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WEDNESDAY, 10 October 2018 | FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR | publishingperspectives.com
At the opening press conference of the Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie poses for a selfie with fans. (Image: Johannes Minkus)
‘Women Are Speaking Up,” Says Adichie
From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ringing keynote—“We must say what is true”—to a call for consumer awareness at The Markets 2018 conference, the 70th Frankfurter Buchmesse is powered by politics and prospects for prosperity.
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 1 FROM PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES
Letter from the Editor: Wednesday New at the Fair: Frankfurt Pavilion wo themes were in his keynote address at The Mar- Tdiscernible on the kets conference Tuesday, told his eve of the Frankfurter audience, “We need to understand Buchmesse this year: as much as we can about our con- one theme humanitarian and the sumers and their behaviors.” other business. Tending to the soul of society, From Heinrich Riethmüller, the Nigerian author and world cit- chair of the German Publishers izen Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Booksellers Association, came said in her ringing address at the a clear statement at the opening news conference that men simply press conference that publishing aren’t listening. It’s time, she said, must “promote culture and edu- for men to read women. Inside the Frankfurt Pavilion (Image: Thomas Minkus) cation, while also contributing to The twin 70th anniversaries mutual understanding, dialogue of the Frankfurter Buchmesse and and peaceful coexistence.” the UN Declaration of Human alking through the Agora place in the Frankfurt Pavilion this His concerns are understood Rights have converged this year in Wthis year, you’ll see the new year, including yesterday’s opening easily as we are in the second year a field fired by partisan tension. Frankfurt Pavilion right at the press conference with author Chi- of the Trump administration in the Maybe those two great themes center. The program for this new mamanda Ngozi Adichie, today’s States and the last year in which are really one, then. Business suc- event space has been developed by CEO Talk with Macmillan CEO the UK is to be part of the EU. ceeds when it listens to the needs the Frankfurt Book Fair in cooper- John Sargent, as well as a number And as for the more busi- of society. ation with many literary, cultural, of events with internationally rec- ness-directed observations, those and publishing organizations. ognized authors like Dmitry Gluk- were sounded by HarperCollins —Porter Anderson A number of the book fair’s hovsky, Cixin Liu, Maja Lunde, UK CEO Charlie Redmayne, who, Editor-in-Chief high-profile events are taking Meg Wolitzer, and Deniz Yücel. •
Today’s Event Highlights: Wednesday 10 October
Artificial Intelligence in Women’s Prize for Fiction Scholarly Publishing 13:00–13:30 11:00–11:30 International Stage, Academic & Business Hall 5.1 A128 Information Stage, Hall 4.2 N101 Kamila Shamsie, the 2018 winner, ABOUT PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES
Where is AI already used and with will talk with Joanna Prior (MD Publishing Perspectives is the leading source of information about the global book what success? What are possible of Penguin General at Penguin publishing business. Since 2009, we have been publishing daily email editions with visions for the future? Experts will Random House UK, and Chair of news and features from around the book world. address these questions. Organized the Women’s Prize Board), and Jo Our mission is to help build and contribute to the international publishing community by offering information that publishing and media professionals need by Springer Nature. Henry (MD of BookBrunch). to connect, cooperate, and work together year-round and across borders. In addition to our daily online coverage, we also offer an online monthly rights edition, as well as print magazines at special events including the London Book Fair Tour: Gourmet Gallery CEO Talk: John Sargent, and the Frankfurt Book Fair. 12:00–13:00 Macmillan As a project of the Frankfurt Book Fair New York, Publishing Perspectives works with our colleagues in Frankfurt and the Fair’s international offices, as well as Info Booth, Hall 3.1 L137 14:00–15:00 IPR License, to share with you the latest trends and opportunities, people to know, For the third time, the Frankfurt Frankfurt Pavilion (Agora) companies to watch, and more. Book Fair and Gourmand Inter- John Sargent will be interviewed national are joining forces to orga- for 60 minutes by the editors of nize the Gourmet Gallery: explore the trade publications on changing PUBLISHER : Hannah Johnson CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE: this area of 80 exhibitors from consumer habits and new interna- EDITOR-IN-CHIEF : Porter Anderson Jaroslaw Adamowski over 30 countries that participate. tional media competition around BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT : Erin Cox Marie Bilde Carla Douglas storytelling. PHOTOGRAPHY: Johannes Minkus Amanda Orozco Mark Piesing Internet for Publishers - DISTRIBUTION: Olivia Snaije What W3C Can Do For Us Robert Seethaler im Gespräch Frank Hörnig Roger Tagholm Petra Hörnig 12:00–13:00 15:00–16:00 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES Publishing Services & Retail Frankfurt Pavilion (Agora) a project of Frankfurt Book Fair NY Stage, Hall 4.0 E94 Shortlisted for the Man Booker In- 30 Irving Place, 4th Floor W3C is the international organi- ternational Prize and the IMPAC New York, NY 10003 zation for internet standards, like Dublin Award, Austrian author HTML5. We will discuss the col- Robert Seethaler will talk about Read more and subscribe to our FREE email editions at: laboration of W3C and the pub- his latest book (in German). Orga- publishingperspectives.com lishing industry. nized by Carl Hanser Verlag.
