Bologna Children's Book Fair
My POV
Sorry for the long wait getting this out to you. I was away at BCBF, which I’ll talk about here, and then have been battling various bugs and deadlines since then. I’m excited to relive the Bologna experience here though and hopefully have a few good tips for anyone thinking of going in the future.
The first point I want to stress, especially for illustrators, is that publishing folk are NOT there to meet illustrators. They are primarily there to sell rights and do lots of important businessy stuff. This means most of the publishing people there are not commissioners, editors or art directors. Any commissioning people that come, might only be there for a short time and will have lots of meetings already filling their schedules. Reach out to publishers in advance, and once you’re at the fair, look out for specific times on the stands for when the right person will be there to see your portfolio. I think therefore it’s vital that illustrators attending the fair adjust their expectations and value the many other reasons to visit the fair, not just to get your portfolio in front of an agent or a publisher. I’ll talk about these later.
The second point: with Bologna, you get out from it what you put in, and what you need from the fair varies a lot depending on your own personal situation. As my agents, The Plum Agency, were at the fair, I was advised not to reach out to publishers myself, as they’re busy and would already be seeing my work when meeting with my agents. I was ok with this, the queues were long and it meant I could spend my time seeing the fair, joining in talks, meeting fellow illustrators and networking with the wonderful people I met.
If you want to hear more tips from illustrators that joined the portfolio reviews, I would really recommend this brilliant review by Katie Stack:
And also Carla Hoffenberg, who exhibited at the Australia stand:
Before you go
Flights and accommodation. I knew I wanted to go to the fair very early on. Along with other members of the Illoguild, we buddied up and got accommodation booked early. I shared a lovely centrally located apartment with my wonderful illustration friends Macha and Megan and I knew that the Illoguild crew were minutes walk away, so we could meet for food and drinks and explore Bologna together while we weren’t at the fair. I also booked my flights as early as I could. I travelled from London airports direct to Bologna from Sunday to Thursday. I didn’t need to check a bag in as it was only a short stay. Sharing accommodation and travelling light really helped to keep the costs down.
Postcards and business cards. I made use of a moo.com discount and got 100 business cards and 50 postcards printed. I could have had twice that if I wanted and would have been able to get rid of them. Every business card has a QR code linking to my Linktree on the back. Most of my postcards also had one on the front, as once they’re on the wall, the back isn’t visible.
Community. There was a real buzz on social media about the fair in the lead up this year. We knew there would be hundreds of illustrators going, and decided that a great way to link up while we’re there was to connect before hand. We set up a WhatsApp group and before long, we had 70+ illustrators, authors and publishing people all sharing tips, advice, worries and feedback in the months leading up to the fair. It was a noisy WhatsApp group (mute is your friend!) but seeing people make friends and find each other, ensuring no one at the fair felt lonely, meant it was totally worth it. We feel like a real community now and and are still sharing news post-fair. I would really recommend finding like minded people that want to meet up at the fair, especially if you don’t know many people going.
The illustrator’s Wall
Yes, it’s true, it’s so big it’s visible from space. There’s plenty of wall to cover and always room for one more postcard, so make sure you bring LOADS.
I brought blue tac and tape and the little business card holders so I could attach my cards to the wall. Over all I was happy with what I did with the walls. My name and contact details were clearly visible and I could keep refilling the pots with my business cards.
My personal opinion is if you do one thing while you’re at the fair, DO THIS. Put your work EVERYWHERE you see space. Don’t be shy, there’s always room for more. On the Monday, this was pretty much the only thing I did, and it got me a commission! I will hopefully be able to tell you more about this soon but I’m really, really excited about it.
Networking
Yes, you’re in Italy, the sun is shining and someone’s gotta eat all that gelato. But you told your accountant it was a work trip so you gotta WORK. There are always people to chat and show your work to, and people who want to know where you been, where you’re at and where you’re to.
Meeting so many like-minded people, whether they are illustrators, authors, agents, editors or other publishing folk, it is really really heartwarming to all be in the same place, sharing a love of children’s books and feeing rejuvenated and inspired to come back and keep doing what we love doing.
Around the fair
There is SO MUCH TO SEE. On the first day I concentrated on the US and UK rooms to see my agents and publishers I have worked with.
I am so glad I spent a lot of time in the other rooms looking at all the varied and diverse illustration styles from other countries. What a wonderful amazing world we live in! There are also plenty of talks and workshops to get involved with, and exhibitions showing fantastic work, so much to see and do!
Après Fair
Once the fair is finished for the day, it’s important to remember you’re on holiday and there’s pizza to be eaten. We made the most of our down time by trying out the local delicacies, crashing industry parties and even spent one evening having dinner in Florence! The train was easy, only took 37 minutes, and our fabulous friend Katie Stack was the perfect tour guide!
When things go wrong
Because they do. Personal circumstances change, belongings go missing, and illness can strike us down at any moment. I spent the second half of my trip lying in a dark room dreading the flight home as I suffered from a really awful bug I still don’t feel totally recovered from. But hey, these things happen, and I’m so glad I made the most of the time there while I was feeling ok. It has definitely made me really excited to go back next year and carry on where I left off before my trip was brought to an abrupt end.
Thanks for reading!
Were you at the fair? Do you have anything to add to this? I’m sure there’s absolutely loads more to say about it that I can’t think of right now. If you haven’t been but are thinking about going, then feel free to ask questions in the comments or drop me a DM. And hopefully we will all meet at the fair in the future!
Loved reading this!!! So many great insights! But also loved remember the fun times we had in Bologna!!! Can’t wait till next year!
Thank you so much for sharing your Bologna experience! I can‘t wait for next year ☺️ and just booked a place to stay this weekend. It will be my first time at the children’s book fair. It‘s been a dream of mine and I can’t believe it‘s actually going to happen 🥳