My LBF Sophie Lambert
Sophie’s first LBF My London Book Fair Sophie Lambert
This is my ninth London Book Fair. The authors and the books are at the heart of it all, of course, but it’s reassuring to follow a familiar routine. A litle like “Groundhog Day”... In the best possible way.
At my first LBF, aſter several years working as a bookseller and a buyer, and at a literary agency in the US, I remember feeling unable to get my head around the speed-dating nature of the Agents’ Centre.
I always look forward to seeing Elisabeth Kerr, rights director at W W Norton in the US, who is hands-down the best dressed in the business. Bea Hemming from Cape, Paul Baggaley from Picador and Laura Hassan from Faber have impeccable taste in books, and I love hearing what they have fallen for. Plus, Louisa Joyner from Faber and my colleague Lucy Luck are on hand to fill me in on all the news and gossip.
This year I’m most looking forward to talking about nurse Chris- tie Watson’s memoir The Language of Kindness. It sums up every- thing that storytelling should be about and changes the way you see life—it’ll be published in 20 territories this year. Guy Gunaratne’s In Our Mad and Furious Cit is an urgent, sometimes angry and always passionate novel that epitomises our disparate societ and I think it will be one of the most talked-about novels of the year. I’ll also be waxing lyrical about Anneta Berry’s The Portraitist, which is currently on submission.
My top tip for the fair is not to overschedule or overpromise: it takes careful thought and planning to correctly work out how long it will take to get from place to place—the fair is a maze. Keep snacks and water in your bag. Make sure you leave the centre for some daylight and fresh air, otherwise you end up feeling jetlagged. LBF dinners, drinks and parties are an essential part of the week and they are wonderful, but take one night off to sleep!
The key to a successful fair is to be in control of your diary, keep a handful of slots empt so that you can be spontaneous, and be focused about who you talk to about certain books.
My favourite places to eat and drink tend to be outside the fair. The offerings in the Agents’ Centre are particularly uninspiring and overpriced so, if possible, get out. At the end of each day you can turn up at one of the local pubs and expect to see handfuls of people you know, and to feel reassured about the friendly and supportive indus- try we work in—and its brilliant people.
My most memorable fair was one of my first: I’d sold Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall and was pregnant, running on adrenaline as I met some of the overseas editors who’d fallen in love with that novel.
14
was memorable for selling Nathan Filer’s Costa-winning The Shock of the Fall
Agent, C+W
Left Christie Watson’s memoir will be on Sophie’s agenda at the fair, where she’s looking forward to catching up with editors of refined taste, such as Paul Baggaley above
WORDS Tom Tivnan 10th April 2018
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60