Bruno Blog

This week we are at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which we hope will be fruitful for everyone in the sector. As always, the agency team is working hard to get our authors translated into many languages, so that they can be read around the world. This is not an easy task, as there is a lot of competition, but our authors have awesome books that deserve to cross borders, so we can do this!

Besides, Frankfurt is the meeting place for all our friends in publishing, with whom exchange so many emails, but whom we only see twice a year. And just for that, it´s worth doing the trip: being able to talk in person, being able to give a hug… It is priceless, and it is also a way to keep nurturing these friendships we have created by working together for years. It´s one side of the job I love.

So, I wish you all a very good fair, and let´s hope everyone loves our catalogues as much as we love them.

Here you can download the complete catalog of the titles represented by Sandra Bruna Literary Agency.

And for publishers working in the Spanish, Portuguese and LATAM markets, here you can download our NEWBOOKSNEWS, with a selection of the hottest titles from the proprietors we represent.

Second term is almost over. This week is the Bologna’s Children Book Fair and Catalan is the literature invited. We’re going to be there with all our titles written in Catalan, a language we want to take care of, and also with all the titles from other countries, obviously. However, I’m glad that a fair such as this, the most important one regarding children and YA, takes into account the Catalan language and helps us open our way into the market, because Catalan authors can’t always have a translation into Spanish and it’s very complicated to sell their books to other countries when it’s been written only in Catalan. Therefore, let’s take this opportunity because every language is enriching and ours has really great authors that help it make it even better.

Bologna is a pretty fair, more relaxing than Frankfurt, but not less important because Children and YA’s literature keeps giving us many joys. The sales of books such as THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green; THE TRIALS OF APOLLO: THE HIDDEN ORACLE, MAGNUS CHASE AND THE GODS OF ASGARD, by Rick Riordan; the FALLEN series, by Lauren Kate; the saga DIVERGENT, by Veronica Roth or THE LUNAR CHRONICLES, by Marissa Meyer, have allowed us to take a breath in times of crisis and they continue to sell nowadays. So, a literature that had been ignored in the past, is now a driving force in the publishing world and, in our agency in particular, has always been one of its strongest points.

If books exist at home, children and teenagers are going to end up falling in love with it. In a house with no books, it’s difficult for new generations to get hooked on reading, but not impossible. However, I want to encourage parents not to leave this matter only in school’s hands, because we still have a lot of work to do in the family environment and, with everyone’s help, we can achieve that the ones that come after us keep enjoying books. For the ones who are already doing this, we know that it’s one of the biggest pleasures in life and that anyone who doesn’t read is missing on a lot of things. So, today, I’m going to leave you with the complete Bologna’s catalogue so you can enjoy our novelties that are about to come out shortly and that we try they get to other markets. I wish each of these titles triumphs in our country and encourages many kids and teenagers to live life with the best of companions: a good book.

This week I’m writing from London, a city that I like more each time I come. It was the first city where I travelled alone, to do an internship in the Blake Friedmann agency when I was just 19 years old and it was, truthfully, an experience that helped me a lot, although at nineteen it was hard for me to know that, and I could never imagine I’d get to where I am today. It made me grow up suddenly, as I had to get out of my comfort zone and sharpen my wits. I was fearful, but I had to do it to improve my English and travel to Frankfurt, my first Book Fair, in 1993. It was intense, I missed my family, my friends, but I don’t regret it and, with time, I see that there are moments in life that come as challenges you must overcome, and that was one of them.

Today, unfortunately, Carole Blake is no longer with us, but I’ll always be grateful to her for having taken me in with such kindness, and for having been able to see live the work of a foreign literary agency. The literary world is fascinating, but difficult, and agencies have a difficult role in its inner workings. As years go by, I understand much better some of the attitudes my predecessors had, because the road ahead is not easy, and you need a certain kind of character to succeed -and a little bit of magic, I can assure you. I’ve been lucky to have met lots and different agents from whom I’ve learnt, and still there’s much to do and magic to discover.

This week I’ll leave you with the link of our London Book Fair catalogue, with all the novelties that we believe can travel more easily to other countries. As always, our selling team is in London with tons of excitement and illusion to get as many translations as possible, so I send you lots of positive energy to live another fair with a smile so we can achieve those dreams. And let’s not forget our motto: “There’s a book for every publisher, and a publisher for every book”. Our mission is to find them and connect them. The magic comes with us, and it’s in our pockets.

Have a good fair everyone!

The weekend before departing to Frankfurt is always crazy, hours are missing all around, and I tend to go to the agency when there is none. When I open the door, with everything dark, and in silence, I stop at the same door and listen to nothingness. I almost cannot believe that I have built this small factory of dreams, with the help of a great team. Because one is none on its own, if not with the support of important people and, in this particular case, I am so lucky that the important ones are my family, those who never fail. My mother has been, from the very beginning, pioneer with me in this project, which we saw start and we are now seeing grow; and my brother, always by my side, with his unconditional support during the good and the bad times. And, at last, my father, who doesn’t even need a presentation because he already has the publishing world in his pocket; and my sister, the last one to get in the ship, but the one who has helped me give our work the right direction; because, sometimes, it is easy to get lost, or to be in the danger of sinking. Without them, this wouldn’t have been possible, and that is the reason why I am so thankful of having managed to get this far together.

In the solitude of the agency, I get a feeling of pride and vertigo at the same time. During fifteen years, we have seen everything; and, truly, the publishing world is as beautiful as it is complicated. Nothing is easy, and having to be always mediating, I would say, is fantastic because it always keeps you in tension, there is no single boring minute. But it is at the same time exhausting, and you need to be able to have your space to focus and not lose hope. For this job, it is essential to like books, to love them, to feel a magic relationship with them, and to work for vocation. Therefore, it is attitude what matters the most. The rest can be learnt as long as there is willingness, and willingness comes from personal attitude. When you see an important title you feel butterflies vibrating in your stomach, which means you have the attitude of getting excited and wanting to sell that book above all. Luckily, every day, I am still capable of feeling this magical tickling that keeps my hope active and, if I don’t feel it one day, I worry, because that is the key to be able to defend your clients with energy and strength, and always, always, with a big smile; which, as you may know, is the brand of the house.

For this reason, you can find attached a link to our catalogue, full of stories that will make all readers fall in love and awake different emotions that I am certain will bring you something good. Because reading is life, and gives to each of us what we need at each time. Happy fair! To those of you who are going, it will be a pleasure to see you in tables 5i and 6i, and to those who are not coming, we will tell you all the news when we are back, without leaving anything behind.