Photograph: Mark Guest
Q&A Karen Sullivan
Orenda Books founder and Bookseller Rising Star 2016 Karen Sullivan will be one of FBF’s Market Players.
She talks to Tom Tivnan about dispensing advice on the UK industry, and how to demystify books in translation
Ready Player one tom tivnan
Can you tell us about the Business Club Players scheme, and how you are involved? karen sullivan
The Business Club is going to be open on Tuesday (11th October) with a separate conference called The Markets, in which the concept of change is going to be discussed by keynote speakers and panelists from around the world. Alongside this, there are Market Players who will answer questions on a one-to-one basis outside the confer- ence hall. I’ll be one of them.
What sort of advice will you be giving? I expect I’ll be answering questions about the UK fiction market from the perspec- tive of an independent publisher. If change is on the agenda, there will undoubtedly be requests for some insights into current trends. Orenda publishes predominantly literary and high-end genre fiction, so I would be best placed to give advice on this area of the market, as a small publisher. While we don’t chase trends, we need to be aware of them, and how to market our books appropriately, and I can probably advise on what’s working in the UK. Inter- national publishers might be interested in how we market or sell their books. We’ve had tremendous success with translated fiction, and can happily share what’s worked for us.
Is Frankfurt a particularly important time for Orenda? What sort of business do you hope to accomplish over the course of this year’s fair? It’s a very important time for us. Not only are we actively selling (alongside Curtis Brown), but we are looking for new and exciting international books that would work well on our list. It’s also a great time to catch up with our international distributors and sales teams, and the agents of our exist- ing international authors, to discuss current and upcoming projects. I also enjoy check- ing out what’s selling around the world and
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