Frankfurt Book Fair 2018 – Aces to Show at Combined Book Exhibit
So I have my first book going to be launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair with a full page ad of reviews in the display catalogue. The Frankfurter Buchmesse is the oldest and largest of book trade fairs in the world. It is so iconic, I included the Frankfurt Book Fair in a screenplay I wrote. It isn’t a movie, yet, but still might be. I had a German countess who moonlighted as a murder mystery novelist writing under a pseudonym, and the story begins with her at a book fair. I thought Frankfurt for the tradition. There is a draft where it’s the London Book Fair for location incentives, but that’s another story.
Now, I’m going to be at the Frankfurt Book Fair, or at least my book, my second novel. an epic story of love and war and American pilots who volunteer for the RAF and fight in the Battle of Britain, Aces. It begins in the pre-war years where two students at Princeton, an America and German who fly as competitive racers in the Thompson Trophy air races of aviation innovation are both vying for the love of the same girl. She marries the German and they end up duking it out in the skies over the English Channel. Aces: Pilots in WWII Battle of Britain, being published by Winged Lion Publications.
I get promotional emails from time to time from the Jenkins Group, a self-publishing service company, offering a variety of services for indie authors. One thing they do, along with other marketers of author services, from Publishers Weekly to Lulu, is offer placement of indie author books at book fairs. They are basically resellers for the Combined Book Exhibit which has been displaying books at markets and trade fairs since 1933. The Combined Book Exhibit can display upwards of 1200 books per show, from a variety of publishers from major imprints like Random House to specialized niche publishers, micro-publishers, down to indie self-published authors.
Since my second novel was coming out at the time I got the latest “deadline approaching” notice for the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the timing seemed fortuitous. The book has been getting some very positive reviews and quotes, from the Book Life Prize, Kirkus Reviews and Reader’s Favorite. The assorted costs that arise in marketing a new release indie book seem to come like arrows in a Robin Hood archery contest, with book review upgrades, and assorted listings and applications. The idea of spending $200 to send a book to sit on a shelf at a book show with 7,000 exhibiters seemed of uncertain value at best. But with the great review quotes to put into a full page ad, for an extra $150, seemed like a reason to take the chance. The book has German content and seems suited to an international audience, so Frankfurt seemed a natural place to launch it for the world market.
In searching about for advice or blog posts about participating with the Combined book Exhibit, to see whether it was worth the money, a scam to squeeze a few dollars out of unwashed hopefuls, or a fool’s dream, I was surprised to find very precious few authors or indie publishers who had actually tried it and had anything to say about the result, whether it was worth it or not. I found a few posts on Alli and some other independent book author sites cautioning that it was not worth it for an individual book to sit on a shelf among thousands of others, with no one to actually promote it, and that the Combined Book Exhibit booth tenders wouldn’t really know anything about it, or direct visitors to it.
As of this writing (in September) the book fair appearance is yet to come, so the outcome is unknown. A factor in my choosing to go ahead was that I thought my cover might visually stand out on a shelf, and I could direct visitors to it by advertising it in the catalogue. The $150 for the full-page ad for Frankfurt goes in the booth catalogue, and not any show-wide guide, but at least in the booth is a close “captive” targeted audience, presumably with an interest in indie books with the review quotes in the ad the selling point, and more value than the book on the shelf. And visitor can take the catalogue home or back to the office for a lingering presence beyond the show shelf.
My dealings with the Jenkins Group, through Andrew Parvel, and with Combined Book Exhibit, where I called to get some clarification about deadlines and requirements, and where I apparently was directed to the head of the company have been direct and uncomplicated so far. I did get the feeling that dealing with individual authors/micro-publishers is not an everyday focus, as some of the processes and answers to questions seemed a little standardized.
Combined Book Exhibit and Publisher’s Weekly have joined in combined online world rights sales interface service which offers the possibility for listing books for international rights and provides a standard contract, and means of collecting royalty payments, through Global Rights Network on Pubmatch. It was launched about three years ago, but I don’t know how much it is used by rights holders.
I will follow up this post after the show to update on the results, if any. Though, having a book introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair brings some bragging rights on its own and alone may be worth the price of entry.
Aces: A Novel of Pilots in WWII Battle of Britain Amazon US
Aces: A Novel of Pilots in WWII Battle of Britain Amazon UK