thebookseller.com 15 04.2015 NEWS Olympia move splits fair-goers BY THE BOOKSELLER NEWS TEAM
There were packed aisles at the first London Book Fair at Olympia since 2005, with many fair-goers praising the venue. Others, however, were less than satisfied with signage and transportation, and said the current venue was “hard to navigate”. Johnson & Alcock agent Ed
Wilson said: “For a younger generation the move to Olympia feels new and a step forwards; for the old guard I know it feels like a step back, although preferable to ExCeL. But change is always good.” Little, Brown deputy c.e.o. David Shelley agreed. “I feel very positive about this move and that is the sense I have generally,” he said. “Change is good for the fair, but equally it is a change that still makes the fair pretty accessible for most people—unlike some alternatives.” However, Olympia has not
been welcomed by all. Children’s publishers in particular are concerned about the signage; many are located upstairs in West Hall Upper, away from the Grand Hall. Catherine Bell, co-m.d. of
Elaine McQuade, head of
children’s marketing and publicity at OUP, described the new venue as “hard to navigate”, adding: “The transport is extremely difficult.” In the Grand Hall, others have
Scholastic UK said: “So far it’s been busy and it’s a nice area, but we need better signage to get people to come here.” Liz Leask, sales and marketing manager at Priddy Books, agreed: “The signage to find the children’s area is lacking, so finding us is an issue. A lot of us would prefer to be with the adult publishers. Downstairs is very busy and it is a lot quieter up here.”
S&S UK revives Scribner EXCLUSIVE NEWS
Simon & Schuster UK is reviving 150-year-old imprint Scribner. After 10 years “lying dormant” in the UK, and 150 years after it first began, Scribner will relaunch in June. The imprint—which continues to flourish in the US, where it enjoys
a strong brand—will publish six to 12 titles a year, beginning with the paperback of Graham Swift’s England and Other Stories on 4th June. Three novels in hardback follow: Tim Lott’s The Last Summer of the Water Strider (18th June); Benjamin Wood’s The Ecliptic (July); and Alice Hoffman’s The Marriage of Opposites (August). S&S said “the time is right” to revive the imprint, following “the
taken a “wait and see” approach. Lonely Planet will “monitor what impact the change in location will have, not just on meetings, but on people dropping by [the stand] over the next few days”, its head of sales Neil Manders explained. He added: “We were initially a little nervous about the move and a new location, but after a little bit of apprehension about how quiet it was when we first arrived, we’re feeling satisfied.” A handful of companies have decided not to exhibit. Pearson said it had “reduced [its] presence at LBF” this year by not taking a stand, as has women’s fiction publisher Choc Lit, which has decided not to exhibit at LBF for this first time in its six-year history. “The move to Olympia hasn’t worked . . . we weren’t able to secure a suitable position, so we decided to move the budget to Frankfurt,” Choc Lit m.d. Lyn Vernham said.
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STAND 2C10
INSIDE
DALAI & TUTU
“Spirited auction” for spiritual
leaders’ book 03 MEN’S HEALTH
Is the trade doing enough to ensure boys remain readers as they grow up?
11 AN EVEN KEEL
“We really need to talk about the rampant sexism in the Mexican literature
establishment” 13
PLUS LEADING THE PACK 23
explosion of social media and new ways of communicating directly with readers.” It added that the list—co-ordinated by fiction editorial director Rowan Cope, fiction publishing director Jo Dickinson and adult publishing m.d. Suzanne Baboneau—would publish literary fiction and non-fiction and aim to “take calculated risks and experiments, and celebrate Scribner’s literary heritage while looking to the future.” Ian Chapman, c.e.o. and publisher of S&S UK and International, said
he felt “passionately” about Scribner. “ This is a strategic move that we have been considering for some time,” he said. Meanwhile, S&S has signed Lisa Cutts, author of Never Forget and
Remember, Remember, from Myriad Editions. Dickinson signed UK and Commonwealth rights to two new novels (the first to be published in 2016) from Cathryn Summerhayes of WME.
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