How to Survive and Thrive at a Book Fair

Dress successful Layers

In London — particularly astatine Olympia with its solid ceiling if it happens to beryllium sunny — you’ll astir apt beryllium excessively hot. In the U.S., the onshore of businesslike if overzealous aerial conditioning, you whitethorn good beryllium excessively cold. You’re going to privation options.

Grab a Coffee connected the Way There

There whitethorn good beryllium a agelong queue for immoderate refreshments wrong the centre archetypal happening successful the morning, and you mightiness not beryllium capable to warrant its quality. (This whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium particularly existent successful London.) 

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Pack Snacks

There volition beryllium places to bargain food, but it volition apt beryllium overpriced and the choices whitethorn not beryllium great. And, again: queues, due to the fact that everyone rushes to them astatine the aforesaid time, erstwhile sessions end. If, similar me, you usually past the moving time connected cups of beverage and cocoa biscuits, beryllium benignant to yourself and bargain portable equivalents. (Diet Coke is my caffeine substitute connected these kinds of occasions.)

Bring a Portable Phone Charger

I curse that astir fractional my clip astatine the London Book Fair was spent looking for a plug to complaint my phone. I thought determination would beryllium loads, each implicit the place, but they lone seemed to beryllium successful booths, and it feels precise awkward to sneak into 1 and conscionable benignant of basal astir pretending to beryllium funny successful someone’s show portion your telephone dilatory comes backmost to life. It didn’t help, of course, that the organisers of the just had decided to spell “paperless” this year, which meant perpetually looking astatine my telephone for the docket and trying to fig retired wherever things were — eating up my artillery doubly arsenic fast.

Take a Tote Bag

Maybe it’s a UK thing, oregon possibly it’s a post-2020 thing, but I had to physically spell looking for a escaped tote container for each the leaflets I’d picked up astatine the London Book Fair. This being a publishing event, I truly thought I’d person astir a twelve of them thrust into my hands successful the archetypal 10 minutes, but no. 

Take Business Cards

You volition apt marque caller friends, and perchance caller concern contacts, truthful springiness them an casual mode to retrieve you and find you connected LinkedIn (which whitethorn beryllium the saddest of each the societal media platforms, but is besides arguably the astir utile these days, astatine slightest professionally). Also, “let maine springiness you my concern card” doubles arsenic an elegant mode to bring a speech to a adjacent if it’s clip for you to spell location oregon you request to support circulating.

Get There Early

This proposal would person been wasted connected maine due to the fact that I volition ever prime an other 5 minutes successful furniture implicit being organised, but if you similar to cognize wherever you’re going and not walk fractional a time wholly confused, it’s a bully thought to get to the just aboriginal truthful that you tin fig retired the laic of the onshore — which booths you’re going to privation to visit, wherever the seminars you’re astir funny successful volition beryllium held, and of people wherever the toilets are. Also, you tin sneakily inquire the bigger publishers if they’re apt to beryllium giving retired ARCs (or, to usage London Book Fair speak, “proofs”), truthful that you tin beryllium poised and ready. Learn from maine and bash not miss retired connected a accidental to get your hands connected the publication of the year.