2 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 NEWS FROM THE FAIR
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 3 OPENING PRESS CONFERENCE
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie sits between Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, and Heinrich Riethmüller, Chair of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, at the fair’s opening press conference on Tuesday (Image: Johannes Minkus)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: ‘Literature Does Matter’
By Roger Tagholm where many people believe that videotaped in a public bathroom large numbers of women simply to women in the west being ‘slut- wake up one day and make up sto- shamed’ because they are sexual he Nigerian novelist Chimam- ries about having been assaulted. I beings. It exists in the world of lit- Tanda Ngozi Adichie was given know many women who want to erature too, where women writers “We need more a rock star’s welcome at the fair’s be famous; I don’t know one single are expected to make their female opening press conference yester- woman who wants to be famous characters likeable as though the stories that are day—entirely appropriate for a for having been assaulted. To be- full humanity of a female person writer whose work has been sam- lieve this is to think very lowly must in the end meet the careful political, but pled by Beyoncé—with extended of women. The Supreme Court limitations of likability.” applause and cheers and an almost Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has She ended—to rapturous ap- also more stories palpable outpouring of affection. spoken of how she was once asked, plause—by saying, “We need more that are not She did not disappoint, and in a ‘How many justices of the Supreme stories that are political, but also wide-ranging speech that touched Court need to be women for it to more stories that are not political. political. We on women’s rights and the impor- seem fair to you?’ and her response We are emotional beings. Litera- tance of writing, she said that the was ‘All nine of them.’ And she ture does matter, and we need its are emotional world was “shifting and darkening said people were often shocked stories of grief, beauty and love.” . . . the most powerful country in and would say ‘Oh but that’s not Earlier Heinrich Riethmüller, beings. the world feels like a feudal court, fair,’ and of course for many years head of the German Publishers full of intrigue, of mendacity, all nine justices were men and it and Booksellers Association, spoke Literature does drowning in its own hubris.” As seemed normal, just as it seems of the fair’s On the Same Page cam- everyone hoped she would, she normal to me that most of the po- paign, which celebrates the 70th matter, and we made direct reference to the ap- sitions of real power in the world anniversary of the UN Declaration pointment of Brett Kavanaugh to are occupied by men. Women are of Human Rights, and how book- need its stories the US Supreme Court, despite still invisible.” shops and publishers “have a re- allegations of sexual misconduct She talked about being asked to sponsibility to society based on the of grief, beauty made by two women. cover her arms when she revisited importance of human rights and She led up to it with com- her childhood church in her native telling many different stories.” He and love.” ments on the lack of visibility for Nigeria and said that “this need to noted that, at the sharp end, figures women’s voice. “The stories of control women’s bodies exists ev- for the German book market were —Chimamanda Ngozi women are not truly familiar, the erywhere—from the woman in the pretty good, just down 1.1 percent Adichie stories of women are not yet seen Middle East being told to cover for September 2018 over last year. as universal,” she said. “This to me up when she doesn’t want to, to “And we are optimistic for a good is why we seem to live in a world the woman in Asia who is secretly autumn and Christmas.” •
4 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 GERMAN LITERATURE
Inger-Maria Mahlke Wins the 2018 German Book Prize
By Hannah Johnson ethmüller, Chairman of the Ger- thors receive €2,500 each. man Publishers and Booksellers Last year, Robert Menasse Association, made a point of em- won the prize for his novel, The t a prize ceremony yesterday phasizing the importance of books, Capital (Suhrkamp). Translation Aevening (Monday, October reading, and culture in our “multi- rights to Menasse’s novel have 8), Inger-Maria Mahlke found out tasking society.” been sold into 25 languages. that she had won the 2018 Ger- Despite market research that The winner was chosen from man Book Prize for her novel, Germany lost some 6.4 million a list of six shortlisted titles, and Archipel (Archipelago). Published book buyers between 2013 and the five runners-up for this year’s by Rowohlt, the book is set in 2017, Riethmüller reminded the prize are Nachtleuchten by María Tenerife and tells the story of a audience that today’s book buy- Cecilia Barbetta (S. Fischer, Au- once-powerful family and a grand- ers in Germany buy more books gust 2018); Sechs Koffer by Maxim daughter searching for answers. than before and make a purposeful Biller (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, In a statement about its deci- choice for this format. “The enthu- September 2018); Die Katze und sion, the jury said, “Inger-Maria siasm for books and stories is un- der General by Nino Haratischwili Mahlke writes about the present broken,” he said. (Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt, Au- and back to 1919 in a precise and The German Book Prize was gust 2018); Der Vogelgott by Su- Inger-Maria Mahlke (Image © Sascha Erdmann) cogent manner. The narrative awarded for the first time in 2005 sanne Röckel (Jung und Jung, Feb- centers around three families from and is widely considered to be the ruary 2018); and Gott der Barbaren different social classes, fractured most prestigious literary prize by Stephan Thome (Suhrkamp, Hear Inger-Maria Mahlke in and wounded by Spanish history. for German-language fiction. It’s September 2018). Frankfurt: Yet it is the dazzling details above awarded annually by the Founda- New Books in German has all that make this novel such an tion of the German Publishers and provided English-language ex- German Book Prize Winner impressive affair.” Booksellers Association. The win- cerpts from all six shortlisted titles. and Publisher in Conversation In his introductory remarks at ner receives a prize of €25,000, You can read the texts online at: Sat. 13 October, 14:00–15:00 the prize ceremony, Heinrich Ri- and the other five shortlisted au- www.new-books-in-german.com. Frankfurt Pavilion, Agora
