territory and are a


mix of privacy, electronic communications,
web-cookie and advertising law. Some are
formal statutory provisions and others more
flexible industry regulations, codes and best
practice. One thing to stress, though, in the
face of popular wisdom and often negative
media coverage to the contrary, is that the
rulesat least as applied by the UK
regulatorsare often just grounded in
common sense.
Marketing experts will, for example,
usually advise on keeping online
questionnaires short and to the point;
overall user response rates can decline by
10% with each extra (annoying and
unnecessary) questions. Privacy law takes
the same view; data collection must be
relevant and not excessive. No-one likes too
much small-print and the law agrees; if data
uses are straightforward there is no need for
complex legalese. If you buy a paperback
online, it should be obvious why an address
is needed.
Two other legal points need flagging. First,
who owns all this data? A specific database
right and other intellectual property can arise
and it will usually be necessary to specify,
when data is created or aggregated, whom
these valuable rights belong to. Compliance
with privacy rules may allow a collection of
fan or reader data to be used for a given
purpose, but anyone wanting to use it will
also usually need to own, or obtain a licence
for, the necessary rights to do so.
Secondly, it is vital to be able to physically
access data to assert ownership and usage
rights. Where a third party is creating
the data, how will you actually get your
hands on it? Even if no intellectual property
rights apply, physical and contractual
restrictions may still provide an effective
way of controlling and creating value. Data
protection, data rights and data access
something to get right whether your daily
read is BookBrunch or the NME.
Duncan Calow is a partner at DLA Piper and
General Secretary of the International Association
of Entertainment Lawyers.
www.bookbrunch.co.uk

03/04/2014 15:32

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 17

Looking beyond open access?

he digital transition
has been a long, rocky
road for the academic
publishing industry,
writes Michael
Cairns. Many of the same bumps,
obstacles, crossroads and cul de sacs
that its garish and vociferous trade
publishing cousin has encountered,
have also been features of its own
equally eventful journey.
Yet arguably academic publishing has had more to contend with.
In addition to the challenges of selling content in an increasingly digitised landscape, the industry has
also had to do a great deal of soul
searching and introspection, eventually coming to terms with the
fact that its very core values, structures and processes needed to be
completely turned on their heads.

Open access, the disruptor


Perhaps the most significant
disruptor to academic publishing
since the advent of the internet
may be open accessor OA as it
has become so lovingly known.
Academic publishers have been
grappling with the concept of
game-changing OA business
models for 10 years now and are
starting to get it right. As a result of
this phenomenon, everything
from the way content is delivered
and who pays for the privilege,
to how influence and importance
is calculated as a marker of an
authors academic influence, the
influence of the journal and even
the importance of the institutions
connected to the research, is in a
continuous state of flux.
The notion of essentially
making an author pay to publish
their content, as opposed to
making the reader pay for reading
it, which pretty much sums up the
fundamental principle of OA, has
been a bitter pill to swallow for
many. Understandably most
academic publishers have been
unable to visualise a world where
OA is no longer a bone of
contentionuntil recently anyway.

Striking gold
At the Professional Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Annual Conference in
February, I was impressed by the
confident and robust nature of presentations from publishers such as

Michael Cairns

Wiley, Springer and Elsevier. The


prevailing feeling was that these
publishers have now come to terms
with OA; they now know what
works and what doesnt, and have
a clear vision on the business models and structures that will deliver
growth in the future.
Whether there is an industrywide standardisation of gold or
hybrid-gold OA models remains
to be seen, but many publishers
certainly appear to be looking
upon these options increasingly
favourably. And if these big players are moving with the times and
adopting OA models then surely it
is just a matter of time before this
practice becomes the norm across
the whole industry.
The impact of so-called Mega
Journals can also not be
overlooked. Frequently adopting
gold OA models, the likes of
PLOS ONE, PeerJ and eLife are
gaining traction, eating up
readership and market share at an
astonishing rate. It will be
interesting to see how traditional
publishers react and whether this
spurs them on to embed OA
models at a speedier rate.

strated that they are able to manage this process quite efficiently,
so I would envisage that new
processes are structured around
their open peer review models.
The next few years will be
pivotal for the scholarly market.
The widespread adoption of OA
will enable publishers to focus on
the modernisation of other
aspects of their business, the
innovative ways they deliver
content, a fairer way of
measuring influence and the peer
review process. I
look forward to
seeing many of
these themes
being discussed at
the Faculty at LBF this year.
Michael Cairns is CEO of Publishing
Technology. He will take part in the
CEO panel debate, Beyond Open
Access: Whats Next for Academic
Publishing? at the Faculty at 11:30am
on 9 April.

Future gazing
It would appear that many publishers no longer consider OA to be
a problem and more so an opportunity. As they become more
accommodating towards these
models, other pressing industry
conundrums can also be
addressed. The first of which is
metrics. In an industry which is so
deeply rooted in peer influence and
how much impact an author,
paper or journal has within its
community, academics have long
been seeking an alternative measurement tool to the traditional

www.publishersweekly.com

Michael Cairns - Pub Tech.indd 3

Thomson-Reuters Impact Factor


of journals. In a world where
online views, downloads and
social media mentions matter just
as much as citations, the emergence of Article Level Metrics
(ALM) tools, such as altmetric.
com for example, that take these
digital realities into consideration,
is a major industry development.
The peer review process, the
essential quality control procedure that weeds out the mediocre
from the outstanding, particularly in science
publishing, is
also undergoing
a radical shakeup. Criticised by
many for being slow, ineffective,
biased and even elitist, academics across the globe have been
calling for a more effective and
fair process to be embraced by
publishers. Mega Journals and
the online communities that
envelop them have demon-

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:27

8 APRIL 2014

18 LONDON SHOW DAILY

K-publishing, K-book and K-lit


Joseph Lee looks at the book market in Korean, the subject of this year's Market Focus

ublishers say: The publishing


market is now facing the worst
situation since Korea was
founded. Then, Ive heard this
same thing for the last 20 years.
They always experience a terrible publishing
market. And they always feel: We are
working on the worst ground. I dont think
this is true just for the Korean publishing
market. Perhaps most countries are on
similar ground, and they have all been trying
to overcome their own poor market and
look for their own solutions. The Korean
population is approximately 49 million
now; publishers say it is not big enough for
them to be self-sufficient.
Actually, all of them know that the size of
the Korean publishing market is one of the
top 10 in the world. They also know that the
Korean publishing market is also very
attractive for foreign publishers to sell their
books into. For the last two decades, Korean
publishers have been actively buying
(importing) original foreign books as well as
Korean translation rights from foreign
publishers, especially in the US, UK, Japan
and some continental European countries.
As it were, Korean publishers have been
communicating with a lot of global
publishing companies and authors for a long
time. Korea is already a leading
publishing country in Asia, and we
cover all kinds of books from the global
publishing market.

