Michael Cader has begun his LBF dispatches for Publishers Marketplace, and offers the verdict on the ExCel Centre in the Docklands, the fair’s new (and larger) venue. And so far, the news isn’t very good. “Some publishers were quick to declare their displeasure,” Cader reports. “Within a couple of hours after the doors opened, Phaidon’s owner stated flatly, ‘We’re not coming back, not matter what. Even if they pay us.'” Cader’s also still waiting to find a single agent who’s happy about the venue change, while “other exhibitors were more sanguine, or at least resigned.”
The fact that the floor is evidently extremely difficult to navigate is likely not helping matters — ” a strange scheme of numbering booths that made finding your way seem like an exercise in code-breaking…”
The other big news from Day 1 was the unveiling of the LongPen, Margaret Atwood’s much-buzzed-about remote booksigning device. While Atwood happily signed books for fans such as blogger Amandah P, who effused about how “truly wonderful” the author is, McNally-Robinson hosted one of the remote signings in its New York store — which turned out to be a bit of a dud when technological problems interfered, leaving Atwood to apologize for having to sign the books in London and ship them to customers back in NYC. So does the LongPen actually work, or will illegal operations force it to shut down?
And finally, the reason we have this picture of the Hoff (who flew in for Sunday afternoon and was greeted by devoted members of his German-based fan club) is thanks to Ali Karim, man of all trades and papparazzo of the Fair.