The London Book Fair 2015 Day 1: Trust pays off

End of day one, #LBF2015. I’m so excited about tomorrow, about meeting Brian May in the flesh but i’m jumping ahead of myself. Rewind!

The 44th edition of London Book Fair  – the global marketplace rights for negotiation and the sale and distribution of content  across print, audio, TV, film and digital  channels, is, believe me, huge. As the official press release states, the event welcome over 25000 in three days, with visitors from over 110 countries and exhibitors from over 60 countries (Romania included). This year’s edition is special also for some other various reasons: a come back to its traditional location, Olympia, and its first official Opening Ceremony. Why, of all English personalities, they selected a bestselling cookery author to actually declare open the Fair, remains a mystery to me. Choosing among  the vast array of seminars, discussions and events was tough choice. Seminars talking about marketing, PR, Kindle Publishing and eBook sales drew vast audiences.

Today’s (publishing) world is governed by trust ( trust  people and they will reward it said Michal Kicinskig, founder of openbooks, a new and innovative approach to books I will write more about soon), cooperation, content and cross-media. Authors with entrepreneurial skills can self-publish instead of going the traditional way. If so, they need to see themselves as a brand and build it step by step.

People have been reading books for centuries the same way. Will the digital era really affect the readers’ behaviour and the way they interact with stories? Will they actually need multimedia experiences or a compelling plot and larger than life characters will do? I guess only time will tell. As an avid reader, I confess I stick with the old ways (although I do a lot of reading on Kindle). I love losing myself in a book, in the silence of my room. But, as an author and entrepreneur, I dream about innovating, about offering to people unforgettable yet enriching and pleasant experiences.