Illustrator's Guide To Bologna

Dear illustrator, you who plan to visit the Bologna Children's Book Fair for the first time, this detailed insight is for you. Here are a few things I have found out before going to Bologna, some things I have learned there, and my overall impression. Before my trip, I tried to inform myself as much as I could. I found a hotel relatively close to the Fair and I read a few illustrator's guidelines just to be sure what to expect. I packed my fresh portfolio, a dummy book, business cards, few pieces of nice clothes and fetched a bus to Bologna.

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Trip to Bologna

At the end of March 2025, there were some construction works around the Fair, which made my way from the hotel to the Fair a bit complicated. The fair is huge, and going from one side to the opposite is pretty much a stroll. So, to avoid this, make sure to find accommodation close to the main entrance - Piazza della Costituzione and Viale Aldo Moro entrances. This is well shown on the BCBF webpage under the section "How To Get There". 

You can see this on this link: How to get there.

It is worth saying that you should book your accommodation a few months in advance, as it gets filled quite quickly and becomes expensive as the Fair date approaches.

What did I bring with me?

1. Portfolio

Printed and digital, PDF file, on my iPad.

• Tipp - make sure that your file is small enough, but not pixelated so that it works properly and still looks professional. I was using digital ones mostly, and I kept printed ones just in case.

  
  

  Also, maybe is unnecessary to say, but I'll say it anyway, as I know that when you want to present your work you want to show all the good things you got, stick to showing only work related to Children's book illustration. Also, the time for portfolio reviews is usually pretty short, 5 -10 minutes, prepare 5 - 8 best pieces of your bests. Make your folio a ladder and not a snake. This means, put the not-so-good ones first, and the best pieces you got last.

2. A poster - Not one, but few!

The optimal size is A4 or A3 format, and the number of pieces you should bring is 4-5 so that you can stick them in different places.  Keep in mind that The Illustrator Wall is multiple walls arranged in one area. 

• Tipp - Make sure to come early in the morning, the wall gets filled quickly. Make a small box to put your contact cards and attach them to the poster. Also, bring a few different and strong adhesive tapes.

  
  

  The wall is covered with some kind of synthetic canvas, and a lot of posters fell on the floor. I used brown tape, but I think it needs to be even stronger. When it comes to Illustrators Wall,  I have the impression that mainly other illustrators are taking cards from here. If you have a disclaimer, please let me know about your experience in the comments!

Don't forget to check your poster from time to time :)

3. Business cards - Work smart, do test prints

At first, I was going with the idea to make duplex mini prints with mini prints of my poster on the one side, and my contact info on the other side. Unfortunately, I have learned on my skin that I can't print duplex on Luster Pro Photopaper which I purchased earlier for my prints, so I redesigned my cards, to have both print and info + QR codes printed on the front side.

• suggestion - don't invest a lot of money in business cards/mini prints - work smart. Have an economical version of cards for the illustrators wall and for contacts that don't give you a promising feeling about working together, but still ask for a card. Make "premium" type of cards for your favorites or "feel promising" publishers.

4. A dummy Book

While creating illustrations for the BCBF competition, the story came to my mind, my husband helped me with rhymes, and he suggested some good ideas. Mr. Crock's Adventure on the Beach was born!  I brought this book with me. When it comes to presentation, I should have practiced my pitch more. Some introverts among you must know how hard is to verbally present your story, compared to writing or drawing. So, just like for a job interview, practice your pitch, and give it a spark! That is something I warmly suggest no matter if your main goal is to show your illustrations or to sell a book.

How to organize your visit?

This question was sitting in the back of my mind while I was rushing to print as many business cards as possible, to have the book ready, and to update and clean my portfolio. If you do the same way as I did, you will not manage to organize your days there in the best way. But, let's not be too harsh on ourselves, especially for the first time visit.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is what is your main goal? To get inspiration? To see how things in the industry work? To get opinions on your portfolio? To sell a book? To make connections with publishers?

I wanted to get opinions from industry professionals on my portfolio and to meet with as many publishers as I can. I've got a meeting with It's Me Group, with who I scheduled a meeting about a month before (they have shared this opportunity in an Instagram post). They were very well organized, and I have got some valuable guidelines.

There were also some medium and small publishers who were well organized and respective towards illustrators. On the other hand, some were not interested in putting a bit of effort into organizing and told illustrators not to wait in line because they would not manage to speak with them in the time frame they had settled. So, it's something to be aware of.

If you want to have a meeting with big ones and avoid wasting time, request a meeting a few months in advance!

There were a lot of other publishers from all over the world. I was in Bologna on the first and second day, and this was not enough to visit all the stands I liked. To be honest, besides the fact that the Fair is huge, it has something to do with organizing as well, as there is a list of publishers who are participating available on the BCBF website, so you can get this list earlier and make a plan in advance which publishers will you visit. This is something that could save you a lot of time.

However, I managed to approach to 15-20 stands. Here I have seen books done in a style similar to the style I do. I've got 8-10 business cards and a green light to send them my portfolio, others didn't do portfolio reviews, but they told me to send my portfolio to their art directors.

To conclude this reflection, I find a visit to BCBF 25 valuable experience from which I've got:

• The idea of what to expect and how to prepare better for the next year.

• The knowledge of what is wanted in the industry and guidelines showing in which direction to go with my portfolio.

• I came out from my small studio, met with people from the industry, and created some connections.

So, yes, it's worth it. Work smart, prepare yourself in advance, send that publisher's emails in advance, and politely ask for a meeting. Send them just a few of your best samples to get them interested.

You can do it!