(no subject)
http://www.charlenechua.com/bologna-childrens-book-fair-2015-a-review-and-thoughts/
A few months ago, I was thinking to myself that I would really like to go on a trip to Europe again. Not really wanting to go alone, I started to ask my friends if they too wanted to go to Europe on what I thought would be an art-travel trip.
As it happened, I found a friend who was interested, but more precisely, she was interested in attending the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The annual fair describes itself as ‘the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry.’ I had heard about the fair and had been curious about it for some time. Unlike other book fairs, which generally seem to cater to the public or trade sales exclusively, I’d heard this one was rather welcoming towards illustrators. So, we agreed to make a date for this year’s fair, and at the end of March we packed our bags and headed off to Italy.
Getting ready
It was my first time at the fair and, while I had gone to tradeshows in the past, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect at this one. I read up several articles by other illustrators who had attended previous shows. Initially, I thought I’d just go see the show and not show my work, as some people had commented about how the experience could be overwhelming and it might be better to just enjoy being there the first time through. However, as the date drew nearer, I figured that I really had nothing to lose by trying to show my work.
The entrance to the fair
I scoured the directory of publishers attending the show, and tried contacting them to set up meetings. Amazingly I actually did a get a response from a small number of publishers. Committed, I sort of frantically scrambled to get my portfolio in order, and print out some promotional materials. As I was going with a backpack, I really could not afford to bring a large amount of materials, so I ended up bringing maybe 100-150 postcards and about the same number of bookmarks. I made some neat holders for both of these, and took along pins and tape to hold it to the wall (I wasn’t sure if you could pin stuff beforehand. Turns out can CAN pin stuff to the illustrator’s wall, although it took a bit of effort to stick in some of the pins). I took along my good portfolio which held my best children’s illustration work, and another, smaller, portfolio that was specially for my educational illustration work. I also made a small number of color booklets of my work to give to the publishers I met.
The Fair
We had booked an Airbnb room with a lovely lady that lives about 10min away from the Fiere. She was a marvellous host, and I think it worked out better staying with her than if we had booked a hotel. She kindly let us use her kitchen so we managed to make sandwiches for ourselves to bring to the fair (thus avoiding the lineups for the greasy pizzas that seemed to be the default lunch). I think bringing your own food and water to the event is best especially since you can’t LEAVE the fair once you go in (more on that in a bit).
The fair started promptly on the first day. We got there early but it didn’t really matter since they weren’t letting visitors in until the official opening time anyway. Once they did, we went in and headed straight for the illustrator’s wall. There was already a good number of posters on it; I am not sure but I think some of the exhibitors had put up posters and stuff for their own illustrators beforehand. Still, there were many walls and so we just picked one and got to putting up our materials. That said, the walls filled up FAST, especially since some people were sticking up posters and postcards on multiple walls. I understand wanting to make the most of the event, but honestly, I think it’s probably sufficient sticking up material on 2 walls (perhaps one on either end).
Artist putting material on Illustrators wall
Bolonga book fair illustrator’s wall materials
Having set up my promotional stuff, I headed into the halls to take a look at things. The actual fair was divided up into 3 halls, which were a bit confusing to navigate. The two main halls held the major US, Western European and UK publishers; the other hall which was sort of off to the side was more of like the international pavilion. On the other side, a fourth hall hosted the Licensing portion of the show, which I didn’t manage to get round to seeing (unless you count the various mascots they had walking around. There was a giant Pikachu with his own bodyguard…).
I walked around, and, knowing no better, just started asking around if anyone wanted to see my book. Things were busy but not terribly busy just yet, so I managed to show some people, and set up some further meetings for the next day. Things got rather crowded in the afternoon, and more buyers (i.e the folks most of the publishers were REALLY there to see) showed up.
illustrator’s wall - some people stuck up whole books. No idea how they didn’t fall.