Advancing Copyright. Visit us at Hall 4.2 Stand E18 Accelerating Knowledge. Complete program information available at Powering Innovation. copyright.com/Frankfurt2018 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES#FBM18CCC / FRANKFURT •BOOK @CopyrightClear FAIR 2018 5 PHOTOS FROM THE FAIR
Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, on stage at the Opening Ceremony. (Image: Thomas Minkus)
Youngest attendee at the Opening Ceremony: Ketevan Kavratskhelia, six weeks old, with her father, Zviad Kavratskhelia, Editor-in-Chief of Artanuji From left: Journalist Dunja Hayali, actor Esther Schweins, journalist Pinar Ata- Publishing in Tbilisi, Georgia (Image: Thomas Minkus) laly at the Frankfurt Book Fair Opening Ceremony (Image: Johannes Minkus)
Photographers mob keynote speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at Tuesday’s opening press conference on Tuesday (Image: Olivia Snaije)
6 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 PHOTOS FROM THE FAIR
At the Opening Ceremony, from left: Caroline Fortin, General Director, Les Éditions Québec Amérique; Gillian Fizet Executive Director, Canada FBM2020; Julie Boyer, Director General, International Trade, Government of Canada; Giorgi Avaliani, Creative Director, at Georgia’s Guest of Honor pavilion. Anne-Sophie Lawless, Director, Frankfurt 2020, Government of Canada
Nicolas Roche, MD of the Bureau International de l’Édition Française (right) at the French stand in Hall 5.1 (Image: Johannes Minkus)
Ukrainian author Svitlana Balagula (Image: Johannes Minkus) Hanging up posters at Oman’s stand in Hall 5.1 (Image: Johannes Minkus)
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 7 THE MARKETS CONFERENCE
The Markets 2018: Revenue and Readers
Charlie Redmayne, CEO of HarperCollins UK, gives his keynote talk at The Markets conference on Tuesday (Image: Johannes Minkus)
By Porter Anderson and into niche markets as they appear.” “Our focus groups and inter- There were warnings from Mark Piesing In a panel of speakers from views showed that these lost read- London, too, however, that in the several market regions of the ers,” most aged 20 to 49, “felt that UK, the Top 500 books are re- world, Beijing’s OpenBook CEO reading books was very time-con- sponsible for 23.7 percent of sales. o message was as strongly Jiang Yanping offered a striking suming and as a result, they felt From the States, Andrew Al- Nstressed during the fourth example, in which “a publisher of embarrassed giving books as pres- banese, Senior Writer and Fea- annual Frankfurt-leading confer- science books has created a science ents.” tures Editor with Publishers Week- ence, The Markets, as “know your theme park for readers to visit,” London-based André Breedt, ly, agreed with Redmayne’s view. reader.” with the support of governmental Managing Director of Nielsen “There’s an arrested decline when 2020 The over-arching theme of analysis that has perceived a need Book Research International, it comes to print,” he said, adding the half-day event, directed by for greater learning in geology in pointed out that “innovation can that that’s “no small feat we’ve The year Canada will be the GUEST OF HONOUR at Frankfurt’s Katharina Ewald and particular. be expensive”—echoing Red- achieved with one chaotic book- produced in coordination with In such ways—some not so mayne’s warnings against chasing seller [the struggling Barnes & No- Publishing Perspectives, was the in- grand as theme parks—“Publishers “gold rushes” that can’t fulfill their ble] and Amazon.” ternational trade industry’s search in China,” Jiang said, “have started promise. Often, he argued, a single the FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR for innovation in revenue models. to sell products and services relat- And Breedt also agreed with phenomenon can pull the market But the most frequently repeated ed to their books,” from sewing Redmayne’s argument that the de- up, and currently, that’s political message may have been that the machines (and lessons in using cline of print has merely been ar- books, a new powerhouse energy best clues to those models may them) to support how–to books rested. He argued that the growth for the nonfiction market as the Join us! well lie in learning what consum- to a research institute designed to in markets like the UK (+0.5 per- Trump administration drives sales ers want. support a publisher’s publishing on cent), Ireland (+6.3 percent), Spain from both sides of the political HarperCollins UK CEO Char- big data. (+0.4 percent) and Italy (+3.5 per- spectrum. Likening the energy to Networking reception at Canada stand, Hall 6.0 B67, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 5 pm lie Redmayne in his keynote told In Germany, however, the in- cent) shows more a plateauing of that of coloring books a couple of the audience, “We need to create dustry may have fewer consum- print than the surge some like to years ago, he said, “Perhaps, politi- the content that fits with what our ers to listen to than before. Kyra describe. cal coloring books will be next.” This year, meet us in Frankfurt | Rencontrez-nous cette année à Francfort: consumers are looking for. We are Dreher of the Börsenverein des Breedt also urged the audience Bonnier’s Chief Digital Of- Canada stand, Hall 6.0, B67 | Stand du Québec, Hall 5.1 E111 seeing new publishing opportu- Deutschen Buchhandels recounted to “not treat all markets the same. ficer, Anki Ahrnell, spoke to the nities, catering for audiences that the results of a study conducted by In India, nonfiction is the biggest extraordinary penetration of In- • Translation Incentives we may have hitherto overlooked, market research firm GfK. Survey category. In Australia and New ternet services in Sweden, where and we are better serving a wide data indicated, as Dreher related, Zealand, it’s children’s books. But a new survey shows more than • Online Rights Catalogue: French and English Selection spectrum of opinion and views. that Germany has “lost” close to 7 the opportunity might be chil- 55 percent of Swedes paying to • Fellowship Opportunities to Canada We are also publishing to reach million book buyers, “equivalent dren’s books in India and nonfic- stream music and regular Internet more diverse audiences and have to almost the entire population of tion in Australia and New Zea- usage being reported among very become more responsive, tapping Switzerland,” she said. land.” young children. canadafbm2020.com | @CanadaFBM2020 À bientôt !
