Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

Image by Hummy via FlickrYou may have noticed a distinct quietness breaking out around these parts recently. This is mainly due to the fact I'm on leave and having an unusually analogue break in the sunny UK. And, yes, I am loving it.

Among other aspects of my analogueness, I've been taking a peek at the upcoming London Book Fair, which will see London's Earl's Court packed with tank-tops and smoking jackets as literary salons and bookish discussions break out all over the place like slow-moving, if terribly brilliant, fireworks. One option open to page-filling peeps is the Digital Conference, which appears to me to entirely miss the point by charging £355 for attendance (while, of course, the digital world would mount an event with likely better content for free and with unlimited access). The conference appears to be discussing topics that lie somewhat behind the curve ("Business as usual – but different. Publishers are having to change their traditional business models in order to survive and thrive.") , but then I may just be getting ahead of myself. It's also the most expensive gig at the whole LBF - selling on fear, perhaps?

In the meantime, my eye was caught by a proud link to the United Arab Emirates' country profile in 'Global Publishing Markets'. Apart from the profile being positively ancient (2005? Why on earth would I be interested in the shape of the UAE's publishing market fully six years ago - and four years before the Emirates LitFest started charting its transformational course?), it does rather tend to write off the role of the regional market in favour of the more high profile and accessible UAE.

Anyway, I'm just sniping (and, arguably, rambling). If you're interested in book fairs and likely to find yourself attending the Sydney Writers' Festival on the 16th May, do take a shufti at pal and bestselling debut author Phillipa Fioretti's workshops, "Where Preparation Meets Opportunity: Creating Writers' Luck" - it's linked here.