Day one at Bologna began a little like a speed dating exercise except with books. We moved from one meeting to the next, each at half hour intervals. By midday the sample style Italian cappuccinos were in high demand.
The larger publishers had teams of people selling in their books; we had three committed individuals doing their best, up against hefty competition.
It is hard to gauge the success of the first day. In most cases we will not know for another three months whether it has been a successful trip, but a number of our titles sparked interest.
In a short break I managed to venture over to Australian Children’s Book Illustration Bologna 2010 exhibition were the lovely Ann James was displaying some beautiful artwork from picture books by Australian artists. One of Peter Carnavas’ illustrations from his first picture book Jessica’s Box had pride of place in the exhibition.
Today saw the announcement of the H C Andersen medal, which went to British author David Almond.
By the end of the day we were all flagging and looking forward to the Egmont party, which proved to be popular, and a great deal of fun. As a smaller publisher we depend on being fed by the larger more successful publishers and Egmont did a stellar job. Thank you Egmont!
Tomorrow the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award will be announced. The award is the biggest international children’s and young adult literature award in the world. A select few Australians have been nominated for this award including Hazel Edwards. We will keep you posted.
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