Report 2013 - Kelly Fagan HERE - Australian Publishers Association

What Does it Mean to Connect Directly with Consumers (cont)
Focus on Events
The author event was also cause for much discussion whilst I was in London. Like Australia, these events have
long been the property of independent bookshops (author talks) and chain/High Street retailers (author signings).
Also, as in Australia, the size and success of these events were varied. I attended events run by several different
independent bookshops whilst in London: Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop, Foyles and the Idler Academy. I also
went to launches and signings hosted by Waterstones. The events programs were incredibly vibrant – particularly
in the weeks following the Hay Festival and the weeks preceding Edinburgh Festival when authors from around
the globe had descended on London and were available to talk. The events I attended were either free or charged
between £5 and £7 for entry. Books sales at most events that I attended, however, were modest.
At the Hay Festival, again much like many festivals in Australia, crowds were buoyant and many people had travelled
far and wide to attend and hear their favourite authors speak. Again book sales were modest compared to the
number of people attending the events, but interestingly most authors and publishers I spoke to were passionate
about the importance of writers’ festivals and the longer term return on investment for both author and publisher in
attending. ‘There are more and more festivals popping up in villages all over the UK. When you send an author to
these festivals it can be fantastic for their [the author’s] local profile. They get great community press, and the whole
town comes out to hear them talk,’ said Helen Ellis Publicity Director, William Collins. 62 Anna Pallai from Faber and
Faber agrees: ‘there is an expectation from nearly all of our authors that they be invited to one festival or another.
Mainly the big ones like Hay or Edinburgh. There’s also Harrogate, the crime festival. We positively encourage our
authors to attend this festival. The peer reviewing and networking and tweeting that comes out of the close knit
community that congregates at these festivals is invaluable. In fact, it’s really noticeable if an author hasn’t been to
Harrogate and hasn’t broken into that community’. 63
Selling books predominantly online has in many ways made it even more important for authors to connect with their
readers offline. To this end, it seems important to note that many publishing houses in the UK are experimenting with
running their own events programs. HarperCollins had just started to run some literary salons through their Fourth
Estate imprint (and have since hired Sam Missingham, late of The Bookseller, as Head of Events in the Corporate
Communications team), and Random House were also in the process of ‘looking at hosting their own events for
their literary and YA authors’. 64 But it is Faber Social that is really the pioneer in this area. Faber Social is an events
and publishing programme curated by Faber where literature and music get together. Monthly events are held at
The Social on Little Portland Street, London and are an exciting mash-up of literature, music and performance. Book
sales are not the number one aim of this events program, although books and merchandise are available for sale
at the events. Most importantly for the time being, ‘is that we are providing a physical space to connect with our
readers, as well as building an online community that we can communicate with about upcoming events and books
that will almost definitely be of interest to them,’ says Events Manager Becky Fincham. 65
While I was in London, Faber Social was the talk of the trade, announcing a nationwide tour of events to promote
Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop, by musician and journalist Bob Stanley, published in October.
Events were to be held during the month of release in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and London with Stanley and
a variety of guests. The event at Gorilla in Manchester featured musicians such as Paul Hanley of The Fall, while at
Rough Trade East in London Stanley was joined by Green Gartside of Scritti Politti and Sian Pattenden, a former
journalist for pop magazine Smash Hits. Faber Social handled all the organisation of the events from venues to talent
to ticket sales. Before I leave London I ask whether there is a profit to be made from organising such events. ‘We
haven’t lost any money yet,’ 66 says Fincham – and that’s not to mention the brand presence and growing community
that are created around Faber Social.
62 Company Q&A session with Victoria Barnsley, 6 June 2013
63 Face-to-face interview with Anna Pallai, Head of Publicity Faber and Faber, 17 June, 2013
64 Face-to-face interview with Joe Pickering, Publicity Director at Penguin Random House UK, 16 August, 2013
65 Face-to-face interview with Becky Fincham, Events and Publicity Manager Faber and Faber, 18 July, 2013
66 Face-to-face interview with Becky Fincham, Events and Publicity Manager Faber and Faber, 18 July, 2013
Author: Kelly Fagan
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