Big market in Asia

Joseph Lee - Korea.indd 2

In March, KPRI (Korean Publication


Research Institution) published its report on
the 2013 Foreign Rights Sales Figures of
Korean Books. The information analysed
was from seven Korean literary agencies
Shinwon Agency, Carrot Korea, KL
Management, Imprima Korea Agency, KCC,
BC and Silkroad Agency. It must be noted
that not all Korean agencies (and publishers)
participated, but the data from KPRI is from
seven major agencies, and will be helpful in
looking at current market trends.
According to the data, the seven Korean
agencies sold 815 titles to foreign countries in
2013. In 2012, the same agencies sold 668
titles, an increase of 147 titles (22%). Of these

Definitely, the readers in the


world will also love to read
[Korean authors] books, as I love
Joseph Conrad, DH Lawrence,
Thomas Hardy and Shakespeares literature so much.

From about the year 2000, Korean


cultural content began to be popular
with people in Asia more generally.
A strong interest has grown quickly in
K-culture: Korean TV dramas,
Korean movies, Korea-pop (and Idol)
stars and Korean books. Korean publishers
have responded to this, particularly
since around 2003, by publishing the
kinds of books that the Asian market
prefers, and books with specific appeal to
individual markets.
Above all, educational books (especially in
science, mathematics, English language and
history), comic books for children, and
practical books (on make-up/ beauty, health/
fitness, fashion and so on) for general readers
have worked in Asia. The best markets for
them are China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia,
Vietnam and Malaysia. A lot of Korean
publishers have experienced very good foreign
sales for their booksfinally they started
thinking more about their own new avenues
to solve the crisis in the poor market.
www.publishersweekly.com

Joseph Lee

from foreign countries is 11 times the


number it sells abroad. When buying in
books, Korea buys most often from the US,
UK, Japan, France and Germany.
For Korean books sold abroad, there
have been some notable successes, and
Korean literature is being appreciated more
and more on the world stage. One of the
Authors of the Day at this Fair is Sun-mi
Hwang. Her book, The Hen Who Dreamed
She Could Fly, was published in the UK and
US, and has sold into 25 countries so far.
International bestselling author Ji-young
Gongs Our Happy Time was published, in
February, in the UK (Short Books), and
Jung-myung Lees The Investigation was
published in March in the UK (Macmillan).
Man Asia Literary Prize-winning author
Kyung-sook Shins new book, Ill Be
Right There (after Please Look After
Mom), will be published on 3 June in the
US. Han Kangs The Vegetarian will
be published early in 2015 in the UK
(Granta Books). Also, Do-hyun Ahns
book, The Salmon Who Dared to Leap
Higher, will be published in the UK
(Macmillan) in the near future.
Now Korean publishers and agents have
reached a new milestone. Korean publishers
and agents need to play on the global
stage to communicate more actively
through their books. First, they have to
publish many more universal and
unique books in Korea to acquire
competitive power in the global
market. It is not only for Korean
book sales abroad, but also for
communicating (through buying and
selling) with each other. I think that is
the answer to break through the crisis
in the publishing market.
Korean publishers and agents
have been working with many Western
publishing companies and agencies for a
long time, so many already have good
relationships with publishers in the West. I
think the London Book Fair 2014 will be an
important turning point for all; both Korean
and Western publishers need to make the
most of a new chance here in London.
I believe all around the world will enjoy
more Korean literature from now on. There
are many more talented writers in Korea
besides those I have already mentioned.
Definitely, the readers in the world will also
love to read their books, as I love Joseph
Conrad, DH Lawrence, Thomas Hardy and
Shakespeares literature so much.

815 titles, childrens books accounted for 503


titles (61.7%), comic books for 114 titles
(14%) and literature for 108 titles (13.3%).

China
And the best market for Korea is China. The
number of titles sold into China was 376,
with 146 titles into Thailand, 78 titles into
Malaysia, 69 titles into Taiwan, 55 titles into
Indonesia, 21 titles into Japan and Vietnam
each, and 19 titles into France. So China and
the South-Eastern countries of Asia are the
biggest markets for Korean books, and their
main categories are childrens books, comic
books and literature.
At the same time (in 2013) 9,301 foreign
books were translated and published in
Korea. The number of books Korea buys

Joseph Lee is President of KL Management.


www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:17

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 19

Severn marks 40 years

ndependent publisher Severn House is


commemorating 40 years in the business
in 2014 with a number of events
throughout the year, starting with a
dinner and cocktail party at the London
Book Fair, writes Clare Swanson. Founded in
London in 1974 by Edwin Buckhalter, who now
serves as Chairman, Severn first sought to reissue
out-of-print titles by popular library authors.
Now, the publisher specialises in publishing
midlist authors in both the UK and US, and will
release about 120 titles this year.
As part of its evolution, Kate Lyall
Grant was named publisher in 2012,
overseeing the entire list, which specialises
in authors with an established platform
and publication history (though Severn
will occasionally publish a debut
novelist). The companys all-time
bestselling authors in its four decades of
publishing are Fern Michaels, author of the
Sisterhood series; Cynthia Harrod-Eagles of
the Bill Slider series; Simon Brett, who wrote
both the Fethering and Charles Paris series;
Dorothy Cannell; and Patricia Macdonald.
Other authors include Diane Fanning,
Barbara Hambly and Graham Masterson.

Accessible crime books


Crme de la Crime has been an imprint of
Severn since 2011. Originally established in
2004 as a book line, Crme de la Crime
releases accessible British crime fiction. The
imprints authors include Simon Brett, Paul C
Doherty, Kate Ellis and Paul Johnston.
Were delighted to have reached
40 years of publishing history, said Buckhalter. During a challenging decade for
the industry, Severn House has adapted

Ive found recent technological developments exciting


rather than something to be
resisted.Edwin Buckhalter
readily to the brave new world of ebooks,
online reviewers and significantly
increased interaction with our readers via
the internet, and still stands proudly as an
independent company.
Its a far cry from when I began in the
industry, packing books into cardboard
boxes for my fathers small bookshop and

stationer, he continued. But Ive found


recent technological developments exciting
rather than something to be resisted. Best of
all, our list has been consistently improving
over the years and we feel theres much more
to come.

New areas
[The anniversary] is a fantastic achievement
for my father and Im immensely proud of
him and the company for it, said
Buckhalters son, James, who joined
Severn as Deputy Managing Director in
February. James, who said he has
grown up with Severn House,
describes his role as investigating and
developing new areas for the company,
while ensuring that it remains
successful as a niche publisher within its
crime and romance specialties.
Last night Severn hosted a dinner to mark
its anniversary, and the company will
continue celebrating at the Fair with a
drop-in cocktail reception, to take place this
evening in the View (adjacent to the
International Rights Centre) from 5.00pm
to 6.30pm. All are welcome.

Transcript is an international grant


competition launched in 2009 by
the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund, a private
charitable foundation, to promote
contemporary Russian literature and
thought throughout the world.

