Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Paris Book Fair: Where Does an English-Language Author Fit In?



Books and reading still are alive and well in France. The line each day to pay 10 euros just to enter the Paris Book Fair where one can buy books (no freebies) is testament to that!

For my first trip to the book fair as an author, my two big challenges were: We are in France so many visitors are looking for books in French rather than English. Most French readers don’t yet have e-readers. (However, the book fair’s director said in an interview that the market for e-books over here is growing rapidly.)

So how does an author of an e-book in English manage? By hoping my cover and title would attract passersby… and thankfully, a fair share of readers did stop by! I enjoyed chatting with them as well as industry folks about my novel. I also took the time to trade my author hat for my reader one and browse through the books (of course).

A big thank you/merci to the U.S. Embassy for welcoming me at its stand and for supporting me as a new author!

To sum up the weekend, I figured I would share some photos with you. Enjoy!


That's me, chatting with a reader!


List of authors at our stand


The line to enter the book fair!



This is what traditional French book covers look like -- no illustrations


A first-edition book, often not sold to the public but given to the author. A reader would have to cut the pages apart.

4 comments:

  1. Looks like a good time! Your cover is great so I'm not surprised it attracted a lot of attention. That line is crazy long! The French are kind of fanatics about their "Salons". You'll see an ad in the Metro for something like "Salon de Balls of Yarn for Cats to Play With" and it will cost 15 euros and you'll hear later that it was jam-packed. So for something like books I'm not surprised it was so crowded. And funny you mention the French book covers - I've been meaning to write a blog post for ages now poking fun at their boring covers. You mean I'm supposed to care what's INSIDE the book? Gasp! I need a pretty cover :)

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    1. Thanks, Vicki! Yes the line was amazing... I think you are right: The French love their "Salons." I've thought of writing a post about the French book covers also! Maybe we can do another joint effort?

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  2. Oh, and I nominated you for the Liebster Award: http://vickilesage.blogspot.fr/2014/03/liebster-award.html. If you have time, it's a fun little thing to do :)

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    1. Thank you! This sounds interesting... I will check it out! :)

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