London Book Fair

Wretched though the surroundings were felt to be last year, the London Book Fair appears to have settled in, complete with tech trapping like agents leading publishers to a web center to watch an author's YouTube video. Publisher's Lunch seemed somewhat bemused by this. Apparently they are not regular YouTubers or they would have known, if it's for sale, it's for sale on YouTube.

In the more traditional events, the short list for the Orange Prize was announced:

Nancy Huston, Fault Lines; Sadie Jones, The Outcast; Charlotte Mendelson, When We Were Bad; Heather O'Neill, Lullabies for Little Criminals; Rose Tremain, The Road Home; and Patricia Wood, Lottery

The floor was buzzing with the news that Borders' late filling with the SEC revealed how exceedingly cash-poor the corporation is. They were hardly alone. Most publishers are proceeding conservatively in a year when the world-wide economy is struggling.