8 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 THE MARKETS CONFERENCE
And she introduced to the au- Johnston, President of Canada’s dience Niclas Sandin, the CEO of leading children’s publisher, Kids Bonnier-backed BookBeat digital Can Press, spoke to the importance book and audiobook streaming of taking risks, not willy-nilly but service created in 2015. While in extensively calculated moves Ahrnell had positioned the digi- that can take content from the tally savvy market of Stockholm as page to other platforms and media the right place to have developed in partnership developments that the service, Sandin described its open new audience interest. success less a phenomenon depen- Kids Can Press, formed in dent on that Net-engaged popula- 1973, was acquired in 1998 by the tion than as a revenue model that animation film company Nelvana, should be more widely considered which then was acquired by Corus by publishing. Entertainment, which is a broad- His counsel was that publishers caster and producer of mass media. need to avoid thinking of stream- In a recitation of several pivot- ing literary products as corollar- al book-to-screen projects, Lyons ies to Spotify and Netflix. “It’s not Johnston described a profound les- the same,” he said. And harkening son in The Most Magnificent Thing André Breedt, Managing Director of Nielsen Book Research International, back to other speakers’ comments by author-illustrator Ashley Spires speaks at The Markets conference (Image: Johannes Minkus) about the necessity of knowing the which, in 2014, “landed in the market, he said that such services midst of [the] ‘maker’ zeitgeist and half-a-million mark on books sold a wonderful and exhilarating time must be thought of as local. “You its plucky main character—a young worldwide and it’s been translated to be in the content business,” she can compete,” he told the audience, maker and engineer who over- into 15 languages from Arabic to said, summing up much of what but only by knowing what a con- comes her need for perfection and Vietnamese.” had been heard in The Markets sumer base is looking for, rather embraces the concept of ‘finding What Lyons Johnston laid out from many of the speakers and than pushing out big catalogues of success through failure’—helped was the picture of a house discov- Market Player sessions. titles. catapult the book to instant best- ering its potential by using each “There are so many ways to And another voice for such sellerdom. production development project consume content,” Lyons Johnston careful development, Lisa Lyons “We’re currently nearing the as a stepping stone. “I believe it’s said. •
2020 The year Canada will be the GUEST OF HONOUR at the FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
Join us!
Networking reception at Canada stand, Hall 6.0 B67, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 5 pm
This year, meet us in Frankfurt | Rencontrez-nous cette année à Francfort: Canada stand, Hall 6.0, B67 | Stand du Québec, Hall 5.1 E111 • Translation Incentives • Online Rights Catalogue: French and English Selection • Fellowship Opportunities to Canada canadafbm2020.com | @CanadaFBM2020 À bientôt !
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 9 RIGHTS
Tuesday Rights Buzz from the LitAg
By Olivia Snaije End of the World, a YA novel by C.A. Fletcher under the Orbit im- print. “Set in the near-ish future, he LitAg and the Publishers it’s about a boy who has grown up TRights Corner continue to entirely isolated in the Highlands be successful spaces where liter- of Scotland. Something has hap- ary agents and rights directors pened in the world, although it’s increasingly hold their meetings not entirely clear what, and then on Tuesdays. Kate Hibbert, rights the boy’s dog is stolen . . .” manager of the UK’s Little, Brown A Boy and his Dog was just sold Book Group, in her third year at at auction to Blanvalet Verlag. Yulia Borodyanskaya, Rights Director, Marco Vigevani, The Italian Literary the Publishers Rights Corner, said Abrams (Image: Olivia Snaije) Agency (Image: Olivia Snaije) it’s “infinitely preferable to the Yulia Borodyanskaya, pandemonium in the Frankfurter Abrams Hof,” while Abrams rights direc- the construction of these walls. ized account of Mussolini’s rise to tor Yulia Borodyanskaya said “it’s Yulia Borodyanskaya at Abrams, Ten Drugs, How Plants Powders and power between 1915 and 1925 is smoke-free and much better than which will be celebrating its 70th Pills have Shaped the History of Med- historically accurate with intricate the hotels and there’s free coffee.” birthday in 2019 and bought it- icine, by Thomas Hager looks at details. In a country which veered self an early birthday present by the ten most used medicines and to the right in recent elections, Kate Hibbert, Little, Brown acquiring Overlook Press, said their history. For kids, Abrams is and in which the rise of neo-fas- that with Overlook, the illustrat- now producing chapter books in cism has brought the shadow of In literary fiction, Hibbert recom- ed book publisher will be able to their successful Questioneers series, Mussolini to the fore, to say that mended Ewan Morrison’s Nina X, launch into fiction as well. Abrams which began with picture books. Scurati’s book is timely is an un- published by Little, Brown’s Fleet recently moved into narrative derstatement. imprint, about a young woman nonfiction with the Abrams Press The Italian Literary Agency “It describes a person who is born into a Maoist cult, with no imprint. hollow and who becomes a recep- concept of the outside world. In- Borodyanskaya pointed to two Within the LitAg, Marco Vigevani tacle for the post [World War I] spired by a real event, Morrison’s titles within this imprint: The Great and Claire Sabatié-Garat of The frustrations,” said Sabatié-Garat. story describes Nina X’s escape Great Wall, Along the Barriers of Italian Literary Agency were on Cinema and TV rights have been from the cult and her cluelessness History from Hadrian to Trump, by a roll. They represent the author sold to Wildside/Freemantle, about the contemporary world. architectural historian and critic Antonio Scurati, whose novel M, il which produced Elena Ferrante’s “It’s terribly sad and funny at the Ian Volner examines the histori- Figlio del Secolo (M, the son of the My Brilliant Friend, and in a pre- same time,” said Hibbert. cal and contemporary fascination century) published by Bompiani empt Alfaguara acquired world Another book she recom- with walls, and the cultural and on September 12th is generating Spanish rights and Fraktura ac- mends is A Boy and his Dog at the sociological implications behind plenty of interest. The fictional- quired rights for Croatia. •