We provide translation support for:


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www.publishersweekly.com

Severn.indd 3

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

06/04/2014 09:49

8 APRIL 2014

20 LONDON SHOW DAILY

The market for ebooks in t

he increasing
importance of
ebooks in both the
UK and the US is
having a major
impact on the publishing
eco-system, writes Jo Henry.
Nielsen Books & Consumers
2013 survey shows that, in the
UK, ebooks now account for
one in four of all consumer book
purchases, up from one in five in
2012and in adult fiction, the
category most affected by the
move to digital, the proportion
bought as ebooks is now more
than 40%. Despite the growth in
purchasing of digital books,
however, the overall book
market in the UK declined in
2013even with the significant
impact of the Fifty Shades trilogy
on the market in 2012 removed
from the equation.
The increase in the ebook
value share of the UK market
showed smaller growth than in
volume termsmainly because of
an increase in self-publishing.
Its now estimated that around
20% of fiction ebooks bought
are self-publishedand they are
most commonly bought for
under 2, whereas mainstream
fiction ebooks are typically
purchased at somewhere
between 3 and 4.99. Overall,
the average price paid for a
fiction ebook dropped to around
60% of that paid for a
paperback fiction book in 2013.
Internet-only retailers
continue to dominate the ebook

market in the UK and as a


consequence their share of all
fiction purchases, in both print
and digital format, rose to three
in five last year. We are, however,
beginning to see a possible
reaction to the dominance of the
dedicated internet retailer: in
2013, book buyers in the UK
were much less likely to say that
they used them because they
enjoyed the shopping experience.
Increasingly, having to buy from
a particular channel because they
owned a linked device, as well as
price, were factors driving
consumers towards these
channels; those buying from
independent bookshops are
increasingly doing so because
they like to support them.

E-reading devices
Much of the growth in the ebook
market is of course driven by
device ownership, with numbers
coming into the market
increasing when new devices
become available or are given as
gifts at Christmas. Access to
suitable devices rose among UK
book buyers in 2013, although
mainly through increased
ownership of tablets rather than
dedicated e-readers, a trend that
was particularly influenced by
the release of the Kindle Fire in
Autumn 2012.
By the end of last year, over
half of book buyers were in
households with tablets or
e-readers, and three quarters
had a tablet, an e-reader or a

1416 APRIL 2015


londonbookfair.co.uk/olympia
www.publishersweekly.com
D1_p20-21_Jo Henry - Ebooks.indd 2

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

06/04/2014 13:13

8 APRIL 2014

n the UK and US
smartphone. We see a similar
pattern in the US, where tablet
ownership is now double that of
dedicated e-reading devices,
having overtaken the latter in
popularity in Autumn 2012.
In the US, around one in four
of all book buyers now purchase
at least one ebook each month.
This proportion did not grow
significantly in 2013, after an
uptick in early Q1. And initial
data on the 2014 market seems
to indicate that Christmas
gifting of devices has resulted in
a similar uptick this year too.
Despite the increase in tablet
ownership, more than 60% of
ebooks in the UK were bought to
be read on a dedicated, rather
than a multifunction, device in
2013. And, only half of all the
books bought by e-reader
owners in 2013 were ebooks
meaning that half of their
purchases were in printed
format, of course. Meanwhile, a
much lower proportiona third
of the books bought by tablet
owners were digital in 2013; two
thirds of their book purchases
were printed books.

The gift market


Whereas increased purchasing of
ebooks helped offset a more or
less equivalent drop in printed
books when it came to purchasing
for self, this didnt happen in
the gift market, leaving a hole in
the market that cant be explained
by the disappearance of Fifty
Shades alone.

Rather, it suggests that as


book buyers become more
engaged with new devices and
digital reading, there is less
certainty about the appeal of
books. Are device hungry kids
still into books? Are consumers
as confident about buying
physical books for someone
who usually reads on a device
these days? And if not, would
they want to give something
that cant be wrapped up to put
under the Christmas tree, even if
they know how to give them an
ebook in the first place? Is it
harder to know what people
have already read when the
evidence of their reading is on a
device, not a bookshelf? This
drop in gift purchasing must be
one of the most important
trends for the industry to
consider as we monitor book
purchasing in 2014.
Nielsen Book Research will be
undertaking a major new
research project to investigate
attitudes to books as giftsand
particularly how the ebook gift
market might developin 2014;
for more details please contact
Andre.Breedt@nielsen.com. The
2013 Books & Consumers
Annual Report will be available
shortly; to receive further details
please contact Mo.Siewcharran@
nielsen.com.
Jo Henry is Global Research
Director at Nielsen Book
(www.bookconsumer.co.uk and
www.nielsenbook.co.uk)

LONDON SHOW DAILY 21




 


 
 



 

  



 
 
  

   
       



 


 



   
     

      
   



 
  


 
   


   

 


   


  

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D1_p20-21_Jo Henry - Ebooks.indd 3

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06/04/2014 13:13

8 APRIL 2014

22 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Spotlight on Korea
Korea is the Market Focus country at this years Fair. Barbara J Zitwer explains the global
potential for Korean authors work, especially once it has been translated into English

y adventure
with Korean
Literature has
lead me to
some life
lessons that have helped me, not
only in business, but in my
personal life as well. Little did I
know when I sold my first Korean
book eight years ago, that I would
embark on a path that would
change my life forever. I am
American and own a small
boutique agency in New York
City, but handle books of
international fiction written by
foreign authors who are
translated. That already made me
quite different, as America still
only publishes a very small
number of translations. So, it
hasnt always been easy to
convince publishers that they

Barbara J Zitwer in South Korea

should acquire a foreign or Korean


book that has not even been
translated yetto say the least.
Small, independent and select
was my motto. However, it was
unavoidable and scary to recognise
that my industry was changing
rapidly and forever. I started
worrying about how I could


 

  

  
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Barbara Zitwer - Korea.indd 2



 !
 "%

survive. Ebooks, digital publishing,


corporate conglomeration,
packaging agencies and the
rise of celeb-lit, erotic, YA and
New Adult books, Amazon,
e-pricing and the disastrous world
economies kept me up night after
night. Reading publishing blogs
gave me panic attacks.
My old-fashioned way of doing
business seemed doomed. But
after selling that first Korean book,
I didnt quite realise it then, but I
had been set on a new course.
Korea had beckoned me and then
opened my eyes to all the new
possibilities from the East. My
Korean authors and agent showed
me, undeniably, the power of
words, and how imagination and
creativity knows no boundaries.
Working with Korean authors has
given me a future and a renewed
fervour for books.
Most of my Korean clients do
not speak English and they dont
have Facebook pages or websites;
they dont have personal publicists
or blogs and they arent stars of
reality shows, but they sell. Kyungsook Shin, Jung Myung Lee, Han
Kang, Ji-Young Gong and Sun-mi
Hwang are household names in
Korea and all over China, Japan,
Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong
Kong, India, Myanmar and in
every other Asian city and country.

Universal stories
They sell millions and millions of
books because their stories are
universal and, to my delight and just
as the 2014 Market Focus honours
Korean literature, I can report that
the West has begun to embrace
Korean voices and market them, not
as strange and foreign, but as
wonderful works from new voices.
But we in the West have still not fully
appreciated the way to make
Korean books profitable, or indeed,
their full English-language market
potential beyond our own shores.
English-language export sales are
often treated as throw-aways and
are not marketed well in foreign
countries. We are missing out on
huge opportunities and I hope that
changes quickly. I think it will.

