BOLOGNA REPORT Paul Morton
Planning for the BCBF is very important, so it's always a good idea to consult some friends. My best move by far was teaming up with fellow illustrators Gary Fabbri and Tita Berredo. We’d met at previous events and vowed to get to Italy together one day. We shared accommodation just five minutes from the fair and we worked as a team over the four days filming and reporting on behalf of SCBWI British Isles' magazine Words & Pictures. This gave us a focus and an authority. We were able to meet people from all over the globe, catching up with them to chat about their experiences.
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| Paul Morton, Tita Berredo, and Gary Fabbri covering the BCBF for Words&Pictures |
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| Paul shows his books at the Five Quills stand |
Now, think about a vast numbers of books. Yes I was warned it would be big. It was much, much bigger than I ever imagined! Even the 'Illustrator's Wall' multiplied into around seven or eight different walls, each with a huge amount of cards, flyers, posters, fancy hangings and 3D eye-catching promos. But being an SCBWI member and meeting plenty of others gave me the satisfying sense of belonging. I felt ‘in on this’ even though it was my first time. On that first day we bumped into agents, editors and publishers that we’d met previously at Conference, top-billing picture book illustrators, who rather flatteringly spotted us, and stopped to say hello.
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| One of the three main halls of publishers' stands |
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| Floating Books corner – just walk in and read |
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| The massive Illustrator's Wall |
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| Illustrators from all over the world share their artwork on the Illustrator's Wall |
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| Post cards and business cards stuck on the wall |
I’ve been in the grand bazaar in Istanbul and the Moroccan spice markets. This was just as colourful, just as chaotically busy and buzzing with energy. It’s like plugging yourself into the 'Matrix' and all in the wonderful pursuit of children’s books. We checked out the busy programme and made sure we caught talks and presentations from Sydney Smith, Suzy Lee and Rahele Jomepour Bell, to name just a few.
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| The various Illustration Exhibitions around the BCBF |
A highlight for me was being asked to step in at the last minute for an Illustration duel with Tita. The SCBWI stand organised these ‘sketch-offs’ to raise awareness and there was a decent sized and appreciative audience. The first session featured the two SCBWI scholarship winners. Then Tita and I stepped up to offer alternative spreads (at 90 seconds each!) for The Bear and the Moon by Mathew Burgess and Catia Chien. I think I made a perfect ‘straight man’ foil for Tita’s exuberant performing skills and it was rewarding to hear ‘oooohs and aaaahs’ from the crowd. All this captured expertly on video by Gary, available shortly here in Words&Pictures.
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| SCBWI International RA Coordinator, Melanie Rook Welfing, reads the prompts |
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| Paul and Tita get their sharpies ready for drawing |
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| The duellers show their artwork. They all won! |
Because we opted to stay close to the fair it necessitated hopping on a bus to get into town. This was relatively easy. The timetables and routes are all accurately online and the bus stops confirm the bus number and the direction needed. Paying by swiping a credit card was simple. We did this to get to the SCBWI party at the Trame bookstore in town. This was a blast! Great food, plenty of drink and then, surprisingly, the owner got out an old fashioned record player and started spinning original 45’s to dance to. And dance we did! Making new Scooby friends as we boogied through a great evening.
It was a fantastic time and great to be able to share special moments with friends who were celebrating something in different stages of our careers. I was happy to see my books exposed at the Five Quills stand, to see Gary's work in person whilst being Featured Illustrator at Words&Pictures and to see Tita's picture book featured at the dPICTUS stand for their showcase.
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| Paul points out his books at Five Quills |
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| Tita interviews Gary about being Featured Illustrator |
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| Gary interviews Tita about her picture book |
Top tips from my first ever Fair?
· Their website is vast and as the time grew nearer new items were added, so keeping on top of this is paramount.
· Main events sell out
quite quickly, but there are loads of available events, reviews and
masterclasses that you can just show up for at the time – and these are free.
· Making appointments
ahead of the fair is important. Otherwise, the awe inspiring meandering around
the millions of books could almost become depressing. If you have a meeting or
two it feels like you’re getting ‘under the skin’ of the fair.
· Although 5 mins from
the boundary of the fair, we were a good 15 minute walk from the front
entrance. No signs at the back showed us where the front was, so that took a
while on the first morning.
· Wear comfy shoes – I was told this and went prepared.
· Don’t sport a
cumbersome rucksack on your back. You’re forever putting freebies into it and
taking stuff out. Have an easy-access pack on your front or shoulder. The new
SCBWI tote bag came to my rescue.
· Carry your promo cards
in the registration wallet, around your neck. So convenient then to post onto
the Illustrators
Wall, hand them out when chatting in queues. Leave them on publishers
stands or post them in the specified ‘letterbox’ areas.
· See yourself as a
professional in the business of children's book creation. You’re not here as a
hobby, you’re a working part of the whole. Yes it’s big and it seems like
every possible book has already been done, but just think how many new books
will be on display next year. Make sure yours is going to be one of them.
· Be professional,
be sincere and the overriding message from just about everyone we
heard – B.U. No-one else can BE YOU – you already have that great advantage.
Watch now an insightful conversation between Gary Fabbri, Paul Morton, and Tita Berredo about the highlights and other tips about the Bologna Children's Book Fair:
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Paul Morton runs Hot Frog Graphics illustration and design studio and is the author of Bug Belly – Babysitting Trouble. His second book Bug Belly – Froggy Rescue was published in 2021. Find Paul at Hot Frog Graphics website and on Twitter @paulhotfrog
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Tita Berredo is the Illustration Features Editor of Words & Pictures magazine.
Find her work at www.titaberredo.com.
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter. Contact her at illustrators@britishscbwi.org
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It was my first time at the fair too. I planned it out so that I could as much as possible and I had a great time. It's really influenced my work and view of the publishing world as a illustrator who is new to the scene.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds very practical Angela. Pity we didn't meet yo at the fair.
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