Tuesday was the busiest day of the fair, and I did more meetings while wandering around the halls, trying to not get lost. I did check up on my promotional materials and found the holders were empty (I had already topped them up on Monday afternoon). I think I actually exhausted my supply of giveaways by Tuesday. I’m telling myself this was simply because I had a good, eye-level spot near the entrance. By Wednesday the mood had gotten quite chill, which I thought was surprising. Some of the exhibitors were done with their meetings by Wednesday afternoon and were preparing to pack up. Someone also mentioned that on Wednesday and Thursday the fair was open to the public, which I thought was a bit strange seeing how it’s advertised as a tradeshow.
Thursday was the last day, and although the fair didn’t officially end until mid afternoon, it felt very much like things were already wrapped up in the morning. I had one last meeting that had been arranged well beforehand, but I don’t think anyone was in the mood to look at portfolios otherwise. However, it was a great day for checking out the other illustrators (both at the wall and in the Illustrator’s exhibition). I had a great time chatting with Australian illustrator/ illustration advocate Ann James, which I think was the most useful and inspiring part of the whole trip.
Australian illustrator Ann James live demo
All in all, I had a wonderful time at the Bologna Book Fair. I enjoyed meeting the publishers and showing my work when I could. I met some fabulous illustrators, and had a free portfolio crit (which really was more a discussion about the industry, at least when we were talking). My work was generally well received, and I think that’s the best thing, to me anyway, to feel like my work is actually hitting more than it misses the mark. I got to glimpse at how the sales people sell the new books, see a little about how other countries do picture books (i.e really differently!). I honestly thought I would come away feeling overwhelmed and slightly depressed (won’t lie, it’s hard to keep the ego from being bruised in the face of so much talent), but instead I came away feeling pleasantly surprised.
What I Missed
I spent most of the time at the fair setting up or going to meetings. Most of Tuesday afternoon was spent standing in lines. So I did not get a chance to attend any of the scheduled talks that they had for illustrators, or as part of their ‘Digital Cafe’.
Usborne booth. My favorite publisher/meeting of the fair!
The programming for illustrators was released very late (I think it was only made public a week before the event), and honestly, there were very few talks that interested me. I was more interested in the programming for the ‘Digital Cafe’, which is a series of talks and workshops about digital picture books. Quite a few of them were hosted by app developers as a crash course in how to use their software. Sadly, all of them seemed to require that you make the book-app on Mac only (I use Windows). The technology is interesting but at this time I think there are still a lot of kinks to be worked out, like industry standards. Perhaps in the next few years the ‘digital cafe’ part will become far more useful and interesting as this side of the business shapes up.
I also missed out on the licensing portion of the show, though from what I’m told, I didn’t really miss much. If anything it seemed like a strange addition to a book fair. I suppose some book properties have larger licensing potential (like Harry Potter or various comic books). For illustrators, this part of the show wasn’t really helpful I think.
One of the selected entries for the Illustrator’s Exhibition
There was a new portion that was meant for illustrators WITH a property to license. Or at least, that was the intent. It was housed in the licensing wing too. According to the organizers, it was like a mini-booth for illustrators with a property to license to promote their property. By the time I got to see it, most people were taking down their displays. In chatting with an illustrator there, it seems like the intent of the booth was not properly communicated, and some people thought it was like an artists’ table instead. As such there was some disappointment about the lack of traffic and general confusion as to what their booths were about. Hopefully the organizers give this more thought and improve on it in future shows.
Enjoy the show!
I had a good time there overall. I did notice a few things, and I’m just noting them down here in case they’re helpful to other people:
- I don’t think it’s clearly stated anywhere, but note that your pass is a 1 time entry PER DAY. Even if you have a multiple day visitor pass. We nearly got into trouble as one day we decided to go back to the apartment for lunch, then head back to the fair in the afternoon for a meeting. We were told we’d used up our passes for the day! Thankfully, a kind woman at the gate let us back in the one time. We promised not to do it again.
