UPDATE - Frankfurter Bookfair and plans for the upcoming week! (Patreon)

HELLO EVERYONE, apologies for the delayed update!

I was at the Frankfurter Buchmesse last week - The BIGGEST bookfair in the WORLD - and was as expected a bit drained from the experience as I returned on the weekend, so I didn't immediately get to write about it on here. 

I wrote a long entry of my experience on the fair - if you want to skip on it, there is one last important announcement at the end of this update for an event on the Discord server!

Alright here comes the Frankfurter-Bookfair-Experience

YOU CAN PROBABLY IMAGINE HOW THE BIGGEST BOOKFAIR IN THE WORLD MUST BE LIKE - PRETTY DANG BIG

We were two of an estimated number of 180.000 visitors in total. Not on one day, on all five, we however were only there for Thursday and Friday. But the sheer volume of sound when you entered just one of these 8 halls of thousands upon thousands of people talking at once? C H I L L I N G.

And even though I had prepared myself for this fair as best as I could for the past 4 weeks, I also knew I was not prepared at all for what would await me. ESPECIALLY given how late I decided to even go to the fair. 2 months definitely counts as a "last minute" decision given the intentions I had for the bookfair. Online information on author-experiences on the bookfair where mostly confusing to read and little to no helpful at all. All that I could tell was that the bookfair was a place to meet people and make important business contacts, so I was expecting some level of cooperativeness from publishers and agents on the fair. 

Once I arrived I was DETERMINED to shove my books underneath as MANY noses as possible. I went to EVERY publishing house I had previously noted down as a possible fit for my book series. But in just 2 hours things turned to look pretty grim, as 90% of all publishers send me away with a business card and explained to me they were not hearing out book pitches at the fair. A few of them mentioned they only hear out book pitches if you make an appointment 4-6 months in advance (online I had read you had to call them 10 weeks before the fair...apparently you can straight up DOUBLE that number) while the majority told me they don't do appointments the like on the fair at ALL, only for illustrators.

IT WAS CRUSHING to hear, but there was sTILL HOPE - as one of my main targets offered ONE OPEN review-hour with their editors to review your material. Which was illustrations. But since my books were already illustrated a kind lady at the counter told me to just get in line with the illustrators anyway. Time to BE BOLD. So I stood in line early the next morning and waited for a good hour before I was able to pitch my books.

There were three editors reviewing portfolios. One elderly woman and two girls in their late twenties, who looked like they were pretty new to the publishing house. However, I was unfortunate and got to the table with the two girls, who were not pleased with me presenting a book series instead of a portfolio. They weren't prepared for a case like me at all. One of them didn't even listen to me and looked at the line of illustrators on the side. It didn't take more than 2 minutes before they interrupted me and told me "We don't do books like that."
"L-Like what?"
Don't think that they would have elaborated on their statement. I was very confused.
"Wh-but you pride yourself in publishing 'the BEST nature-books' for kids about nature conservation and protagonists who act as environmental HEROES in your stories! This has EXACTLY THAT!! I know the dragons are specific but they act as a bridge to teach kids about -"
"No this doesn't fit :/// We don't do books like that :) Try somewhere else GOODBYE" aaand I was sent off the table.
As crushing as it was at first, the disappointment I felt was immediately replaced by utter  R A G E  as I was confident that I would have gotten a different reaction from the older editor behind them. What followed was me SPRINTING to another booth that had caught my eye the other day for their beautiful book covers.
They reviewed portfolios.
The line was open.
There was only a single illustrator waiting in line, in contrast to the day before with over 20 illustrators waiting.
A MIRACLE.
BE BOLD. SHOVE IT INTO THE NEXT PERSON'S FACE.
I was lucky this time.
I had the pleasure to pitch my series to a very kind and interested Lady who asked a lot of questions and ended up giving me her card, so I could send in my manuscripts to her for further review.
Success.

There were like 100 other things happening on those two days but this was the most essential experience I wanted to share.

