The latest edition of  Lynnete Owen’s ultimate guide to SELLING RIGHTS has just been published.  As you know, Lynnette is the Copyright Director of Pearson Education Ltd and has fully updated this edition to include changes in technology, sales, distribution and legislation, particularly in relation to web 2.0. You can purchase a copy here.

I love it when people send me things I can use on here – this has come courtesy of Helena Markou, Publishing Innovation Associate at Blackwells – it is how to use the London Book Fair. Of Course you can find me (Suzanne Collier) at the London Book Fair too – I’ll be at the Careers Centre on the Monday Afternoon and Tuesday Morning if you want to drop by.     I’ve added some additional comment too, so you won’t go off track…

10 Dos and Don’ts for Wannabe Publishers at London Book Fair

Let me begin by saying if you want a job in publishing then you want to be at London Book Fair.  Registration is free.  Just sign up as a visitor and select student from the drop down menu.

It’s all about the sales of rights, so people are there to have important meetings (which are often scheduled months in advance). Many publishers have back-to-back appointments all day long, but there are usually people floating around the stands, manning reception and answering ad hoc questions.

On the hour and on the half-hour is a good time to catch people between their scheduled appointments, but try to develop a ninja-like awareness of “the unoccupied” and be ready to pounce with a disarming opener at all times.

1. Do make a wish list of the publishers you want to talk to and get their stand numbers in advance.   Also check the floorplan before you go so that you save your feet.
2. Do check the seminar listings for talks worth attending, but avoid software and “solutions” providers because they are often big sales pitches.  Not entirely true – these can be highly beneficial if it is an area of publishing that interests you.
3. Do be brave and talk to people especially if they look like a Director or CEO, you might get lucky and impress the right person.
4. Do prepare introductions & openers in advance, for example….

• Hi my name is HELENA” – Seems obvious but they are unlikely to remember your name unless you communicate it verbally to them.
• “I review children’s books on my blog, who does your children’s marketing? Can I take their email address?”
• “Who heads up your children’s list in editorial? Can I take their contact details?” – You should note editorial are unlikely to be at , because it is…? That’s correct, an event for SELLING RIGHTS
• “Do you have any internships? Who should I email? What advice could you give someone like me trying to get into the industry?”

1. Do take business cards and/or copies of your CV (ERROR FREE) to hand out.   Do remember that most CVs handed out at the London Book Fair end up in the bin.  Much better to make the contact and email your CV after the fair, or even better, make sure you are registered with the CV Clearing House on bookcareers.com – we are doing a special ‘London Book Fair’ – more details to follow.
2. Do take a packed lunch or exit  to eat.  £10 for a bottle of water and a sandwich is ridiculous (there’s a Tesco about 10mins walk if you know where you’re going).
3. Do visit Sam Missingham at The Bookseller stand and give her something to tweet about. Don’t think Sam will be the only one Tweeting…  Twitter will be very exciting…  (I’m @suzannecollier)
4. Do find out the hashtag and tweet about  whilst you’re there. The London Book Fair hashtag is #lbf10
5. Do wear something smart but BRIGHT. You want to stick out from the sea of gray suits, and remain memorable to the people you’ve spoken to.  You don’t really want to look like a traffic light though.
6. Do bring comfortable shoes & lip balm as the concrete floors & book dust will, literally, try to suck the life out of you.

1. Don’t expect there to be anywhere to sit down and if you do see a vacant seat be prepared to fight for it.
2. Don’t take it to heart if some people are a bit unhelpful and curt, they are just busy doing their jobs.
3. Don’t waste your time trying to speak with people who are clearly too busy to talk to you, move on to the next on the list.
4. Don’t make yourself sick on freebie sweeties.
5. Don’t waltz through publishers’ stands like you would a bookshop, they are often considered semi-private spaces by their occupants.
6. Don’t ignore small & independent publishers, they work very hard to survive in the publishing industry and have wisdom, wit and savvy in spades.  And you never know they might have jobs going as well.
7. Don’t walk off with books unless you are 100% certain they are free proof/review copies.
8. Don’t ask to purchase a book from a stand, it’s not a retail orientated book fair, you’ll look silly.
9. Don’t pass up an opportunity to do competitor analysis and collect ideas, intelligence for new product development projects.   Do check out how busy the stands are – particularly of the companies that you want to go and work for – if they don’t seem to be doing business in London – where are they doing business???
10. Don’t leave London without heading to Lucky Voice in Soho for Karaoke. (Ok the last one isn’t LBF specific but always valid as a general rule of life.)  Hmmmm.

I’m starting to work on the FAQs for this site and one other. If you have any careers questions that you need answered, particularly in relation to working for a book publishers rather than being published yourself, then please get in touch. It might take some time to answer, but I will aim to answer as many as possible.

You might have seen this article over the Christmas holidays – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8433024.stm that the CIPD predict more redundancies, with unemployment reaching a peak in the summer.

I feel like the ‘purveyor of doom’ when I state I have been saying this for ages.  I believe that between now and May we will see more redundancies across publishing. Part of it will be the changes in job functions and rationalisation as the publishing process continues to modernise and change. Whilst some of this will have been dependent on contract sign ups post-Frankfurt (deals being confirmed or falling through), the Borders factor and Christmas sales.  For a number of publishers, it isn’t until a customer requests to return unsold stock, that they can truly evaluate whether their books worked.  I recall a frightening year when one major customer returned 3000 books in the same cartons they were shipped in; they never even made it on to the shop floor.

However new jobs will be created, mainly within digital content, text (editorial), media and marketing departments. To ensure that you survive your career in publishing you need to be as up to date as possible with your training, technical knowledge and most importantly, you need to open your eyes to the world outside of publishing, especially at the influence of social media. Currently those outside of the industry who have digital or social marketing experience may stand a better chance at getting a job than you, because their industry or company works in the cut and thrust of developments. Don’t let yourself lose out. Make sure that you are in tune with what is happening – your reading matter needs to be far greater than your employer’s press releases or The Bookseller.

We’re pleased to announce that the bookcareers Initiative (Job Club) will continue for the time being, helping those who have lost their jobs within the industry and are currently unemployed.

We’ve rearranged the London groups slightly, with a regular CV Masterclass or Interview Coaching session, as well as a usual meeting and opportunities to meet recruiters within the industry. Our next meetings are coming up on the 13th and 20th January. If you believe you have qualifying industry experience, then please email suzanne @ bookcareers.com with your CV, and you’ll receive full details.

Dates for Oxford, Cambridge (and possibly Scotland) have yet to be confirmed for 2010.

The London group would not be possible without the help of 3 Monkeys Communications and for this we are truly grateful.

If you are out of work and from the book industry (bookselling, publishing, publishing degree etc) then you may qualify for this help. You can read more here