When I visited Seoul in 2012 and


perused a bookstore, I was
delighted, but quite surprised, to
find the American paperback
edition of Kyung-sook Shins
Please Look After Mom on sale
already. It hadnt been scheduled
for many more months in the US,
but there it was on a special table,
side-by-side with the Korean
edition. And it was selling out. The
English edition of Mom was selling
like hotcakes and thats when I
learned about how many Koreans,
and Asians more generally, read
and buy English-language editions.
American and British publishers
can sell tens of thousands, maybe
more, Korean books in English
and make profits, which makes
acquiring Korean books good
business and not iffy bets. A best
kept secret: Theres a great market
for Korean and Asian books in
English in Asia, India and outside
of our own borders.
Happily, three years later, by
the time The Hen Who Dreamed
She Could Fly (by Sun-mi
Hwang) was published in the US
this past November, Penguin had
realised the full potential of their
English edition and they
marketed the book in conjunction
with its Korean publisher to
astounding results. Sun-mi
Hwang is tomorrows Author of
the Day at the Fair and Oneworld
Publications published the British
edition on 27 February. We are all
working in concert, around the
world, to market the Englishlanguage book and the profits
speak for themselves. The book
was an instant success in the US;
and in the UK, it had to be
reprinted after a week, has been
selected for Waterstones Spring
Book Club and is on the bestseller
shelves at WH Smith in airports
and other of their venues.
The financial success of an
English-language edition published
by an American or British publisher
is still a key to global success for a
Korean author. Publishers in every
country, although not as hot for
homegrown American authors
anymore, still all read English and
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04/04/2014 22:44

8 APRIL 2014

are able to assess and market a


Korean book if it has been
translated and is available in
English. We are now seeing royalty
statements with the books earning
out, oftentimes, even before
publication; I am eager for everyone
to make money so that I can grow
my clients long-term careers.
When I sell World English rights,
Canada, the US and/ or UK, and
Australia can then be sold by the
primary English publisher quickly.
All sales contribute to the pot.
Shins new book, Ill Be Right
There, is garnering astounding and
unanimous pre-publication
reviews and Judith Gurewich of
Other Press, which is publishing it,
appreciates the depth and scope of
the authors talent. Shin was not a
foreign fluke with Please Look
After Mom, as some sceptics may
have thought. We expect Ill Be
Right There to surpass sales of
Mom, and are making good efforts
for the export sales of the book, too.

LONDON SHOW DAILY 23

Reading English editions


I recently met Chang-rae Lee at my
local Barnes & Noble in Manhattan
when he discussed On Such a Full
Sea. He was asked if his books were
translated into Korean. He had a
bemused look on his face as his
answer told of a phenomenon that
so many publishers are not aware of:
Everyone reads English in Korea.
They read the American edition. I
smiled to myself and felt that I was
indeed on the right path. When I
visited Korea two years ago and met
all my authors, I was reminded how
sophisticated and modern, ancient
and soulful, and warm and inviting
their country was.
I also discovered a new book
called The Investigation by Jungmyung Lee. Over a cup of coffee in a
tiny caf, Lee told me what he was
writing about and I nearly fell off my
chair: I must have it immediately.
Give me the manuscript in Korean
and I will get it translated right away.
I dont care if its even published

in Korea yet; this story is


unbelievable! I think maybe that
was the first time a Korean
manuscript was sold to a British
publisher (Pan Macmillan published
it last month) before its Korean
publication, and it is now being
compared to The Kite Runner and
Shadow of the Wind. I kept looking
over my shoulder on the streets of
Seoul, looking for American and
British agents and publishers who
were scooping up all the amazing
talent, but I was still alone.
I am happy to say that I am no
longer alone in my belief and
admiration for Korean literature,
whatsoever. You could say in terms
of business, I had the monopoly, and
should be annoyed that everyone is
discovering what I found out. But, I
am thrilled. And there was nothing
quite as astounding to me when,
after the Frankfurt Book Fair this
year, a visionary British publisher
asked me if I had another Korean
fable, much like The Hen Who

Dreamed She Could Fly. He


recognised its potential and he
wanted to publish another one like
it. In a day I found The Salmon Who
Dared To Leap, which had been
published in French, but there was
not a word of it in English. That
didnt matter to me or the publisher;
we both know experts who read
French and I trust my agent in Korea
to only recommend books of the
highest literary value. We quickly
assessed this new classic fable for
readers of all ages. I smile every time I
think that I sold a Korean book that
was translated into French to a
British publisher, without a word in
English. We expect it to be an instant
English bestseller all over the world.
Maybe the moral of the story is that
even the English language is not
essential to the selling of Korean
books? Isnt the new globalised
world just great!
Barbara J Zitwer is the founder of the
Barbara J Zitwer Agency in New York.

%227+)

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8 APRIL 2014

24 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Behind The Battle of $9.99


Andrew Richard Albanese shares his experience of self-publishing his ebook

Amazon is good at what it does

n June of last year, I published a short


ebook with Publishers Weekly (PW)
on the Apple ebook price-fixing case,
The Battle of $9.99: How Apple,
Amazon, and the Big Six Publishers
Changed the E-Book Business Overnight.
Covering what some have called the
publishing trial of the century was quite an
education, but self-publishing the ebook was
an even greater education. Here are four key
takeaways from my experience.

Publishing has changed


From the time I began writing to actual
publication took all of five weeks. And
while the content of my ebook focused on a
tumultuous period in publishings digital
transition, much of the media coverage of
my ebook adroitly focused on what our
publication said about the promise of
digital. This e-single is a particularly good
example of the evolution of digital
publishing over the past three years in which
scores of short books are being released

www.publishersweekly.com

Andrew - Apple.indd 2

by traditional and speciality publishers


through a range of self-publishing options,
observed Peter Osnos in The Atlantic. The
competition for readers, especially of these
non-fiction chronicles, is a significant new
factor in the book marketplace, that
didnt exist to any significant degree
as recently as the period from 2007 to
2010, when Kindles were the dominant
device and ebooks were just beginning to
gain popularity.

Throughout the trial, there was testimony


about what percentage of the ebook market
Amazon commands (and, more controversially, how it got that share), but frustratingly, that information is all sealed or
redacted. So, for what its worth, here are my
numbers: Amazon has accounted for 88% of
our sales; Barnes & Noble is a distant second
with just over 6%; Apple is a disappointing
third with 4%; and combined, Kobo,
Google, Sony and a DRM-free version from
Vook make up the remaining 2%.
One can make a number of assumptions
about why Amazon might be so far out front,
but Ill offer this note on my experience; love
them or hate them (or perhaps youre just
plain conflicted) Amazon is undeniably great
at selling things. Almost immediately after we
pressed the publish button, making the book
available to all retailers, Amazon had the book
up, and was promoting it on its Kindle Singles
page. (Apple also had the book available in its
iBookstore within 24 hours of when we pub-

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 22:31

8 APRIL 2014

lished.) And Amazons system quickly began


generating user ratings and reviews. There are
now some 30 full, pretty in-depth reader
reviews on Amazon. All the other retailers
combined have generated just two reviews.
Other retailers, meanwhile, took days,
with one of the retailers emailing us four
days after publication (noting the books
success on Amazon) and asking if they could
get the book, too. Of course, they already
had it in their queue, and had actually
received it at the same time as Amazon.

