stacks of books on tables in a large exhibition hall

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

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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.

aerial view of a busy bookstore

Catalogs: A Useful Tool Selling Book Rights

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International book fairs are the comic con of the book publishing industry. This might be an overexaggeration; however, these fairs are how agents and publishers market their books to other industry professionals to spread the word about their backlist and frontlist titles. (Frontlist titles are the up-and-coming books of a publisher, and backlist titles are books that have already been published.) Promoting these books at conventions can be accomplished in many ways. The most useful of these methods that we use during these networking events are called book catalogs.

Catalogs are large documents (either print or digital) that have all the information an agent, publisher, or book buyer would need to learn about the titles you are looking to market or sell. These documents can be a standard, informational paper; however, most publishers will have elaborate designs to capture buyers’ attention. Catalogs have many uses, and not all these uses are exclusively for book fairs. Publishers use catalogs to present their frontlist and backlist titles to booksellers and buyers around the country so they may pick and choose what titles they want to sell.

Now, you must be asking yourself what goes into these catalogs. Throughout the industry, there is a set standard of elements that need to be in the document. Let’s go through some of the elements that should be included.

Title
Obviously, the first thing a catalog should have is the book’s title to ensure ease and accessibility. They might even include a table of contents or section markers to ensure the catalog is easy to navigate. This is especially helpful if the publisher works with multiple genres.

Hook and Description

All catalogs have detailed book descriptions and hooks. This book description is a little different from what you would normally see on the back of a book or even when online shopping. When writing a book description for a catalog, you have to explain why a publisher or agent should be interested in your title. This is the section where publishers add any praise or awards the book has received.

ISBN, Page Count, etc.

Having things like the ISBN, page count, and word count in a catalog will provide agents and publishers with the important information they need to see if the particular title they are interested in is a good fit for the presses they represent.

Rights Sold

Catalogs that are used by rights agents have a section that clearly states what rights have already been sold for each title. For example: if the Spanish rights for Love, Dance & Egg Rolls have been sold, the Ooligan Press catalog would state that in the rights section to make sure no agents or buyers make inquiries for rights that have already been sold.

Our goal here at Ooligan Press is to have our catalogs in these book fairs every year to spread the word about our engaging titles. That is why our rights coordinator and agent Sylvia Hayse, from Sylvia Hayse Literary Agency, has started to circulate our catalogs at these types of events. By having our catalog in these book fairs, we have the power to connect with publishers abroad.

Catalogs are often openly available to view by consumers. As a bookseller or even a reader, it might be interesting to poke around and see what goes into the business of book publishing.

You should all take a look!