More Postcards from Leipzig and Free Dreamer
Last week we had our first look at F.D.’s trip to the Leipzip Book Fair. This Sunday we pick up at our second of three installments of Free Dreamer’s Postcards from Leipzip ~ Book Adventures! Next Sunday, we will wrap it all up and announce our winner as well. Take it away, F.D.!
Day 2:
Welcome back to my adventures at the Leipzig Book Fair!
On Saturday, day two of our stay, we all had to go to the actual book fair together. Mandatory school programm. Which didn’t last too long, since we split up before we ever reached fair grounds. Me and my friends decided to grab breakfast at the main station. Food at the fair grounds is very expensive!
The tram to the fair grounds was packed full to the brim. So many people! I got lucky and was one of the first people to squeeze my way inside and actually managed to find a seat.
The Leipzig fair grounds turned out to be absolutely beautiful. There was even a big pond with a beautiful fountain right in front of the building. The weather was lovely, so it made for really pretty pictures.
Since the tram ride had taken longer than expected, we of course ended up being slightly late. Me and two friends had decided to listen to a dicussion about queer literature. Luckily my two friends knew where to go, otherwise I would have gotten completely lost. The entrance hall is huge, but it was packed full of people. All in all, there were five or six giant halls occupied by the book fair and every single one was packed.
We arrived just in time. The discussion was unexpectedly popular, so we ended up sitting on the floor because all the seats were long taken. The discussion was led by the manager of the “Quer Verlag”, Germany’s first publisher for gay and lesbian literature, a gay romance author and a writer and journalist for lesbian and feminist literature. The three of them talked about what actually counts as “queer literature”. The guy from the Quer Verlag and especially the journalist seemed to think that gay romance should not be considered “queer literature” as its target audience and its authors are heterosexual women and not queer people. I absolutely don’t agree with that assessment, personally. I’ve never cared about an author’s sexual orientation. I’ve only ever cared about the sexual orientiation of their protagonists. It made me sad and angry to see m/m romance being discriminated and belittled. I think a large part of that is due to it being romance, which is still not a very respected genre here.
They also talked about troubles with marketing and how mainstream bookshops never seemed to know where to put queer literature books and how mainstream publishers never mention the word “gay” or “lesbian” in authors’ bios or book blurbs. While I do work in a mainstream bookshop, I can’t say I have any experience with either queer publishers or mainstream publishers with queer titles. If we’ve ever had such titles in stock, I wasn’t aware of it.
One of my friends got so annoyed with the discussion that she up and left in the middle of it. She’s proof that not all readers (and writers) of m/m romance are straight. She’s a lesbian and totally addicted to the m/m genre.
After this rather infuriating and fruitless discussion, I stayed on with my one remaining friend to listen to a discussion about All Age books. After the participants all seemed to agree that TV series are a good substitute for books and consequently kept talking about Gilmore Girls, I decided to leave this discussion. I’ve never liked Gilmore Girls and found the whole discussion rather boring.
While wandering the hall, I met some classmates. I ended up touring the hall with one of them and buying 28 postcards to satisfy my postcard-addiction. Since noon was fast approaching, we decided to get lunch. We ended up sharing fries and sun bathing outside for a bit. Which led to me almost being late to a reading by Brandon Sanderson. At least that’s what it said in the program. The “reading” turned out to be an interview, which was interesting too, but not what I’d expected.
Since it was all over faster than expected, I decided to go to the meeting of the German book forum I joined years ago. I’ve been an active member there for 8 years now and I’ve met a few great people. Surprisingly enough, I managed to find to find the meeting point without too much trouble, even though my sense for directions is usually utterly awful. Once there, lots of hugging and book and postcard signing ensued.
After that was over and done with, I decided to take a look at the remaining halls. I found a few interesting books but was too shy to beg for free copies. Instead I took pictures and begged for a free copy from the safety of my work place by writing an e-mail. Some of my classmates were a lot less shy. My two temporary roommates each snagged a whopping twelve free books each!
I left the fair around 5.30, since I was exhausted and hungry and had agreed to another forum meeting at 6.30. I would have made it easily, had it not been for my awful sense of direction making me take the wrong exit and wandering around for half an hour to find the tram stop, which was on the opposite side of where I’d exited the building. Once I’d finally found it, everybody was trying to go back to the city and I had to wait at least 30 minutes till I actually managed to squeeze onto on of the trams. It was ludicrous!
The meeting/dinner was very nice and I met a few wonderful new people. I left early, though, since I wasn’t sure how to get back to our dump of a motel and was worried I’d miss the last bus there.
On the tram back, I met my teacher and she asked me how I was planning to get back home tomorrow. That left me a little confused, since I had been planning to take the train with her and my classmates.