Publishing is hard work


We used Vook to publish our ebook edition
and, they did a great job. They handled the
typesetting, formatting and tech issues, and
they created proofs. They even helped us create
and offer the DRM-free version we requested
for sale to consumers (including libraries), who
wanted to own and read their copies on any
device. Vook also handled the cover design,
generally advised us on how to proceed on key
questions and handled the retailers.
In house, PW Executive Editor Jonny
Segura oversaw the publication. With Managing Editor Michael Coffey, he arranged

LONDON SHOW DAILY 25

for copyediting, and handled the many backand-forths to get the copy fact-checked and
cleaned up. Then, there was a press release
drafted, and redrafted, many pre-pub calls to
media by our Publicist Christi Cassidy, as
well as communications with all the retailers, who had to review and accept the book
for publication. It paid off. The ebook briefly
rose as high as number 1 among Kindle Singles, and remained in the top 10 for weeks.
What stands out most to me in retrospect, is
that PW covered all of the not inconsiderable
costs of this processin terms of financial and
human resources. And then there was the
actual marketing: PW offered a platform to
get the book in front of readers, and used its
social media presence to keep it there. When
Apples trial ended and a verdict was issued 20
days later, the machinery kicked up again to
get an updated version out just days later. A
print-on-demand version is also in the works.
It is often overlooked in this exciting new
age, but publishingand self-publishingis
extraordinarily intensive work. It is wonderful that so many authors now have the ability to deliver their work to an audience. But
doing so successfully takes an almost full-

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

time effort, and without an organisation like


PW behind my effort, the Battle of $9.99
would almost certainly not have succeeded.

No, Im not getting rich


But I am delighted with, and somewhat
astounded by the ebooks success. It has fared
well critically, and commercially. But lets be
honest, as a short book, priced at $1.99, it is
not a life-changer, financially. Of the total
revenue, 30% goes to the retailer, and 10%
goes to Vook. The remaining 60% I split
with Publishers Weekly, which fairly agreed
to share the copyright and royalties evenly.
The book continues to create awareness of
the issues. And in a bit of exciting news, the
book will also be published this week in a
French-language edition from Paris-based
ebook publisher Bragelonne. Its been a
delight to work with Bragelonne, whose
Publisher Stephane Marsan and Editorial
Director Claire Deslandes reached out after
reading the ebook last year, convinced the
book would be of interest in France, where
the ebook market is growing.
So, after London, Im off to Paris, for the launch
of 9,99$: La Guerre Du Livre Numerique.

M O N E T A R Y

F U N D

Financial Crises: Causes,


Consequences, and Policy Responses
this unparalleled volume identifies crisis causes, consequences, and
policy implications in an intellectually deep but accessible way.
Charles W. Calomiris Columbia University

The lessons in this volume are essential background not only for
policymakers, but for anyone who wants to understand todays
global economy.
Maurice Obstfeld University of California, Berkeley

This volume superlatively encapsulates the work of many of the worlds


greatest experts on this topic of all topics.
George Akerlof Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001;
University of California, Berkeley

Visit us at the 2014 London Book Fair, Stand K735

IMF BOOKSTORE
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Andrew - Apple.indd 3

imfbookstore.org/pw4fc
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04/04/2014 22:32

8 APRIL 2014

26 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Authoright: personal service


Hayley Radford argues that choice and change should be embraced in publishing as a
rich opportunity for better practice and creative entrepreneurship

ndoubtedly the pace of


change in publishing has
accelerated in recent years. At
Authoright, were very much
on the frontline, educating
and supporting authors as they navigate
publishings shifting lines.
As a consultancy we speak to up to 2,500
authors every year. For a small, but fastgrowing, self-funded firm, with offices in
London and New York, thats quite a feat;
its a standing joke that we must be one of the
most high-touch (the customer interacts
with humans, and not just computer screens
or automated voice systems) businesses in
existence! But its enormously satisfying
work, as our rolethe same as its always
beenis to help demystify, deconstruct and
diversify publishing, enabling more writers
to get published, and for more new writing
to be discovered by eager readers.

A desire to publish well


Our authors are an eclectic mix of traditionally published and self-published, united by
their desire to publish well (with fair royalty
rates, excellent distribution, comprehensive
marketing and PR services) and to be able to
connect directly with readers. We help them
with one, or all, of the component parts
within the publishing and promotional spectrum, from structural edits to social media.
When we opened in 2007, self-publishing
was still smeared with the ugly mark of the
vanity press. Now there are multiple
legitimate and commercially viable routes to
publication, which can be tailored to meet
individual needs. There is a place for both
the traditional and the self-driven in
publishing, as long as quality is something to
which we all continue to aspire, and the lines
between the two are progressively blurring.
There will always be those writers
who naturally crave the validation that
traditional publishing affords; likewise there
are those who actively reject the restrictive
and sometimes slow approach that the
industry can impose, preferring to manage
their publishing projects themselves.
Today the unique psychology of
consumerism inhabits everything we do, and
as authors become more commercially aware,
the more they are operating as customers,
fuelled by a desire to get the best deal at the
right time, rather than continuing to choose
from what has always been on offer.
Nowadays in order to compete, authors have
to be consumers, architects and entrepreneurs,
regardless of how they publish.
www.publishersweekly.com

Hayley Radford - Authoright.indd 2

Hayley Radford

Publishing under pressure


There is a saying that if you have to pay to
publish, it isnt the real thing. I disagree. Firstly,
traditional publishing is not free to the author.
It might be at the point of consumption, but the
author pays significantly by giving away the
equity in their book. Secondly, as the trade has
its eye fixed firmly on profitability as margins
are squeezed ever more tightly, full-service
publishing is under pressure. Many authors are
now required to invest in their own books
and much-needed additional services. Is the
author were working with, whos on a threebook deal with a very big traditional, no
longer really publishing because hes had to
come to Authoright for a website? Of course
not. We work increasingly with traditionally
published authors who wish to supplement
their publishers promotional and online
marketing activities.
And why shouldnt they? Yes some
authors are investing more than others, but
the discourse should be focused not on the
conceptual validity of authors having to
pay, but rather on the ethics and the deliverables of those providing the services. And
there are traditional publishers who perhaps
now walk a rather fine line when it comes to
credible, paid-for solutions for authors.
Authoright isnt a trad-basher. Far from it.
We actively support traditional publishers and
literary agents, with our outsourced services
and free advice for writers. Self-published
authors can make the best business partners for
agents and publishers, who are, of course, looking to enter into a joint venture with the writer.
When we found ourselves working with a then
15-year-old Anna Caltabiano (an ambitious
Paolo Alto wunderkind with a rather good
dystopian YA novel about generational teenage malaise and self-harm), we were bowled
over by her tenacity and her desire to play a key
role in building her own author brand.
Having been rejected by literary agents on
the grounds that she was considered to be too

