This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
by Debs Carr
It was the London Book Fair and Screen Week last week and having received an invitation from the lovely team at Midas PR, I decided to travel over to London for the day on Wednesday and visit Olympia. I've attended a Masterclass at a previous book fair at Earls Court, but I'd never seen this side of things before. The whole atmosphere and the buzz as countless agents and publishers have one appointment after another making deals and selling rights was intense, but fascinating.
I took a plane, two trains, a tube and a bus, finally arriving with one minute to spare before my allotted time to meet my wonderful agent, Luigi Bonomi in the Ivy Club. After an inspirational chat with him, I then walked down the green carpeted stairway to the stalls below to look around and make the most of my time there.
As you can see from my pictures there were hundreds of stands, some larger than others, but all buzzing with activity and energy.
Here's the Accent Press stand displaying it's beautiful book covers and just like all the other publishers and agents their hardworking team of professionals were busily making the most of their time at the book fair. To say it was inspirational to a writer, is an understatement. It was incredibly exciting to be able to walk by as a spectator and see these brilliant professionals at work. I can only imagine how exhausting, although exhilarating it must be to work at one of these book fairs over the course of the three days.
With so much going on, it was hard to take everything in, but it was well worth going, to soak up the atmosphere and see how everything works, first hand.
I stopped at The English PEN Literary Salon to listen t 
o Ali Smith in conversation with Claire Armitstead. Ali, whose latest book How To Be Both was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, and the Folio Prize and was the winner of the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize and the Novel Award in the 2014 Costa Book Awards. So I wasn't surprised that not only was there standing room only to see her, but also that I was about five rows back. Ali was asked by an unpublished writer for her tips for publication. She said:
– Read, read, read
– Use only a sugar cube-sized part of your brain to think about the industry when you write, but the rest of your brain to focus on your book
– Never give up. Rejection is part of a writer's life and you have to keep going. (I'm paraphrasing).
I bumped into a friend who I've known online since 2007 but until Wednesday had never actually met. Mel Sherratt was at the Book Fair all week taking part in talks at Author HQ discussing her 
writing and publishing experiences with other bestselling KDP authors, Stephanie Hudson, Keith Houghton and Mark Dawson. I asked Mel to stand next to an enormous picture of her for a photo and someone spotted her and was very impressed. Mel asked him to take a picture of us. Mel looks full of energy despite her long hours at the fair, I, on the other hand look like a stunned gerbil. I may have to find the guy who took the photo and have words…
Social Network giant-sized sofa seemed very appealing, especially after I'd been walking around Olympia for several hours.
After several hours, I stopped for a late lunch. However, when my fizzy water exploded over a poor, unsuspecting person who was trying to write up reports, I finished my chicken ciabatta and decided it was time to leave. I've always had a huge respect for agents, publishers and the professionals in the publishing world, but having seen the intensity of the London Book Fair, I am in awe of their energy.
It was a fascinating day and I look forward to my next experience at the book fair.