If you want to know how I made it back home without a train ticket and how a bra that didn’t belong to either me or my roommates ended up on our door, then check back next week for the conclusion of my Book Fair Adventures.
—- Free Dreamer
📚Free Dreamer Book Fair Adventures Blog Giveaway📚
Have any questions for Free Dreamer? Leave them here along with your email address. Random reader will be picked to win a $10 gift cert in the Free Dreamer Book Fair Adventures Blog Giveaway. It ends 5/5 at midnight. Have you been to a book fair? Met your favorite author? Do you want to know what was Free Dreamer’s favorite part of her book fair experience was or what books she brought home? Write in and leave a comment!
This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Sunday, April 23:
- More Postcards from Leipzig and Free Dreamer.
- This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Monday, April 24:
- Blog Tour: Heir of Locksley by N.B. Dixon
- Cover Reveal for Unsteady by Melissa Collins
- Release Blitz – Rick R Reed’s Unhinged
- Tour – Clare London ‘s A Good Neighbour
- A MelanieM Release Day Review: Fishy Riot by Lindsey Black
- A Ali Audiobook Review: Signs of Life (Resilient Love #2) by Melanie Hansen and Robert Nieman (Narrator)
- A Barb the Zany Old Lady Pre Release Review: Risky Behavior by LA Witt and Cari Z
Tuesday, April 25:
- BLOG TOUR See My Words by Melanie Hansen
- BLOG TOUR Solid Ground by Jeff McKown
- Release Blitz & Review Tour – By The Numbers – RJ Scott
- A Jeri Release Day Review: Darkest Hour Before Dawn (THIRDS #9) by Charlie Cochet
- A Kai Audiobook Review: Add Love and Mix by Sean Michael and Steve Balderson (Narrator)
- A MelanieM Review: Shelter the Sea by Heidi Cullinan
- An Alisa Audiobook Review: The Necromancer’s Dance (The Beacon Hill Sorcerer #1) by S.J. Himes and Joel Leslie (Narrator)
Wednesday, April 26:
- Cover Reveal for Ellery Mountain 1,2 & 3 – RJ Scott
- Review Tour – Starting From Scratch (Housemates #5) by Jay Northcote
- RIPTIDE TOUR Thaw by Elyse Springer
- A Julia Review: Thaw (Seasons of Love #2) by Elyse Springer
- A Kai Release Day Review: Kissing Lessons (Before… and After #2) by Susan Laine
- A Stella Release Day Review: Olive Juice by TJ Klune
- A Stella Release Day Review: Vodka & Handcuffs (Mary’s Boys #2) by Brandon Witt
Thursday, April 27:
- DSP GUEST POST BA Tortuga on Best New Artist
- DSP GUEST POST Lindsey Black on Fishy Riot
- Release Blitz Silvia Violet – Well-Tailored
- Release Day Blitz: Tied to You by Riley Hart
- A Jeri Release Day Review: Tied to You by Riley Hart
- A Julia Review: The Rest is Illusion by Eric Arvin
- An Alisa Review: The Acrobat (Blood Ties Book 1) by Agnes Moon and Kevan Houser (Translator)
- An Ali Audiobook Review: Never Lose Your Flames (New Canadiana #1) by Francis Gideon and Kevin Chandler (Narrator)
Friday, April 28:
- DSP GUEST BLOG Marguerite Labbe on Pandora
- DSP Publications GUEST POST: Amy Lane on Quickening, Vol. 1
- Release Day Tour: Unsteady by Melissa Collins
- A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Personal Challenges by KC Wells
- A Julia Review: Realm of Passion by Courtney Breazile
- A MelanieM Release Day Review: Best New Artist by BA Tortuga
- An Ali Review: See My World by Melanie Hansen
Saturday, April 29:
- Release Blitz – Laurent and the Beast by KA Merikan
- A MelanieM Recent Release Review: Sharp Shooter Tokyoite by Charlie Godwyne
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 
I always want to go and see an int’l book fair! How much plan did you do prior to going (you’re not take “we’ll just see what’s interesting there” tactic and go with it, surely? What’s your most favorite “souvenir” from the event (books purchased incl.)? 🙂
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The fair sounds great. I haven’t been to that kind of fair, but I have been to book fairs at professional conferences where I’ve had some interesting discussions with authors. For your fair, as a dreamer, what did you anticipate or expect the most from going, and how did that go? Were your expectations met or exceeded? (I hope they were).
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Thanks for the post! I am enjoying your book fair tale. Too bad the discussions you attended were disappointing. Which books did you take photos of and end up getting free copies when you got home?
jen(dot)f(at)mac(dot)com
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Thank you for the post and for sharing your experience =) I’m sorry to hear the discussion venue wasn’t so successful. I can understand your friend’s view on the discussion and of course yours. Did you get to attend many discussions and if you did which ones were your favorite(s)?
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