young to have a real voicehow astonishingly


short-sighted that wasAnna came to us wanting to carve out a life-long career in publishing,
and we felt a huge responsibility towards her.
She also wanted to have her book translated,
so that her mother could read it in her first language, Japanese. We had to deliver the most
professional and competitive book we could
achieve to attract an agent.
As we predicted, Annas market was
focused online but it was hugeas demonstrated by the six-figure social media numbers
we were able to generate for her within the
space of four weeks, and which secured the
agent of Annas dreams, one we recommended because we knew that the fit would be
interesting, but perfect. Pretty soon afterwards, Maggie Hanbury had sold Annas next
three booksthe first of which, The Seventh
Miss Hatfield, is due for release this June
to Gollancz for a very handsome, collegefunding sum. We are very excited to see whats
next for Anna, and feel privileged to have helped
her to achieve exactly what she wanted to.

Passionate authors
Another writer weve felt fortunate to work
with is Andrew Critchley, the author of a
rather magical novel about love and
redemption, Dublin in the Rain. As the midlist declines, it is perhaps being replaced by
quality self-published work, delivered by
passionate authors enjoying solid sales and
good reviews, who treat publishing very
much like a start-up business, one in which
they must invest some resources, coupled
with time and dedication. Success can be a
very personal definition, and authors such as
Andrew can celebrate breaking the Amazon
Top 40, confident in the knowledge that
they have written, edited, designed,
published and promoted a beautiful book,
that has deservedly found an audience.
Andrew will publish the second novel in his
Dublin trilogy at the end of 2014.
Choice in publishing should be a welcome
liberation, something to be embraced. As an
industry I believe were stronger together,
tackling the new, the good and the
bewildering as a united front, constantly
reviewing and revising whats available on
behalf of those who sustain and enrich our
trade, the writers themselves. There must be
better, different ways of working, and we
should relish the challenge of finding them.
Hayley Radford is Co-founder and Director of
Marketing at Authoright (www.authoright.com),
LitFactor and the International Author Fair Series.
www.bookbrunch.co.uk

03/04/2014 15:37

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 27

Books open doors for children in Africa


Harriet Beaumont explains the work of Book Aid International

ook Aid International works in


partnership with libraries in subSaharan Africa to support
environments in which reading
for pleasure, study and lifelong
learning can flourish. This work is practical,
effective and empowering.
Our work is underpinned by the
generosity of UK publishers who donate
almost all the books. More than 90% of the
books we send to our partners are new; the
support of the publishing sector means that
we are able to select up-to-date, new books
that closely meet the requirements of the
communities our partners serve. Two thirds
of the books we send are for children, but
books of all kinds are in high demand:
vocational, higher education, reference,
health information, law and leisure, to name
but a few categories that we always need
more of.
We also provide grants for purchasing
locally published books and for library
refurbishments, and training for
librarians to ensure that readers get the
very best from our donated books.
In sub-Saharan Africa many children
live below the poverty line and literacy
levels are among the lowest in the world.
For millions of children and young
people an outdated, battered textbook is
the only book they have ever seen. A new
book that meets their needswhether for a
story, for information, for knowledge or for
technical skillsis something many people
never find. Many young children have never
seen a picture book or a book that excites
their imagination, so developing a reading
culture is a real challenge.
With few books in their schools and no
books at home, children struggle to learn to
read and therefore to study. For most
children, a local library, where one exists, is
the only place where they can read the books
they need to prepare them for adulthood.
However, few libraries have suitable spaces
for children and most librarians are not
trained to work with children.
To mark its 60th anniversary in 2014,
Book Aid International aims to revolutionise
access to books for tens of thousands of
children in Africa through its Open Doors
appeal, which aims to create child-friendly
spaces in 60 libraries across six countries. At
LBF, we want to raise 10,000 to transform
a library in Africa. By donating to this appeal
(at www.bookaid.org/LBF) you can help
dramatically improve literacy, learning and
future employment opportunities for
children in Africa.

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Harriet Beaumont - Book Aid.indd 3

UK, purchased an additional


300 books locally and
provided a modest grant of
1,150 for refurbishments.
The success of the Childrens
Corner in Mwanza has been
driven by Steve and Khadija,
two librarians who received
training from Book Aid
International on how to work
with children in the library.
Since the Childrens Corner
was established, they have seen
a huge increase in the numbers
of children visiting the library,
Nambi Sseppuuya Community Resource Centre Uganda
particularly those from poorer
families. Every weekend, more
Case study: Mwanza
than 70 children congregate at the library to
Until recently children in Mwanza, the secplay games, read books and listen to Steve and
ond largest town in Tanzania, had little hope
Khadija reading and telling stories.
of being excited by books because there were
The librarys doors are open to everyonethe
so few available. Most families cannot
librarians have been making huge efforts to
ensure local street children know the
library is for them, too. At the library, they
now get a chance to read books they really
enjoy, and so discover the pleasure as well
as the value of reading and learning. The
library is helping each child to unlock
doors to a lifetime of opportunity.
Mwanza can be a dangerous town
for these children, says librarian Steve
afford to buy books for their home as povMusiba, especially at the weekend, when
erty levels in the town are high. The many
they are most at risk, but this Childrens
street children in Mwanza have even less
Corner provides a safe space for themthey
hope of enjoying or using books.
really enjoy reading the books!
School pupils need access to books in both
Harriet Beaumont is Communications Manager
Swahili and English if they are to progress
at Book Aid International.
successfully through the education system,
as secondary and tertiary education is
Book Aid Internationals stand P425 at LBF has
conducted in English. Later in life, business
been transformed into a well-loved, underand government affairs are frequently
resourced African library so that visitors can expeconducted in English.
rience for themselves, for a few moments, the very
To give more children a better chance of
real need for our work and the books we receive.
completing their education and improving
their life chances, Book Aid
International worked with
the public library in Mwanza
to create a Childrens Corner
there. The purpose of the
Childrens Corner is to ensure
that children can access books
in both English and Swahili to
improve their reading and
language skills. Book Aid
International also provided
the library with toys and
furniture to create a safe and
welcoming environment for
the children to visit, sent
nearly 2,000 books from the Mwanza Childrens Corner

In building a road out of


poverty, its impossible to
measure just how powerful a
tool a book can be.
Joanna Lumley.

