stacks of books on tables in a large exhibition hall

Book Fairs vs. Festivals: What’s the Difference?

Book fairs and literary festivals are both important events in the publishing world, but is there a difference between these two literary exhibitions? Before learning more about publishing and becoming the rights manager at Ooligan, I had always assumed they were interchangeable. In my mind, fairs and festivals were just two different ways of saying the same thing: an event for readers, authors, publishers, and more to come together and celebrate reading. While this remains true, there are a few key distinctions between these events that are helpful to know as a reader, author, and/or publishing professional.

Book or literary festivals are geared mainly toward readers and fans of books. They can last anywhere from a single day, such as our local Portland Book Festival, to up to three weeks, such as the Edinburgh International Book Festival. These festivals usually feature author speaking events, where authors and sometimes publishing professionals give talks about books, the writing process, and more. Readers get the chance to learn more about their favorite books and authors, and ask questions. Afterward, there are usually author signings, where attendees can get personalized, signed copies of their favorite books. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, publishers will have giveaways for advance copies of their upcoming releases or other kinds of giveaways—the amount of tote bags I’ve gotten from festivals is insane! Festivals for younger audiences, such as YALLFest, also often have fun games, food trucks, and more. The main purpose of book festivals is to serve as a fun gathering for all book lovers to come together and celebrate the joy of reading.

Book fairs, while also serving as a gathering place for book lovers, tend to differ in their main purpose. While some book fairs have an option for readers to come and visit, there usually aren’t any events such as talks, signings, or giveaways. These fairs are mainly for people working in publishing to promote themselves and/or their books. Publishers from around the world set up booths with their information and upcoming titles, and meet with other publishers to buy and sell rights. Fairs such as the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest book fair in the world, only have a few days that are open to the public to visit. The rest of the fair is spent facilitating meetings between literary agents, publishers, and editors. As Schoko Press writes, there might also be “Workshops and seminars . . . presenting topics on trends and industry news and developments.”

Book fairs are the best opportunity to meet more people in the industry, especially those in other book markets across the globe. Walking around these fairs, you’ll see industry professionals greeting old friends, pitching their books or authors, and meeting to collaborate on new projects. It’s basically a massive networking event for the publishing industry.

So, if you didn’t know, then now you know! Book festivals and fairs may seem similar, but they each serve a different and important purpose. If you’re a reader who’s looking to hear from your favorite author or get a signed copy, then you might want to stick to festivals. If you’re an author wondering about the difference, you’ll most likely be attending festivals to give talks and sign books, not the fairs. If you’re new to publishing and curious about the exchange of rights and networking in the industry, then a book fair might be the best bet! However, both provide amazing experiences for any lover of books and publishing, and if you get the chance to attend either, it will be an amazing experience you won’t forget.

If you would like to learn more about fairs and festivals or what events might be near you, here is a great article from Books Make a Difference that dives deeper into fairs and lists when and where they take place, and here is a great list of literary festivals from The Reading Lists.

illustrated cover art for book showing a car, a moon and city buildings. Text reads "Sleeping in My Jeans" and "Teaching Guide"

Reimagining Marketing with Curriculum-Based Teaching Guides

Here at Ooligan Press, innovation has been the name of the marketing game in the past couple years. To market a book, you’ve got to market your brand.

This is where extending outreach to new or secondary audiences reimagines a stagnant brand strategy. We’ve taken the hassle away from literary analysis and created an online, self-guided curriculum for teachers, librarians, and independent learners alike.

Marketing to Educators

We all know Ooligan is staffed by Portland State graduate students. It would seem only natural that Ooligan serve educational or academic audiences outside of the typical target consumer. So, why teaching guides? And what titles will be included in this new outreach?

Extending our outreach to educators is really all about brand strategy. Every book has a specific target audience, but teaching guides act as promotional materials that appeal to a singular audience across multiple genres. This outreach attempts to solidify a stable target audience for our press. And a stable consumer means a potential increase in sales.

With creative writing exercises, reflection questions, and interactive activities, Ooligan’s new teaching guides will appeal to educators as well as the homeschooled learner or the not-so-enthusiastic reader. Not only do these guides reinforce Ooligan’s mission of regionality, community, inclusion, and social-emotional awareness, but they also strengthen pre-existing connections with educators and the Multnomah County Library.

In fact, as Ooligan Press’s 2021-22 Marketing Manager, I was shocked to learn that the press actually had dabbled with teaching guides in the past. With curriculum-based teaching guides of backlists like Ricochet River and Sleeping in My Jeans drowning somewhere in the deep, dark Ooligan archives, I took inspiration from the strategies of yesteryear and am seeking innovative ways to reimagine how these strategies may be more consistently and successfully implemented now and in the future.

In particular, we will be focusing this effort on YA titles. They may be fiction or nonfiction, but must teach valuable social-emotional lessons or spread awareness about key regional, historical, social, or political spheres. Think of it this way: if one of our YA titles can contribute to meaningful discussion in either a high school classroom or library setting, it is probably a worthy candidate for a teaching guide.

So, what does the process actually look like? Well, it’s taken some trial and error. First, the 2017 teaching guides from Ricochet River and Sleeping in My Jeans had to be redesigned. While the curriculum the 2017 Oolies had created is smart and interactive, the design was not much more than a PDF-converted Google Doc with some on-brand fonts. To ensure each guide seamlessly adhered to its respective title’s branding aesthetics, one volunteer crafts a beautifully designed guide. The sparkly new Ricochet River and Sleeping in My Jeans teaching guides are live on the Ooligan website’s Educator Portal, where access is just a simple click and download away for educators and independent learners.

The tricky bit? Creating the actual curriculum for new titles. Each teaching guide must have a particular set of interactive activities, discussions, and additional materials like comparative readings, teaching slideshows, and K-W-L curriculum worksheets.

Whew! Oolies are multi-talented, absolutely. But it’s not like all book publishers are versed in the art of curriculum building, so how the heck do we do it? With the assistance of fellow educators, our curriculum will be reviewed and given the green light. Once this happens and the curriculum has been created, a callout goes live for yet another designer to conceptualize and design the curriculum into a brand new teaching guide.

What’s Next?

Promotion, promotion, promotion.

With all this hard work, it’s crucial that we ensure these standards are incorporated into future production schedules. Project Managers now have access to a Teaching Guide Checklist to assess their title’s appropriateness for a teaching guide. In the Marketing Plan stage, project teams will begin planning for teaching guides in their Marketing and Publicity Highlights, and will begin production after blurb requests—before publication.

Oh, but that’s not all. We’ve got to spread the word. Social media promotion and community connections will be important here. So, get to work on those social media collateral callouts and continue to reach out to educators and libraries for some awesome deals on class sets. This year at Ooligan we’re all about innovation. If all is implemented successfully, teaching guides can set a precedent for a stable target audience within our little independent graduate press.