I was prepared to for the possibility that I might achieve absolutely NOTHING on the fair, but I still came out far better than I expected 😂 It was both an overwhelming and incredibly enriching experience, but something that still confuses me, was that I had read and also had been told on multiple occasions that the fair was a place to meet people and make new contacts. What I experienced was pretty much the exact opposite.
Because the vast majority of people there were absolutely UNREACHABLE unless you already knew anyone personally beforehand, or, like in my case, shoved yourself into a line you didn't belong in.
For example, when most publishers weren't open to review book pitches, I moved on to the hall for Literacy Agencies, wondering if perhaps I could make myself familiar with some agencies, get an impression of some of the people there and perhaps make contact. I had found NO information from fellow authors or blogs online on this hall, so I had no idea what to expect.
I got greeted with the most barricaded and secured section of the entire fair. COMPLETELY locked off and secluded. Bodyguards on each side. NO entrance if you weren't an agent yourself or - you guessed it! Already had an appointment with any of them. And how do you get to know them beforehand? Well, you either already know them or check for the list of agencies on the bookfair website a few weeks in advance and get in contact with them. It's a bit like going on a blind date basically.

I am starting to understand why my colleagues keep telling me "Take any agent you can get" with the sentiment of "be grateful if you get any agent AT ALL". But I still don't quite agree with that sentiment - an agent is a very close business partner, they will be in charge of pitching your books to publishing houses both national and international and take care of your contracts. There HAS to be SOME level of trust and sympathy between you two, so that you know you can rely on them that they will present you well. How are you supposed to achieve something together if you don't like each other? Even if they'd be willing to work with you, I still don't think taking ANY person is a good choice if something feels off.

ANYWAY, I still haven't quite figured out how to get to know agents without having awkward zoom calls, but for ANYONE who plans on ever going to the Frankfurter bookfair, THESE ARE MY TIPS FOR YOU FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

• If you want to pitch your book, call or message the publishing house of your choice 4-6 months beforehand.
• If you're an illustrator, you should also try to make an appointment. Most publishers have an open line for illustrators, but you definitely have better cards if you have an appointment.
• Vitamin B is unfortunately everything. You NEED contacts to form contacts. If you don't have an agent, see if there's a club for children's book authors for example you can join. I've been in one and it definitely helps to orient yourself in the publishing-world better, get an idea for salaries for readings, ect.
• Ask questions. Be annoying in a charming way. Make sure you get some sort of information or tip from booths instead of just getting sent away immediately. Take ANY information you can get
• BE BOLD. SQUEEZE YOURSELF IN, even if they end up sending you away
• And most importantly: Don't be too crushed by rejection. Your success depends a lot on the people you meet there and communicate with. A single person is not representative of the entire publishing house. Even if they say "no" at the fair, if you still think their house would be a perfect fit for your book, send them your manuscript in ANYWAY.
• (Also food of course is super expensive at the fair, try to bring some snacks and a water bottle, the tap water in Germany is super clean so you can always refill at the public restrooms 😄)
  
  

So now what's next?
WELL, as you probably guessed I will send in my manuscript to both the editor who's business card I got and the publishing house I got rejected at. Because it's located in HAMBURG and it would be SO convenient if they took me in LMAO (also I still think my books perfectly fit into their catalog)
However, I will wait a few weeks, as I was told by the kind editor that the publishers get OVERWHELMED with manuscripts directly after the fair and I don't want my manuscripts to drown in the massive wave of e-mails they will receive in the first two weeks.

So I will wait a bit before I make my move and fully concentrate on my Comic Dub in the meantime. I am DETERMINED to finally finish the series before the comic's 6th Anniversary on December 13th. So that's gonna be my main priority for now.

I also want to attend another Comic-and Manga-Convention in Hamburg in December, but I'm waiting for confirmation of a friend if she's able to help me out with the booth, only then will I send in an application for a table.

ALRIGHT AND HERE COMES THE SERVER-EVENT

I will be hosting a HALLOWEEN-LIVESTREAM on my Discord Server on Monday the 31th, 8:00 pm CEST (Central European Standard Time)!

We'll be hanging out, playing SPOOKY Jackbox-Games and if time allows it I'll be sketching some SPOOKY requests too! :D
I hope to see you guys on Monday for the stream!
Patrons who can't make it to the stream are more than welcome to leave their requests down in the comments below, I'll be randomly picking them and try to get as many of them sketched as possible 😄 

See you guys on Monday! Hope you'll have a wonderfully spooky weekend! 🍂🎃👻