- Bring your own water and don’t order juice. A guy I was with ordered a cup of juice by mistake, it cost him 4.50 Euro and they would not let him cancel his order.
- Walking shoes. I am so glad I bought new, good walking shoes. Totally saved me.
- Portfolios: mine were just letter sized. I saw some other illustrators with bigger ones, but I really don’t think it’s necessary. The publishers did not seem to mind the size of my books. I also used my tablet to show additional work. I suppose it’s up to the individual but ask yourself if it’s really worth it carrying a giant, heavy portfolio bag around all day in a crowded space.
- Students vs pros: There were a lot of students, as well as seasoned professional illustrators showing their work. While I’m not 100% sure, my feel was that it was helpful for both but for different reasons. I think that when the publishers were looking at student books, they were more helpful in discussing what works and what they’d like to see. It’s invaluable input to help you improve. for pros, I think it can be a real selling situation or at least they’re looking at whether you’re a suitable fit for their books. I did observe a meeting between a publisher and an illustrator they REALLY wanted to work with, and that response is really quite different! (Especially since they saw me next… they were polite but yeah, it was like, we all know who you reallllyyyy want to see lol).
- Make friends. I’m not terribly sociable but I did enjoy talking to some people while waiting in lines. If possible, make friends. You never know what doors those friendships may open!
- Be vigilant outside. My friend and I saw, on two separate occasions, people have their bags stolen or almost picked outside the show. The one girl I saw try to pick a bag was really brazen, even after her victim yelled at her, she just continued to stand nonchalantly near the bus stop, waiting for someone else to walk by! She looked like a normal student with a sweater and backpack, honestly I thought she was just another attendee. Another person we were talking to said his wallet was stolen on the bus from the fair to the hotel. So, just pay attention to your stuff.
- Bring money & an empty suitcase! Some publishers will sell their books on the last day and at a discount. Some were even giving away books! I was sad that I could not buy books to bring home (I went backpacking after the event), and there were some lovely catalogues that I had to leave behind as well.
Italian picture books on display
A few months ago, I was thinking to myself that I would really like to go on a trip to Europe again. Not really wanting to go alone, I started to ask my friends if they too wanted to go to Europe on what I thought would be an art-travel trip.
As it happened, I found a friend who was interested, but more precisely, she was interested in attending the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The annual fair describes itself as ‘the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry.’ I had heard about the fair and had been curious about it for some time. Unlike other book fairs, which generally seem to cater to the public or trade sales exclusively, I’d heard this one was rather welcoming towards illustrators. So, we agreed to make a date for this year’s fair, and at the end of March we packed our bags and headed off to Italy.
Getting ready
It was my first time at the fair and, while I had gone to tradeshows in the past, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect at this one. I read up several articles by other illustrators who had attended previous shows. Initially, I thought I’d just go see the show and not show my work, as some people had commented about how the experience could be overwhelming and it might be better to just enjoy being there the first time through. However, as the date drew nearer, I figured that I really had nothing to lose by trying to show my work.
The entrance to the fair
I scoured the directory of publishers attending the show, and tried contacting them to set up meetings. Amazingly I actually did a get a response from a small number of publishers. Committed, I sort of frantically scrambled to get my portfolio in order, and print out some promotional materials. As I was going with a backpack, I really could not afford to bring a large amount of materials, so I ended up bringing maybe 100-150 postcards and about the same number of bookmarks. I made some neat holders for both of these, and took along pins and tape to hold it to the wall (I wasn’t sure if you could pin stuff beforehand. Turns out can CAN pin stuff to the illustrator’s wall, although it took a bit of effort to stick in some of the pins). I took along my good portfolio which held my best children’s illustration work, and another, smaller, portfolio that was specially for my educational illustration work. I also made a small number of color booklets of my work to give to the publishers I met.
