THE SILENCE AMONG THE PRE-FRANKFURT WHIRLWIND
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.