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:01

8 APRIL 2014

28 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Game on

he London Book
Fair plays host to a
dedicated Gaming
Pavilion for the first
time this year, write
Sam DElia and Doug Wallace.
Located in the bustling heart of
Tech Central in Earls Court Two,
the Pavilion is a new space for
publishers and book marketeers to
meet leading developers, and
discuss partnership opportunities
around narrative-led gaming.
The global phenomenon of
Rockstars Grand Theft Auto
franchise, the runaway success of
Rovios Angry Birds publishing
programme, and the critical
acclaim heaped on Simogos
Device 6, all serve to spotlight the
power of games to engage
audiences on an epic scale.
LBF is launching this venture
with UKIE, the UKs premier
trade body representing the
gaming industry. UKIEs Chief
Executive, Dr Jo Twist, agrees
that the time is right for the two
industries to work more closely
with each other, because books
and games both tell stories and
educate people, but as publishing
becomes more digital, our
industries grow even closer by
having key skillsets in common.

World-class games
We know that Britain has an
internationally-respected publishing industry, but its also
home to a vibrant, world-class
games development industry.
Jacks Thomas, Director of LBF,
recently commented that theres
untapped potential in greater collaboration between these two
complementary, creative
worlds. The Pavilion will be a
place to discuss collaboration
around digital development, not
only concerning digital publishing, but also about online marketing, audience development and
monetisation of content.
In the same way that the TV &
Film, Brand Licensing and Comics
areas of the Fair are making plain
the convergence between aligned
creative industries, so too the
Gaming Pavilion challenges
publishers to engage readers
through immersive, non-linear
narrativeseither through online

AoD: Terry Pratchett


marketing campaigns or in new
forms of e-publishing.
Although the two converging
industries have much in common,
communication between them is
surprisingly limited. As a first step
to bridge this gap, developers in
the Gaming Pavilion will be
taking part in a series of short
matchmaking sessions,
designed to connect publishers
with potential collaborators.
Anyone can join in by coming to
the Pavilion during the Fair.
At the Pavilion, were inviting
interested marketeers to play.
Well be experimenting with
gamification through a card
game that allows players to make
games from books. As Ian
Livingstone (author of the Fighting
Fantasy series and founder of
Games Workshop) notes: Playful
learning is powerful and longlasting because it is the result of
natural curiosity and discovery
through trial and error
Gamification of the narrative
made Fighting Fantasy relevant to
children of the day. It gave them a
great appetite to read. So whether
youre looking for a new way to
engage readers or think you have a
book which has potential as a
game, you are welcome to drop by
and join the fun.
The seminar stream, curated
by UKIE, features experienced
gaming industry leaders such as:
Ian Livingstone; Rhianna
Pratchett, Narrative Designer and
co-founder of the digital content
company Narrativia; and Rob
Morgan, the lead writer on the
Wonderbook Harry Potter games
series, among many others.
For those interested in
experimenting with gaming, there
will be a practical advice session
on Wednesday called How Not
To Work with Developers,
which will address some common
obstacles experienced from both
sides of the gaming/publishing
cultural divide.
The Pavilion is home to a
select group of independent
games developers and leading
digital agencies who get as
excited by stories as you do.
Sam DElia, Business Development, LBF
and Doug Wallace, Consultant, LBF

www.publishersweekly.com

Terry Pratchett - Sam D'Elia.indd 2

like librarians, writes


Terry Pratchett. Although
they seem to be having a
tough time of it lately. I
look at my own personal
library and sometimes almost
shed a tear. So much has been
written that is so very good and
yet a lot of it will never get to see
the light of day. But we need the
old stuff by authors such as
Mark Twain, Jerome K Jerome
and GK Chesterton. They were
all kings of their time. You
know, I recently I met an adult
who didnt even know who
Mark Twain was and although I
suppose it doesn't really matter,
it's sadreally sad. The old
favourites die away.

A need to read
When I was young I got a job in
the local library and it
jumpstarted the boy I was. It
was unpaid work, of course,
but I would have paid them
because I wanted to read every
book in the place and I so
engineered things that I had
multiple library cards. And the
librarians didnt seem to mind,
recognising me as one of their
kind: a boy that needed to read.
Heavens. I needed to read like I
need to breathe! And they liked
me even more because the
books I borrowed always came
back in better condition than
when they were lent. I used to
polish them.
And I remember a rather
sniffy lady asking me to
recommend a suitable book for
a child who is seven and I
replied, Madam, a book that is
suitable for a child of 10, of
course. Actually, in my case,
once the Lord of the Rings was
published, I was a reading fool,
and still am. Oh, yes, I have
a mechanical device on which
I could probably store just
about every book I could ever
wish to read, but it doesnt feel
or smell like a bookespecially
some of my very old tomes that
appear to have used up quite a
lot of cow in their bindings. No,
the mechanical device is just
that, a word receptacle that I
could never love as I love the
printed page.

Terry Pratchett

Reading families
As I go about my business I
meet thousands of readers from
all over the world and what I
treasure most is those families
who are reading families. You
look into the eyes of a child
whose family reads and, quite
frankly, you would barely need
to send them to school. In fact,
they would probably find school
somewhat dull. When I was very
young and stupid, my mother, in
order to get me to read anything,
promised me a penny-per-page
well read. The second book was
the Wind in the Willows. It
fascinated me. I knew the writer
was lying when he had toads
living in great country houses,
and badgers and moles acting
like British gentlemen, but that
didnt matter. I read the pages so
often they fell apart. A good
book, no matter its intended
audience, should get people
reading (and thats what started
me writing). And once I started, I
never stopped, and my mother
could keep her money.
I have to say that I was,
at school, not much of a scholar.
In those days science fiction
and fantasy was sneered at. Now
the genre is everywhere
probably even in my old library
in Beaconsfield. I went back
there last year for a gig and
there they were; the sparking
eyesthe children who would
grow up having a lot of fun
along the way.
It starts with a book, just one
book, and it grows.
A Celebration of the Work of
Terry Pratchett takes place today
at 11.30am in the PEN Literary
Salon.
www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:36

8 APRIL 2014

LONDON SHOW DAILY 29

Progress on library ebooks in the US

ast year was a year of progress


for libraries on the issue of ebook
access in public libraries, writes
Andrew Richard Albanese. But
librarians in the US remain far
from satisfied, and are preparing to look
more deeply at the fundamental issues
complicating the librarys digital future.
We now have all of the big five working
with libraries, notes Sari Feldman, Co-chair
of the American Library Associations
(ALA) Digital Content Working Group and
Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County
(Ohio) Public Library. The most striking
change, Feldman says, has been the change
in the temperature of the talks between
libraries and publishers. Questions
previously were whether publishers should
have library ebook lending, she says. The
question now is how to do it. There is much
more openness and dialogue.
Indeed, after a difficult few years that saw
many of the major publishers restrict library
ebook access, the ALA working group has
helped to break the ice. Now in its third year,
the group has been out front and visible, and
on an international stagerepresentatives

recently presented their works at a session at


Paris Book Fair last month. The question
now, is where do things go from here?
At a recent library conference, Alan Inouye,
Director of the ALA Office for Information
Technology Policy, laid out some of the
broader issues libraries are now addressing:
Its a very different kind of world, he said.
We have to think about what is the value
added for libraries. Inouye explained that
digital advances have changed the value
proposition for librariesfor decades,
libraries enjoyed a near monopoly on book
lending, for example. But in the digital world,
there is competition from commercial services,
and increased competition for user attention
with other kinds of digital content.
Inouye also touched on other issues at the
conference, from how libraries can access
and encourage self-published materials, to
pricing issues. We now have basic access,
Inouye said. But what is a fair price? What
is the right price?
Robert Wolven, Co-chair of the ALA Digital
Content Working Group and Associate
University Librarian at Columbia University,
says library strategy going forward would