Pre-Frankfurt Rights Deals
By Hannah Johnson Olga by Bernhard Schlink The Snow Sister by Maja Finland alone. Translation rights Susanne Bauknecht, Rights Di- Lunde and illustrator Lisa have been sold into 10 languages rector at Diogenes Verlag, re- Aisato so far, says Sakari Siltala, who’s head of the Frankfurt Book ports that she most recently sold At Oslo Literary Agency, Evy Till- handling rights sales. AFair, a number of publishers translation rights into Japanese man has sold rights into seven lan- and agents reported some of their (Shinchosha) to this latest novel by guages for The Snow Sister, a chil- Three Meters Above Heaven new foreign rights deals to Pub- German author Bernhard Schlink, dren’s book by Norwegian author trilogy by Federico Moccia lishing Perspectives. Here are some well-known for The Reader. So far, Maja Lunde, whose novel, The His- Maria Cardona at Pontas Liter- highlights from those submissions. rights have sold into 22 languages. tory of Bees, was an international ary & Film Agency reports selling bestseller in 2017. The Snow Sister World English rights to Grand Comedy Queen by Jenny Pantsdrunk: The Finnish is about a family’s Christmas tradi- Central Publishing for Italian Jägerfeld Path to Relaxation by Miska tions, with a bit of mystery as well. author and screenwriter Federi- Winner of the 2017 Astrid Lind- Rantanen co Moccia’s trilogy, which has gren Prize, author Jenny Jäger- At the Helsinki Literary Agency, The Unknown Kimi sold more than 10 million copies feld’s latest book, Comedy Queen, Urpu Strellman is having success Räikkönen by Kari worldwide. So far, rights have has been sold into eight languages with Pantsdrunk, about a Finnish Hotakainen been sold into 15 languages. so far, according to literary agent concept for relaxation: “drinking at In what might have been the big- Lotta Jämtsved of the Grand Agen- home alone, in your underwear.” gest rights deal ever for a Finnish cy in Sweden. This middle-grade The most recent rights deal was book (six figures) during the Lon- novel is about a girl who sees sad- for Korean (Dasan Books), with don Book Fair, this biography of a Read more rights deals in PP’s ness around her and decides to 12 deals in total, including World Formula 1 driver published by Silt- monthly email rights edition: counteract that with humor. English to HarperCollins. ala has sold over 100,000 copies in publishingperspectives.com/subscribe
10 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 RIGHTS
Frankfurt Rights Meeting Highlights Eastern Europe, Russia
By Roger Tagholm growing, and that publishers were Irina Prokhorova at the Frankfurt Rights Meeting “active buyers,” with many pub- (Image: Roger Tagholm) lishers employing scouts. ussia’s international reputa- Bogdan Stanescu, Editorial Rtion is affecting what it can sell Director of Romania’s Polirom to other countries, according to Publishing, gave a presentation in Irina Prokhorova, Editor-in-Chief which he said, “Romania has the and Publisher at New Literary Ob- weakest book market in Europe— server. “It’s a problem for us now,” and that’s why we have two major she told the 32nd Frankfurt Rights book festivals.” Meeting yesterday. “We want to He added that the country has present our cultural and intellec- fewer than 300 bookshops nation- tual life, but people will say, ‘that’s wide “with whole counties with- not Russian enough,’ they want out a bookshop.” But there were things that conform to another growth areas. “General history and view of the country.” children’s are growing and we’ve The audience heard fascinating seen recent interest in graphic snapshots of the market in Poland, novels which have never been Romania and Russia, with all three published before in Romania.” talking about falling print runs Prokhorova said that children’s now there has been a generational spread. This is good for indepen- and fewer titles being published. books were growing in Russia too, shift and people are more open.” dent publishers; it means there is a Joanna Maciuk, Editor-in-Chief, and gave an interesting historical In a revealing presentation, blurring of what is an academic ti- Foreign Fiction Department at perspective. “Up until the end of she also noted that Russia does not tle. Also, the degradation of politi- Prószyński Media said the Polish the 2000s, it was very hard to sell have the tradition of university cal life in Russia means that people market was worth €528m, down new children’s books. Everyone presses seen in the west, “which are clinging to education and seri- on last year. But she said that chil- remembered Soviet times and peo- means that, as it were, those ac- ous reading—and that is good for dren’s books and non-fiction were ple simply wanted those books. But ademic voices are more widely independent publishers.” •
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Email [email protected] PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 11 ANNIVERSARIES
70 Years of the Frankfurt Book Fair and Declaration of Human Rights
Preamble: WHEREAS recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, WHEREAS disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, WHEREAS it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, WHEREAS it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, WHEREAS the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffi rmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote I’M ON THE social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, WHEREAS Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, WHEREAS a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge, NOW, therefore, The General Assembly proclaims this Universal SAMEDeclaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for PAGE.all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Stand up for human rights and help us celebrate In collaboration with: 70 years of advocacy for freedom, peace and diversity. Frankfurter Buchmesse / Hall 4.0 Foyer buchmesse.de/en/onthesamepage #onthesamepage