The Fair
We had booked an Airbnb room with a lovely lady that lives about 10min away from the Fiere. She was a marvellous host, and I think it worked out better staying with her than if we had booked a hotel. She kindly let us use her kitchen so we managed to make sandwiches for ourselves to bring to the fair (thus avoiding the lineups for the greasy pizzas that seemed to be the default lunch). I think bringing your own food and water to the event is best especially since you can’t LEAVE the fair once you go in (more on that in a bit).
The fair started promptly on the first day. We got there early but it didn’t really matter since they weren’t letting visitors in until the official opening time anyway. Once they did, we went in and headed straight for the illustrator’s wall. There was already a good number of posters on it; I am not sure but I think some of the exhibitors had put up posters and stuff for their own illustrators beforehand. Still, there were many walls and so we just picked one and got to putting up our materials. That said, the walls filled up FAST, especially since some people were sticking up posters and postcards on multiple walls. I understand wanting to make the most of the event, but honestly, I think it’s probably sufficient sticking up material on 2 walls (perhaps one on either end).
Artist putting material on Illustrators wall
Bolonga book fair illustrator’s wall materials
Having set up my promotional stuff, I headed into the halls to take a look at things. The actual fair was divided up into 3 halls, which were a bit confusing to navigate. The two main halls held the major US, Western European and UK publishers; the other hall which was sort of off to the side was more of like the international pavilion. On the other side, a fourth hall hosted the Licensing portion of the show, which I didn’t manage to get round to seeing (unless you count the various mascots they had walking around. There was a giant Pikachu with his own bodyguard…).
I walked around, and, knowing no better, just started asking around if anyone wanted to see my book. Things were busy but not terribly busy just yet, so I managed to show some people, and set up some further meetings for the next day. Things got rather crowded in the afternoon, and more buyers (i.e the folks most of the publishers were REALLY there to see) showed up.
illustrator’s wall - some people stuck up whole books. No idea how they didn’t fall.
Tuesday was the busiest day of the fair, and I did more meetings while wandering around the halls, trying to not get lost. I did check up on my promotional materials and found the holders were empty (I had already topped them up on Monday afternoon). I think I actually exhausted my supply of giveaways by Tuesday. I’m telling myself this was simply because I had a good, eye-level spot near the entrance. By Wednesday the mood had gotten quite chill, which I thought was surprising. Some of the exhibitors were done with their meetings by Wednesday afternoon and were preparing to pack up. Someone also mentioned that on Wednesday and Thursday the fair was open to the public, which I thought was a bit strange seeing how it’s advertised as a tradeshow.
Thursday was the last day, and although the fair didn’t officially end until mid afternoon, it felt very much like things were already wrapped up in the morning. I had one last meeting that had been arranged well beforehand, but I don’t think anyone was in the mood to look at portfolios otherwise. However, it was a great day for checking out the other illustrators (both at the wall and in the Illustrator’s exhibition). I had a great time chatting with Australian illustrator/ illustration advocate Ann James, which I think was the most useful and inspiring part of the whole trip.
Australian illustrator Ann James live demo
All in all, I had a wonderful time at the Bologna Book Fair. I enjoyed meeting the publishers and showing my work when I could. I met some fabulous illustrators, and had a free portfolio crit (which really was more a discussion about the industry, at least when we were talking). My work was generally well received, and I think that’s the best thing, to me anyway, to feel like my work is actually hitting more than it misses the mark. I got to glimpse at how the sales people sell the new books, see a little about how other countries do picture books (i.e really differently!). I honestly thought I would come away feeling overwhelmed and slightly depressed (won’t lie, it’s hard to keep the ego from being bruised in the face of so much talent), but instead I came away feeling pleasantly surprised.
What I Missed
I spent most of the time at the fair setting up or going to meetings. Most of Tuesday afternoon was spent standing in lines. So I did not get a chance to attend any of the scheduled talks that they had for illustrators, or as part of their ‘Digital Cafe’.
Usborne booth. My favorite publisher/meeting of the fair!
