💌 Postcard from London - An introverts guide to networking and getting new email sign ups at the UK's biggest publishing expo

Over at at Sparkle on Substack, I’ve made a new section for those of us who run businesses and use Substack. Inside are resources that help you think about the position of your Substack and your business together. Click here to read more business focussed articles and access resources which will always put Substack at the core.

Last week I spent three days in London.

It’s possible in a day but not pleasant so I spent three days out of my little seaside office including travel.

I had two reasons to visit;

• One; a Substack event for writers and

• Two - London Book Fair (LBF)

LBF is regarded as the second most important publishing expo in the world (after Bologna (Italy) and Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany). It acts as a major global marketplace for publishing professionals; authors, writers, illustrators and the people who support them.

Taking place in March each year, it features over 1,700 exhibiting companies and attracting tens of thousands of attendees annually. The ‘fair’ brings together publishers, agents, editors, and creators from around the world. While heavily focused on industry trade, it also offers seminars, panels, and resources for authors.

This year, I applied for a media pass because I was super curious to go along and experience it as one of my ‘inspiration island’ stops. After a long winter cooped up and 40 off days of rain it felt like such a tonic to be out of the office.

As I head into my 6th year of publishing a book a year every year for 10 years, I’ve become increasingly curious about the energy of the industry across trad and self publishing.1

Some snaps from the fair.

A Plan? I don’t even have a pla…

I’m used to networking, I’ve had to do it through my entire career. I do it rarely now but when I do I always go with a plan! Here are my top tips;

1. You need to know why you’re there - what do you hope to get for your own personal goals? More knowledge, a contact with a publisher, some work? Inspiration?

2. Short bursts then reflect - with your goal in mind, you want to test your ‘craic’ with someone… so for London book fair I knew I wanted to have some chats about Substack and ultimately get a commission.

3. Know your way in like your Substack about page but way shorter - my way in was to tell people I was writing an article on an alternative London Book Fair Experience. I’m here for just 3 hours not 3 days, my work is publishing adjacent, I love working with authors and organisations who support them.

4. Spot the right fit - I find ‘selling’ tiring if there’s not an energetic fit so we have a nice chat then I move on to someone who is.

For me I love to deepen connection so I'm less about working the room and MORE about spending time with someone I want to get to know - more opportunities are born that way for me.

How about you - do you fancy a spot of networking this year?

(*) I don’t talk about it much here, but I’ve written about my journey with self publishing, ebooks and crowd funded publishing over on Creatively Conscious by Claire Venus. This year I’m writing a book as part of my 12 Chapter’s Club writing community - it’s free to come along if you’d like to. Lots of folks use it as body doubling accountability to write their Substack articles or go back through their archives piecing books together or riffing on ideas that have done well.