publishers and other writing organizations have booths promoting their
books, authors and services. Most of them have authors signings and give away
free books, bookmarks, catalogues, brochures etc. as part of the promotions. Obviously, the free books (and a chance to meet authors) is the big draw for many
people. Some have gimmicks as well – a package of spaghetti for a book about Italian immigrants, hockey pucks for a hockey referee, beach balls, “surprise” bags, playing cards – anything to tie in to the book.
– a big highlight was getting to see a bunch of people I know from the book community, mainly in Alberta and Saskatchewan but beyond as well. For instance, went for drinks on Sunday afternoon with Deb Rush from Coteau Books in Regina, Greg Gerrard from Pages Books in Calgary, Nicole DeGrandmont from the Department of Canadian Heritage in Ottawa and Michelle Lake, a fellow library student here in London.
– It was great to catch up with everybody that I saw but not so great was hearing that my former boss fell ill in England. Get well soon, Brenda!
– some of the big names appearing this year included Jack White from the White Stripes, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Tommy Chong, Martin Brodeur, Mike Holmes, Kathy Stinson, Camilla Gibb and many others. I didn't stand in line for any of them since I'm not that enamoured with signed books OR twenty-minute line-ups but that's just me. (Okay, I got a book signed by Kathy Stinson – her line was pretty short!) At the same time, how weird is it to be in a place where Margaret Atwood appears to barely makes a ripple? She wasn't schedule to sign specifically but was demonstrating the “Long Pen”, an invention she came up with that allows authors to sign books from remote locations. For instance, she could be in Toronto and conduct a signing in Vancouver. I'm doubtful if this technology will take off since obviously it's having that brief personal encounter that makes signings so special in my opinion. But you never know…
– I was glad they printed “Librarian” on my badge instead of “Library Student” as I'm sure that helped get me a lot of extra books. I didn't exactly mis-represent myself but I didn't correct anyone who assumed I was the main acquisitions person for London Public Library (for instance.) I've heard of fellow students who went to OLA as part of their vendor relations course and were treated very rudely by the vendors once they heard they were students instead of customers. Don't these guys realise that students will be potential customers in a year or two?
– another highlight was bumping into one of my favourite Saskatchewan poets, Mick Burrs, as we both stood in line to get a book signed. Mick moved to Toronto last fall after around twenty years in Yorkton, Saskatchewan so it was a big adjustment. I can't say this about very many Canadian poets but I was a fan of Mick's before I ever got into the book biz. And the chapbook he gave me is probably the best book I got at the show. That or the books the Scientologists were handing out (just kidding – they were charging for their books!)
Anyhow, that's my verbal take on things. Here are some visuals…
This is the main trade show concourse…
Two colleagues from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta having just launched their “No Black Gold For Alberta Arts” campaign.
(If you can believe it, various arts groups in Alberta are getting funding cuts, even as the province posts multi-billion dollar surpluses!)
This is one of my favourite poets, Steven Michael Berzensky (Mick Burrs)…
The look on my face is explained by who I'm sending my autograph to using the “Long Pen” (see next photo)…
My final haul…
Post a Comment