C. R. Violet showcased at London fair
- Explora Books said C.R. Violet’s novel *The Saddlebag Preacher of Pike County* was showcased at the London Book Fair held March 10–12, 2026. - The fair’s 2026 edition drew more than 33,000 publishing professionals and 1,005 exhibitors, placing Violet’s book inside a much larger rights marketplace. - The London Book Fair pitches itself as a hub for rights, licensing, and distributor meetings. (londonbookfair.co.uk)
Explora Books said C.R. Violet’s *The Saddlebag Preacher of Pike County* was showcased at the London Book Fair on March 10–12, 2026. (xbeedaily.com) The publisher’s February announcement said the novel would appear at Olympia London in Hammersmith, the fair’s longtime venue. It described the book as a historical novel centered on faith, moral conflict, and personal choice. (financialcontent.com) Retail listings describe the story as set in 1850s southern Ohio and following Rev. Jacob Chandler, a recent college graduate assigned to a rural preaching circuit near his childhood home. Barnes & Noble and Amazon both list Violet as the author. (barnesandnoble.com) (amazon.com) The London Book Fair is a trade event, not a consumer prize list or public bestseller ranking. Its own materials describe the fair as a place where publishers, agents, scouts, and distributors meet to negotiate rights, co-editions, and licensing deals. (londonbookfair.co.uk) That matters for a book like Violet’s because visibility at the fair depends less on walk-up retail sales than on who sees the title in meetings and catalogues. The fair tells exhibitors it is designed to help them build awareness, meet customers, and make sales. (londonbookfair.co.uk) The 2026 edition was unusually large. A later promotional account about Violet’s book said the March fair drew more than 33,000 publishing professionals and 1,005 exhibitors. (xbeedaily.com) London Book Fair’s website says the event will move to Excel London for its next edition on March 16–18, 2027. That makes the 2026 fair one of the last held under the Olympia London setup cited in Explora’s announcement. (londonbookfair.co.uk) C.R. Violet’s own website promotes *The Saddlebag Preacher of Pike County* as a Columbus-linked release and presents the book as a faith-inflected historical story. The fair appearance did not come with a reported award or rights deal, but it placed the novel in front of the industry audience the event is built for. (crviolet.com) (londonbookfair.co.uk)