180803_FBM_Anzeigenmaster_235x105_3mmBS_PSO_LWC_Improved.indd 1 07.08.18 14:27 By Porter Anderson al freedom and mutual respect at institutions, media partners, and #OntheSamePage both the personal and civic levels. members of our industry, we want Event Highlights: The document was consecrat- to set an example of a peaceful n observance of the 70th anni- ed on December 10, 1948, by the meeting of cultures, thereby mak- The Right to Speak Freely: Iversary of the Universal Declara- UN’s General Assembly, and it ing it clear that the Frankfurter Press Freedom in Europe tion of Human Rights, the Frank- comprises 30 articles, each setting Buchmesse platform, this ‘stage for Wed. 10 October, 13:30–14:30 furter Buchmesse and the German out an area in which no person’s world affairs,’ only works because Weltempfang Stage, Hall 4.1 B81 Publishers and Booksellers Associ- rights are to be transgressed. basic liberal principles and re- ation have launched a campaign on Many elements of the decla- spect for the other are considered Free Speech Under Pressure? human rights. ration’s text are striking for their non-negotiable values here.” Self-Censorship in Germany Under the headline “On the modernity, even prescience, in re- The managing director of the Wed. 10 October, 15:00–16:00 Same Page,” the campaign in- gard to issues that challenge people German Booksellers and Publish- Weltempfang Stage, Hall 4.1 B81 cludes social media posts using the and their societies these 70 years ers Association, Alexander Skipis, hashtag #OnTheSamePage, and a after its introduction. said, “Wherever human rights Political Responsibility to number of special events during For example, in Article 26, are attacked, wherever people are Protect Threatened Artists the Frankfurt Book Fair. you’ll find “Everyone has the right locked up solely for their beliefs Thu. 11 October, 16:00–17:00 As it happens, the Frankfurt to education,” in Article 24, you’ll or are bullied by the state for their Weltempfang Stage, Hall 4.1 B81 Book Fair is also celebrating its read “Everyone has the right to rest writing activities, we must not 70th anniversary this year. And and leisure . . . and periodic holi- look away. The historical respon- Accidental Campaigners in the new campaign invites book- days with pay,” and in Article 12, sibility for the behavior of our in- International Diplomacy sellers to put together displays of “No one shall be subjected to arbi- stitution and other members of the Fri. 12 October, 10:30–11:30 selected books related to human trary interference with his privacy, German book industry from 1933 Weltempfang Salon, Hall 4.1 B81 rights issues, while publishers will family, home, or correspondence, to 1945 alone demands this. One be urged to consider organizing nor to attacks upon his honor and of our most important responsi- Civil Society Under Pressure readings an other events themed reputation.” bilities is the dissemination of free Sun. 14 October, 12:00–13:00 on the topic. Speaking about the “On the speech. We would like to make a Weltempfang Stage, Hall 4.1 B81 The Universal Declaration Same Page” campaign, Frankfurt- significant contribution to the suc- of Human Rights is likely to gain er Buchmesse director Juergen cess of a free society.” • Freedom of Opinion in Putin’s new interest, at a time when po- Boos said, “Frankfurter Buchmesse Russia litical forces in many parts of the brings together hundreds of thou- Sun. 14 October, 14:30–15:30 world are challenging long-held sands of people from every part of Follow the campaign online: Weltempfang Salon, Hall 4.1 B81 and cherished values in individu- the world. Together with political #OnTheSamePage
12 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 NEWS FROM THE FAIR
Quick Quotes: One-Question Interviews #fbm18: Tweets from Fair
Evangelia Avloniti Nadia Salem Literary Agent, Ersilia Literary Agency Writer
Q: What was the key takeaway for you from the Q: What was the most interesting thing you opening talks at The Markets conference? learned from The Markets this morning?
A: That sociopolitical changes affect the book A: The amount of literature that is printed; the market. I found it most interesting that when over-saturation of literature is quite shocking. I the political situation is good, there’s an upward think it was said that 10,000 books cover about trend in fiction but when the political situation 80% of the market. As a writer, it makes me is bad, nonfiction is on the rise because people think there’s not enough room in the market for want to know more about what’s going on. writers. I also found it interesting that reader- It was also interesting how, with the exam- ship is declining. I myself struggle to figure out ple of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, some- what to read. At the moment, we’re inundated thing that starts from crowdfunding in Italy, with options to read, there are too many choices. sells millions around the world and just shows That the top book around the world is The Subtle the market is globalized when it comes to best- Art of Not Giving a F*ck is interesting too, because sellers. I come from Greece, where the market it speaks to the mood of the world. has been in recession, so I’m interested in how politics and the economy affect the book market.
Valgerður Benediktsdóttir Amy Hawkins Rights Director Senior Rights Executive Forlagid Rights Agency Hodder & Stoughton (Hachette UK) Q: What are you most excited about at this Q: What are you most excited about at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair? year’s Frankfurt Book Fair? A: People are very interested in Icelandic liter- A: I’m really excited about getting our season of ature. We have over 70 appointments this year books out. Being at the fair where other special- but we could have booked over a hundred. Some ist publishers are and being able to discuss books say that people have stopped reading but inter- face-to-face is really important. est in Icelandic literature is higher than ever. In 2011, we also had a lot of interest when we were Interviews by Amanda Orozco the Guest of Honor, but people have been email- ing me about our books very interested before the fair this year so I am very happy.
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 13 GEORGIA: GUEST OF HONOR
Event Series from Georgia Arrives In Frankfurt Georgia’s Guest of Honor Program:
Publisher and head of the Georgian Publishers Georgia’s program in Frankfurt includes a number of event Association Gvantsa Jobava gives us an overview of series that focus on a particular aspect of the country’s literature writing in Georgia and the Guest of Honor Program. and present different authors each day.
symbolic of their nation’s freedom from the Russian Federation and the Soviet status of the past. Early Birds Series “Perhaps I am going beyond Daily 10:00–10:30 Forum, Level 1, Main stage my remit here,” she says in the in- terview, “but I believe that under A daily presentation of current circumstances, with 20 emerging authors in Georgian percent of my country occupied by literature, featuring Luka Russia, it is essential for Georgia to Bakanidze, Khatuna Tavdgiridze, become a full member of the EU. Beka Adamashvili, and Abo This opinion is shared by almost Iashagashvili. all my overseas colleagues and friends who have visited Georgia.”