The programming for illustrators was released very late (I think it was only made public a week before the event), and honestly, there were very few talks that interested me. I was more interested in the programming for the ‘Digital Cafe’, which is a series of talks and workshops about digital picture books. Quite a few of them were hosted by app developers as a crash course in how to use their software. Sadly, all of them seemed to require that you make the book-app on Mac only (I use Windows). The technology is interesting but at this time I think there are still a lot of kinks to be worked out, like industry standards. Perhaps in the next few years the ‘digital cafe’ part will become far more useful and interesting as this side of the business shapes up.
I also missed out on the licensing portion of the show, though from what I’m told, I didn’t really miss much. If anything it seemed like a strange addition to a book fair. I suppose some book properties have larger licensing potential (like Harry Potter or various comic books). For illustrators, this part of the show wasn’t really helpful I think.
One of the selected entries for the Illustrator’s Exhibition
There was a new portion that was meant for illustrators WITH a property to license. Or at least, that was the intent. It was housed in the licensing wing too. According to the organizers, it was like a mini-booth for illustrators with a property to license to promote their property. By the time I got to see it, most people were taking down their displays. In chatting with an illustrator there, it seems like the intent of the booth was not properly communicated, and some people thought it was like an artists’ table instead. As such there was some disappointment about the lack of traffic and general confusion as to what their booths were about. Hopefully the organizers give this more thought and improve on it in future shows.
Enjoy the show!
I had a good time there overall. I did notice a few things, and I’m just noting them down here in case they’re helpful to other people:
- I don’t think it’s clearly stated anywhere, but note that your pass is a 1 time entry PER DAY. Even if you have a multiple day visitor pass. We nearly got into trouble as one day we decided to go back to the apartment for lunch, then head back to the fair in the afternoon for a meeting. We were told we’d used up our passes for the day! Thankfully, a kind woman at the gate let us back in the one time. We promised not to do it again.
- Bring your own water and don’t order juice. A guy I was with ordered a cup of juice by mistake, it cost him 4.50 Euro and they would not let him cancel his order.
- Walking shoes. I am so glad I bought new, good walking shoes. Totally saved me.
- Portfolios: mine were just letter sized. I saw some other illustrators with bigger ones, but I really don’t think it’s necessary. The publishers did not seem to mind the size of my books. I also used my tablet to show additional work. I suppose it’s up to the individual but ask yourself if it’s really worth it carrying a giant, heavy portfolio bag around all day in a crowded space.
- Students vs pros: There were a lot of students, as well as seasoned professional illustrators showing their work. While I’m not 100% sure, my feel was that it was helpful for both but for different reasons. I think that when the publishers were looking at student books, they were more helpful in discussing what works and what they’d like to see. It’s invaluable input to help you improve. for pros, I think it can be a real selling situation or at least they’re looking at whether you’re a suitable fit for their books. I did observe a meeting between a publisher and an illustrator they REALLY wanted to work with, and that response is really quite different! (Especially since they saw me next… they were polite but yeah, it was like, we all know who you reallllyyyy want to see lol).
- Make friends. I’m not terribly sociable but I did enjoy talking to some people while waiting in lines. If possible, make friends. You never know what doors those friendships may open!
- Be vigilant outside. My friend and I saw, on two separate occasions, people have their bags stolen or almost picked outside the show. The one girl I saw try to pick a bag was really brazen, even after her victim yelled at her, she just continued to stand nonchalantly near the bus stop, waiting for someone else to walk by! She looked like a normal student with a sweater and backpack, honestly I thought she was just another attendee. Another person we were talking to said his wallet was stolen on the bus from the fair to the hotel. So, just pay attention to your stuff.
- Bring money & an empty suitcase! Some publishers will sell their books on the last day and at a discount. Some were even giving away books! I was sad that I could not buy books to bring home (I went backpacking after the event), and there were some lovely catalogues that I had to leave behind as well.
Italian picture books on display