Anja Körner, Media Relations Officer at Messe Frankfurt, has always loved reading and was a regular visitor to the Frankfurter Buchmesse. But since 2023, she has been there in her capacity as a children’s author. In the following interview, she tells us how this came to pass.
Anja Körner at the Kosmos publishing house booth with two of her published books.
Did you always want to write books for children?
Not really, no. When I was at school, I used to write little stories and other pieces for myself, but that was pretty much it. It was my children who really inspired me to write books for younger readers. When reading out loud to them, I often began to change certain sentences or passages as I went along. And then at some point, it occurred to me that I could write a book myself. So in 2018, I completed a 100-page manuscript called “Paule, Zacki & das Wunschglas” (“Paule, Zacki and the Wishing Jar”), which my children – aged 8 and 10 at the time – really liked.
And then it got published?
No, first of all it spent some time gathering dust in a drawer – until the coronavirus pandemic came along and I was working reduced hours for weeks and had more time to devote to creative writing again. In summer 2021 – with the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing – I took part in a seminar for children’s and youth literature and the course instructor encouraged me to send my manuscript to literary agencies. I ended up sending it to four agencies. I got a rejection from the first one right away, the second two never got back to me and a well-known agency in Berlin asked me to send them the whole manuscript and signed me up.
Was your story published?
No, the story still hasn’t been sold to this day – but it did allow me to get my foot in the door, so to speak. The agency offered my manuscript to various children’s book publishers, which led to a request for a different project: the Kosmos publishing house was looking for someone to write the new Drei ??? Kids series – which was based on The Three Investigators by US author Robert Arthur Jr. A few days after submitting a three-page sample in the style of the well-known series, I got a call from my agency to tell me that the publisher wanted me to do the whole series.
Anja Körner (right) in conversation with her editor Nadja Fendrich.
Why didn’t you send your first manuscript to a publisher to begin with?
These days, most publishers don’t have the time to read the piles of manuscripts that are submitted. Many of them even state clearly on their websites that they don’t want people to send them manuscripts. Because of this, publishers rely on literature agencies to screen the submissions and show them the ones they find most promising. But sometimes publishers also ask agencies to find them an author for a certain kind of book. And that’s what happened in my case.
No, I’ve only been doing that since 2023 – as an author at the Kosmos stand in Hall 3 where the books for children and young people are. I have various meetings there with editors to discuss new book projects.
Which book are you presenting this year?
“Raub auf der Ritterburg” (Robbery In The Knight’s Castle) from the Drei ??? Kids series, where Justus, Peter and Bob solve a case in a medieval theme park – it came out in February of this year. I’m now also writing books for Kosmos’s Drei !!! series, which is the girls’ equivalent of Drei ???. My first Drei !!! book – “Mädchentalk & fiese Diebe” (Girl Talk & Horrible Thieves) came out in June – it’s aimed at girls aged 11 upwards. And together with a small publishing house called MindEmpire, I brought out a picture book last winter. It’s called “Konrad Keks – Was ist Glück?” (“Konrad Keks – What Is Happiness?”) and is for children aged 3 to 5.
Where do you find the time to write?
I have Fridays off so I spend the whole day writing. And I work for Messe Frankfurt on the other four weekdays. When a project deadline is approaching, I often work on Saturdays as well – or I take a whole week off so that I can write three or four chapters in one go.
How do you market your books?
I’m available to do readings in bookstores, libraries and schools or at literature festivals. In some cases, the publishing house organises this for me. As well as this, I have my own website and Instagram account, where I regularly post about readings or if I have a new book coming out.
“I love sitting at my desk and being able to give my imagination free rein.”
Do you see writing as a break from your regular job?
I love sitting at my desk and being able to give my imagination free rein. But I would never give up my job at Messe Frankfurt to pursue it full-time. For a start, I would have to write far more books than my current rate of two a year. And it would be less enjoyable and fun for me – and would mean far more pressure. As well as this, there are too many aspects of working here that I enjoy, like interaction with colleagues and the international nature of our work. If I were just writing all the time, I wouldn’t have enough contact with others. I love the way things are right now and am very grateful that I can have the best of both worlds.