Ex-Libris Series Writing in Georgia Daily at 12:30–13:00 Forum, Level 1, Main stage “You can be sure,” Jobava says, “that Georgian writers and pub- These daily talks showcase lishers will use the various plat- authors who have made Gvantsa Jobava with the Guest of Honor scroll at the handover ceremony from France to significant contributions to Georgia during the 2017 Frankfurter Buchmesse forms at their disposal in Frankfurt to talk about these issues.” Georgian literature: Guram Young writers emerging with Dochanashvili, Naira Gelashvili, By Porter Anderson heavy hitters as the Netherlands the nation’s independence in the Aka Morchiladze, Lasha Bugadze, [and Flanders], France, Norway, 1990s would purposefully goad the and Nino Haratischwili. and Canada.” establishment, Jobava says, with he team behind Georgia’s One reason, Jobava told Pub- texts that “often were deliberately TGuest of Honor program at lishing Perspectives, is that “We want provocative.” Lyric Georgia Series the Frankfurter Buchmesse this to show Europe and the western She goes on to say, “Some of Daily at 13:30–14:00 year is led by Gvantsa Jobava, Ed- world that our culture, built up the writers who made their de- Forum, Level 1, Small Stage itor and International Relations over the course of centuries, is buts during those troubled times, Manager for Intelekti Publishing perfectly compatible with the such as Lasha Bughadze, Erekle Each afternoon, this series of in Tbilisi. She also leads the Geor- principle values of the free world. Deisadze, Paata Shamugia, Zaza events will present performances gian Publishers and Booksellers Moreover, we want to show that Burchuladze, and Zurab Karumid- and readings by Georgian poets Association. Here, she gives us her it is precisely because these val- ze, are still active on the literary from different generations. thoughts on Georgian literature ues form the foundations of our scene today.” and the country’s appearance as culture and are therefore deeply Another defining characteris- Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt ingrained in us that not even the tic of Georgian literature is poetry. Bridges Series Book Fair this year. 70-year ideological stranglehold of “It’s often said,” Jobava tells us, Daily at 14:30–15:00 the Soviet regime could break us.” “that Georgia is a land of poets, and Forum, Level 1, Main stage Sharing Georgia’s Defiance is never far, it seems, it’s a fact that almost every Geor- Character Through the from the motivational energy of gian man or woman you meet will Contemporary Georgian writers Guest of Honor the country’s cultural dynamic. reveal to you after a glass of wine, tell the audience about the “The only thing we share with even if only in a whisper, that at country’s influential classic The September issue of Words Russia is territory,” says Jobava, some point back in their childhood authors from the 19th and 20th centuries. Without Borders, non-profit mag- “territory that Russia appropriated they used to write poetry.” azine and organization for litera- by military aggression in 1992 and Despite the fact that “publish- ture in translation, was dedicated 1993 and in 2008. And it contin- ing poetry in Georgia is not really to writing from the Caucasus. ues to encroach upon Georgia to- a commercial proposition any- Happy Hour In her introductory essay day through its ongoing policy of more,” Jobova says that publishing Wed–Sat at 17:00–19:00 as guest editor of the magazine, ‘creeping occupation.’ ” houses like the one she works for, Forum, Level 1, Main stage Jobava wrote, “Everyone is keen As Jobava clarified, publishing Intelekti, continue to publish poet- to know the reasons behind the professionals from Georgia see ry because “we feel duty-bound to In the evenings, Georgian artists (some might say risky) decision by their Guest of Honor program— support our poets . . . It’s a kind of (singers, dancers, performers, and DJs) will perform in the the organizers of the fair to give and its slogan, “Georgia: Made tradition, one that we feel we can’t Guest of Honor pavilion. Georgia a platform alongside such by Characters”—at Frankfurt as abandon.” •
14 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 GEORGIA: GUEST OF HONOR
Guest of Honor Pavilion: Typography, Emotion, Music
By Olivia Snaije onto the walls of a space in which contemporary experimental music and Georgian folk music have been eorgia’s Guest of Honor Pavil- mixed. The pattern of the music Gion, conceived by graphic de- increases and decreases according signer George Bokhua, with Mul- to how many visitors are within tiverse Architects, is surprising the Hub. and bewitching: devoid of natural The Hub of Symbols celebrates light, the Pavilion has been trans- typeface design and typesetting. formed into a spare, shadowy space The Georgian alphabet is shown in which 33 wooden sculptures— in Monotype, while printing sta- the number of letters in the unique tions will produce Georgian letters Georgian alphabet, now a UNES- for visitors on postcards, and tem- CO cultural heritage—convey in- porary tattoos of Georgian letters formation, emotion, imagery and and symbols are available for those music. Each sculpture tells a story, who want a more tactile experi- whether about the avant-garde ex- ence. perimental artist Davit Kakabadze, The Hub of Reflections, de- what it means to be a Tamada, a signed to resemble a traditional toastmaster who guides conversa- Georgian hall, houses an exhibi- tions during drinking gatherings, tion of images by Magnum pho- or about the 19th century poet Ni- tographers to show “reflections of koloz Baratashvili. Georgia through the eyes of for- Georgia’s national character is eign photographers,” said Bokhua. Inside the Georgia Guest of Honor pavilion (Image: Johannes Minkus) perhaps best expressed in the Books They include images of Tbilisi on Georgia area, where 600 books by Robert Capa, who visited the by Georgian authors published