12 – 14 March 2024
“It is one thing to produce a book, quite another to sell it, though some authors one meets regard the two as synonymous.”—p. 158, The Truth About Publishing by Sir Stanley Unwin (Lyons & Burford, 1960).
With a couple of days before the London Book Fair, I walked to Sudbury Hill station, purchased an Oyster card, some Lyka Mobile credit near the off-license, and set off for London.
I don’t recall the exact station where I disembarked, but I remember exploring the Bloomsbury area, passing University of London, SOAS University, and The British Museum. Entering Russell Square, through its wrought iron gates, I stopped at Caffe Tropea for coffee. The novelty of squirrels dancing around trees and across grass wore off with each sip of my coffee. Fully caffeinated, I walked around the corner and stumbled upon the London Review Bookshop.
Books I purchased:
- The Lost Art of Silence by Sarah Anderson (Shambhala, 2023)
- The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoise Mac Sweeney (Penguin, 2023)
The next day was a blur as I wandered without much to report, except for my first visit to a barber in Sudhbury Hill where my upper cheek bone was nicked with a cut-throat razor. Watkins Bookstore was a highlight. I met Mike Gilmore, a bookseller and fellow Buddhist. He kindly showed me a first edition Watkins Books copy of Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa and mentioned that Trungpa used to visit the store, which has a long and important history of over 130 years of selling esoterica.
To my great fortune I was able to connect with Nikko Odiseos, President of Shambhala Publications who kindly invited me to dinner at Lisboeta with several people from the London Buddhist book world, notably Francesca Fremantle (author of Luminous Emptiness and co-translator of The Tibetan Book of the Dead), Mike Gilmore, the bookseller from Watkins Books, and Louise Marchant of The Buddhist Society.
I had visited The Buddhist Society around four years earlier when I was in London for a few days visiting a friend. At that time, I was finishing a comparative law thesis on Tibetan Law pre-1959 and Australian Tort Law. I discovered one of the few prominent legal figures who was a Buddhist, Christmas Humphreys, a barrister and later judge at the Old Bailey who founded The Buddhist Society and who interacted with Alan Watts and Trungpa. Upon further investigation, his understanding of Buddhism, particularly his characterisation of karma as a cosmic ‘law’ didn’t align with my teachers more refined explanation and analysis of karmic theory in Karma: What it is, What it isn’t, and Why it Matters. Nevertheless, he seemed to be an important figure in the development of Buddhism in the West, supporting many Dharma activities.
The food at Lisboeta was delicious. Dinner with the group was a highlight of the trip, with conversations revolving around two favourite topics of the group: books and Dharma, while a good splash of Buddhist camaraderie transcended the generational divides.
The friendly evening ended with a group photo under a cherry blossom outside the restaurant. Mike and Nikko kindly walking me to the station as I was quite disorientated with my iPhone running out of battery blocking access to Google Maps and the sun having now set. Moseying to the station, Mike decided to purchase 30 copies of ‘Calling the Lama From Afar: The Yoginin Nuns of Nangchen’s Gebchak Gompa’ by Jampa Kalden and 25 more at a later date. This made me quite happy, as the book royalty proceeds support the Gebchak Nuns and their yogini tradition. If you’d like to do donate to them you can do so via the Gebchak Rigpa Har-Sey Website.
Speaking with Mike reminded me of Sir Stanley Unwin’s advice to publishers:
“…it can truthfully be said that a publisher cannot spend his time more profitably than in the company of booksellers.”—page 159, The Truth About Publishing by Sir Stanley Unwin, Lyons & Burford, 1960.
If navigating back to Sudbury Hill Station without Google Maps was disorientating, entering the London Book Fair at Olympia the following day was that experience times ten. So much bustle, so much chatter—where to start? I was a free agent without my own stand. I had a few appointments with publishers, distributors, and printers, so it wasn’t a total shock, but it was still quite overwhelming. My main goal was to soak up the atmosphere and explore the possibility of picking up distribution in the UK and Europe. I was grateful to speak to distributors such as Turnaround, Ingram, IPG, and academic library distributors such as EBSCO. Meeting the friendly folks at Deep Books was also a highlight. They freely advised me on things to consider as a first timer to the fair, and it was fun to share a few jokes with them too. Printers at Clays and Ingram Spark were also exceptionally knowledgeable and happy to answer all my questions.
It was also great to bump into exhibitors related to audiobooks, including audiobook production companies and distributors. I attended a presentation by Spotify about audiobook listener data and their plans to work more closely with publishers as they open up to streaming more audiobook content.
The next two days of the fair passed quickly and I don’t have much memory of them. I was lucky enough to meet Kat Davis, Marketing Manager from Wisdom Publications, who put me in touch with Daniel Aitken, their CEO and Publisher. I spoke to Daniel after the fair and again felt grateful and privileged to be conversing with someone so knowledgeable about Dharma and the book industry.
In my final days in London I visited The Tate, The Photographers Gallery, The British Film Institute, The British Museum, and bookshops such as Foyles (picking up a copy of Talking at Night), Waterstones, and The Dickens Museum. I also ventured to Camden Town and walked up Primrose Hill, a park featured in the Netflix adaptation of David Nichol’s One Day, which I had fond memories of reading after finishing high school.
My trip ended much the same way as it began, purchasing items duty-free at Melbourne (Tullamarine) Airport. This time, I bought two bottles of Johnny Walker Red Label—One to be donated to my local Buddhist centre’spuja practices and one for me to cope with the jet-lag I’d experience in the following week.
If you’re involved in the publishing industry or simply curious, I’d recommend visiting the London Book Fair. Be warned though, much depends on your goals and how you managing your expectations. But for the adventure and the people you meet along the way, it was well worth it.
Attending The London Book Fair has been an enriching experience and marks the beginning of a more serious foray into the world of publishing for Platform, one that I will remember fondly. If you’re considering it, and you have the means, as Trungpa Rinpoche would say, “Just do it.”
Conclusion:
- Manage your own expectations.
- Embrace the adventure and be open to learning as you go, rather than over-planning.
- Keep in touch with the people you meet.
- Stay humble; remember that you are there to learn, so ask those who know more than you.
- Trust your intuition and believe in yourself.
- Explore activities outside the fair.
- If it’s your first time, think of it as the beginning, a start, like planting a seed that can grow into a strong, deep-rooted tree, able to withstand any storm.