increasingly focus on authors. So far we have


focused a good deal of work on different
points in the supply chain, he says. We have
talked to many publishers, engaged them on
their points of view, and had lots of discussions
with digital sellers, OverDrive and so forth. So
now its time to turn to authors.
Peter Brantley, Publishers Weekly
Contributing Editor and Director of Scholarly
Communication at digital upstart Hypothes.is,
endorses the strategy. [Ebook] lending might
be problematic, he says. But working with
local authors is not. He warned of a growing
gap between what is really on the market
especially in some genres where Amazons selfpublishing arm has established a dominant
presenceand what libraries can provide
through ebook lending channels.
A market in which authors only have
Amazon KDP to handle their books is not a
healthy market, he stressed. There is so much
energy focused on getting books from the Big
Five, and under what terms and what prices,
but there is a whole new world of publishing
exploding right before our eyes and were not
doing anything about it, in any kind of
concerted way. I think we need to do that.

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D1_p29_Andrew - Ebooks Libraries.indd 3

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

06/04/2014 12:46

8 APRIL 2014

30 LONDON SHOW DAILY

Accessible ebooks transform reading

hat does London Book


Fair mean for an avid
reader like me, who is
blind? It is in many ways
a very exciting time,
writes Pete Osborne. It brings together in
one place many of you who play a vital role
in making it possible for me to read books:
publishers, software developers, platform
providers, device manufacturersa
wonderful mix of books and technology,
which is beginning to transform the reading
experience for people who can t read
standard print. I am tremendously excited
by born-digital (originates in digital form)
publishing, which enables me to read more
in the format of my choice.
Until recently, the frustration of not being
able to read the great books everyone talks
about was a daily occurrence for me; it
would be months before there was any
chance that I could get hold of an unabridged
audiobook or Braille version of the books.
Just think how that would feel when
everyone else is talking about the shortlist of
a major prize. And such a small proportion
of books made it into these formats. I
was totally dependent on the efforts of
specialist charity provision, which offered a
wonderful, but necessarily limited, range.

Greater choice
With digital publishing everything began to
change. Some mobile devices and apps are
already accessible, giving me a choice of how
I read a book. Now I have much wider choice
of books than ever before, and the amount I
have spent on books in the last five years has
gone from zero to hundreds of pounds. It has
been exciting, as for the first time I have been
able to go shopping online for books that I
can read on my mobile devicesebooks and
downloadable unabridged audiobooks.
With downloadable audiobooks there is a
much wider range of unabridged recordings
on the market, which is a real treat. I often
choose audiobooks for my leisure reading,
but as only a small number of the books
published are available as audiobooks I can
read them in other ways. I can use synthetic
voice (text-to-speech) or refreshable
electronic Braille on a refreshable electronic
Braille display, connected via Bluetooth.
People are often amazed when they see this
in action, using a high-tech portable (and, up
to now, admittedly expensive) device.
The experience is not perfect yet by any
means, and there are many developments
still needed till the full potential is realised,
but the technology exists to make it possible.
As Chair of the Right to Read Alliance, I
am excited by the huge potential for one in
eight of the population to have access to a
www.publishersweekly.com

Peter Osborne - Accessbility.indd 2

Spreading the word

Pete Osborne

much wider range of books than would have


been impossible just a few years ago. Its not
only people like me who have sight
problems, but also people who are dyslexic
or people who find it difficult to hold a book
or turn a page due to other disabilities or
dexterity problems. Indeed for many readers
just being able to adjust the font is immensely
helpful; with ebooks you can enlarge the
font considerably, change the background
colour and adjust the contrast.

Key challenges
Developments in technology make it
easier for me to read every day. I am lucky. I
am comfortable with technology, and can
afford and use devices which have the
functionality I need. And I do not need
complex books. Currently only a few devices
and apps are accessible for me, and if I
needed more complex books, textbooks or
course material, my options would be much
more limited.
I am acutely aware of the fact that there
are many people who are not yet able to
benefit from the advances technology has
enabled, and that there is a great deal more
to be done to make sure that we make the
most of the opportunities. Everyone along
the book supply chain has a role to play.
This is reflected eloquently in the Joint
Statement on Ebooks and Accessibility,
which was launched at London Book Fair
just two years ago, and has the support of a
wide range of organisations including the
Publishers Association (PA), Society of
Authors, Association of Authors Agents and
EDItEUR, as well the Macular Society,
RNIB and the Right to Read Alliance. We
are particularly keen to encourage
publishers, device manufacturers, software
developers and platform providers to work
together and make the ebook experience
an accessible one so that all readers can read
all books.
I am proud that the Right to Read Alliance
is part of the PAs Accessibility Action
Group, which is dedicated to taking this
forward and making it a reality.

So what about those who feel technology


gets in the way of the reading experience and
who are daunted by the plethora of touch
screen experiences? We need to do more to
support these people by spreading the word
about what is already accessible for people
who cant read standard print, and building
up their confidence to use it.
I welcome the Reading for Pleasure
campaign, announced by the PA. I believe
that in increasing the accessibility of books,
we are also playing a major role in supporting
and hopefully increasing literacy.
I am delighted that we are also on the cusp
of developing affordable refreshable Braille
devices. Braille is crucial for literacy for blind
people and many are prevented from
experiencing its true benefits due to the cost
of the technology.
I am benefiting from a true partnership
between organisations such as the Right to
Read Alliance and publishers every day. We
share a common objectiveto reach more
people, with more to read, through more
channels, and I am confident I can look
forward to an even more inclusive and
exciting reading experience in the years
ahead. Members of the PAs Accessibility
Action Group are running exciting sessions
on accessibility at the Fair; join us and share
in that vision.
Pete Osborne is the RNIBs Head of International
Partnerships and Development, and Chair of the
Right to Read Alliance.
The seminar, Accessible Ebooks: A Journey
Through the Ebook Supply Chain, will take place
on Wednesday 9 April at 1.00pm in the Cromwell
Room. It will be chaired by Mark Bide, with
speakers from Overdrive, EDItEUR and
HarperCollins.
The session, Are your Ebooks Accessible? EBooks
and Platforms, will take place on Thursday 10
April at 11.30am in the Digital Theatre.

It is estimated that one in eight of the UK


population nd it difcult or impossible to read
a standard print book, due to sight loss, dyslexia
or another disability which makes it difcult to
hold a book or turn a page.
Almost two million people in the UK live with
sight problems.
100 people a day start to lose their sight.
One in ve older people have sight loss which
affects their day-to-day living.
Dyslexia (of varying degrees) affects as many as
one in 10 people in the UK.

www.bookbrunch.co.uk

04/04/2014 23:30

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