The Gothenburg Book Fair: A Summary

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This was my very first visit to the Gothenburg Book Fair. My closest team and I were there to meet clients, mingle, and, of course, talk books with people from across the industry.

We all caught early trains from different parts of Sweden. I travelled down from Stockholm and arrived in Gothenburg just before lunchtime.

Once at the fair, I was met by a lot of people. And since I had somehow managed to enter through a different entrance than the main one, I was mostly just happy to have made it inside so smoothly. My colleagues were already there, so I called them and we decided to meet by the Storytel stand.

The Storytel stand will be easy, I thought. Big, orange, impossible to miss.

I then proceeded to walk around for a good ten minutes, very focused, repeatedly checking the map where the Storytel stand was clearly marked. The confusion was very much present, but eventually we managed to find each other. And while navigating the fair did get easier after a few hours, a certain level of confusion never quite disappeared.

During our days at the fair, I got to meet some of Earselect’s clients, all of whom are incredibly lovely. We talked voices, audiobooks, AI and ePubs, and somewhere along the way it struck me just how many of the services involved in bringing a book to audio Earselect can actually offer. The only thing we don’t do is write the books ourselves. Although I’m sure that talent exists among some of my colleagues too.

There was also some waiting around between meetings and quite a bit of time spent at the restaurants surrounding the fair. And that was actually a big part of the experience. Many of us are based in different parts of Sweden and don’t get to see each other every week, so having that time together is always valuable. We’re a cheerful team with plenty of room for banter, which makes it fairly easy to have a good time wherever we happen to be.

Because, to be fair, the Gothenburg Book Fair is quite intense.

There is a lot going on. Not only the thousands of visitors you’re trying to navigate your way through, but talks, interviews and conversations happening continuously, and often all at once. But you get used to that too.

It was almost only when stepping outside that I realised just how much noise and how many impressions I had been surrounded by. The contrast was almost surreal.

On Thursday evening, we swapped the exhibition floor for dinner with two narrators we know well. We ate at At Park, where our two considerably more experienced Book Fair visitors informed us that this is apparently one of the places to be if you want to run into people from the industry during the fair.

We ended the evening with singing in the piano bar, where more and more people gradually found their way as the night went on. It turned into a very enjoyable little gathering and a pretty perfect way to end our first day in Gothenburg.

Day two – even more people

On Friday, which was also our final day at the fair, we were greeted by, if possible, even more people. The Gothenburg Book Fair was now well and truly in full swing.

Once again, meetings were on the agenda, and before each one began the search for a reasonably quiet and available corner somewhere around the fair. Against all odds, we actually managed to find one every time.

The meetings themselves varied quite a bit. Some were simply a chance to meet in person and say hello, while others were more focused on potential new collaborations and giving us the opportunity to talk about what we at Earselect can offer. In between, there were conversations about AI production, ePubs, audiobooks and everything else currently moving in our corner of the book industry.

‍And perhaps that was my biggest takeaway from my first experience of the Gothenburg Book Fair.

Among all the stands, stages, interviews, people and constant buzz, the fair is ultimately very much about meeting people. Getting to see those you would otherwise mostly speak to over email or in digital meetings, talking about what is happening in the industry, and spending time with both clients and colleagues.

And, of course, giving your sense of direction a proper challenge in a very large exhibition hall.

By the time day two came to an end, I think we were all fairly tired, but happy. I got back on the train towards Stockholm, tired, a few experiences richer, and glad to have had my first taste of the Gothenburg Book Fair.

And considerably better equipped to find the Storytel stand next time.
Assuming it’s in the same place next year.

Sara Biglert‍
Production Coordinator