What is the Frankfurt Bookfair and why should my books be there?
The Frankfurt Bookfair is the largest trading place for book rights and licenses with 7,000 exhibitors from more than 110 countries and 171,000 trade visitors from 106 countries. In addition there are up to 1,000 agents and literary scouts and translation agencies at the bookfair. This is THE place to be if you or your agent or publisher wants to sell your overseas English book/manuscript rights or foreign language book/manuscript rights. For six days of the year in mid October about 335,000 titles including 80,000 recent publications are displayed to prospective buyers and to the general public in the weekend. Not only is it a feast of trading book rights but there are up to 2,200 cultural and special events and author presentations, performances, readings and seminars offered each year.
The Frankfurt Bookfair attracts 12,000 journalists from over 80 countries who report back on the bookfair, new authors and latest publishing devlopments, trends and exciting new voices to look out for. The Frankfurt Bookfair offers a forum for publishers and authors and agents to meet and discuss publishing issues and debate concerns. For authors wanting a sample of what is offered at the Frankfurt Bookfair, check it out on the net: www.buchmesse.de and you can read about it in the language of your choice. Each year there are new initiatives at the bookfair and the website is updated regularly.
If your publisher cannot attend the Frankfurt Bookfair to exhibit your books, they can still list their publishing house or agency in the online directories: www.frankfurt-bookfair.com The online Frankfurt Catalogue is the largest trade directory for the international publishing and media industry. A powerful search engine allows you to seek out information from over 7,000 company profiles and addresses in over 100 different countries.
From 2003 on, a new initiative at the Frankfurt Bookfair has meant that the bookfair and Germany’s Foreign Office have joined forces to arrange the programme for the International Centre. This means that for the first time, German organisations representing cultural policies abroad will be present and international publishers who are guests of the Frankfurt Bookfair can use this to promote book production in their own countries. This new initiative sets out to be a “Global Village” within the bookfair where authors from all countries can be represented. For more information on this email Peter Ripken: litprom@book-fair.com
Even if you are not yet a published author, go the the bookfair website www.book-fair.com and feast on the information available and if you get the chance, attend the bookfair on the days open to the public to get a sense of how vast and vital this international bookfair is in promoting overseas and foreign language rights for your work.
If you want to receive the monthly newsletter with updated information about the year’s most important events in the publishing industry, other foreign bookfairs and international news from the book publishing and book selling industries, apply on line at the Frankfurt Bookfair website or email the publisher, Volker Neumann: newsletter@book-fair.com There are many bookfairs around the world worth attending but the Frankfurt Bookfair is the main bookfair to sell international rights and your publisher or agent should be represented here if possible.
Getting Published: The Inside Story, the very book you have in your hands now, was launched at Trend Forum in Hall 4.0 at the Frankfurt Bookfair in October 2003 along with readings from the Cowrie novels. A ritual birthing at an international event like this is vital if you want to reach an international audience and present inspiring new ways of working within the publishing field where authors are given the respect they deserve. Mahalo and thanks to Joyce Aravena at the Frankfurt Bookfair for her organisational work in helping this to happen.