in city in 1947 with John Steinbeck, foreign languages are exhibited and photos by Inge Morath, Hen- in a secluded space inspired, said ri Cartier-Bresson or Paolo Pel- Bokhua, by the vortex of a storm, legrin. Image: Gregg Dreise which resembles the tempestuous Two stages will be the venues Georgian temperament. There are for cultural and literary events— also two multimedia exhibitions authors (more than 70) and artists that include images of ancient and will discuss issues that are central Connect with modern letter forms; film posters to Georgia today, while musical from before, during and after the events will take place in the eve- Soviet era; and works by the mod- nings, including performances by Australian Publishers ern artist Petre Otskheli. There the pianist Khatia Buniatishvili at is the Hub of Emotions, in which the opening ceremony, the Sukh- Visit the portal to more than 200 Australian publishers films of the faces and expressions ishvili Georgian National Ballet, as of prominent authors are projected well as DJ Gigi Jikia. • publishers.asn .au/frankfurt
Pavilion designer George Bokhua with Medea Metreveli, Director of the Georgian National Book Center, in the Hub of Emotions (Image: Johannes Minkus)
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 15 TRENDING TITLES
Polish Authors Finding Traction in Translation
by Magdalena Parys has remained logical thriller, and a tough take on ing to novels from Eastern Europe, widely popular among foreign morality as well as a focus on social but Polish bestsellers have a large publishers. Her novel Magik was background of the protagonists. fan base in Central and Southern published in Germany this year Dorota Masłowska is a writ- Europe, as well as in Russia. (Der Magier, Freiraum), and last er whose novels are experienc- Releases of Polish novels in the year saw the French translation of ing renewed interest, spurred by United States are rare events. Next her novel Tunel (Agullo editions). the release of her latest book in year, Dorota Masłowska’s novel In 2019 and 2020, the transla- May 2018, Inni ludzie (Other Peo- Kochanie, zabiłam nasze koty (Hon- tions of these two novels will be ple), a trans-genre hip-hop poem. ey, I Killed the Cats) will be pub- published in more than a dozen The novel’s French translation is lished by Deep Vellum. Literary agent Monika Regulska European countries. scheduled to be published in 2019, PP: Which countries are the Jakub Żulczyk is another nov- and the book is to be also adapted largest markets for Polish titles? By Jaroslaw Adamowski elist and screenwriter whose prose as a theater play next March, and MR: We’ve observed the high- is becoming increasingly popular a movie. est interest from publishers in the abroad. His novel Ślepnąc od świateł PP: What genres of Polish Balkans, as well as Central Euro- onika Regulska is the found- (Blinded by the Lights) will be pub- books are becoming more popular pean countries, such as the Czech Mer of the Syndykat Autorów lished in English and Hungarian in in foreign markets? Republic and Hungary, and also in Warsaw (Authors’ Syndicate), 2018. Also this year, HBO Europe MR: Books that can be posi- markets in Southern Europe, in- a literary agency that represents a will release an adaptation of Żul- tioned within the current glob- cluding Greece, Italy, and Albania. number of acclaimed Polish writ- czyk’s book in Europe and the US. al trends, such as thrillers with UK publishers rarely pick ers. Publishing Perspectives asked A translation of his novel a tough take on universal moral books by Polish authors, but per- Regulska to give us a look at the Wzgórze psów (Houndhill) is await- issues . . . stand a great chance of haps Olga Tokarczuk, the recipient rights landscape for Polish authors. ing its release in Russia. finding readers abroad. of the 2018 Man Booker Interna- Publishing Perspectives: These novels are part of a wid- However, it’s noteworthy that tional Prize for her novel Bieguni Which Polish writers are gaining er, global trend related to genre large, Western publishing mar- (Flights), will pave the way for popularity abroad? literature which doesn’t shy away kets—such as Germany, the UK change in this respect. We surely Monika Regulska: Fiction from action, elements of a psycho- and France—are not very welcom- wish that for Polish writers. •
Amazon Celebrates 1 Million Copies Sold of Petra Durst-Benning’s Novels
By Porter Anderson strong female leads defy conven- The first book in the new se- tion and offer a model to us all— ries came out in September, and especially women.” Durst-Benning has been on a 30- t 4:30 p.m. today (Wednesday In a conversation with stop reading tour in Germany. “I AOctober 10), Amazon Pub- Durst-Benning, we learned that love my readings and coming into lishing will hold a special celebra- she has a new five-book series, contact with my readers,” she says. tion at its stand (Hall 3.0 B47) to The Photographer, coming out from In terms of translation, honor the German author Petra Verlagsgruppe Random House’s Durst-Benning still talks fondly of Petra Durst-Benning Durst-Benning, whose books with Blanvalet imprint. “It’s like the the late Samuel Willcocks, but says AmazonCrossing have now sold proverbial family there,” she says she loves her current translator, more than 1 million copies. It’s of her happy working relationship the Australian-born Edwin Miles, you get the best work.” an honor she shares with another with the Munich-based company who now lives in Cologne. She makes the point of stress- German author, Oliver Pötzsch, to which she switched some three “We work very closely to- ing the power books have to tran- whose debut book was The Hang- years ago. Her backlist, she says, is gether. There are dozens and scend borders and disputes. man’s Daughter. handled by Berlin’s Ullstein. sometimes hundreds of questions” “What makes me as happy as We asked AmazonCrossing’s “The new series,” Durst-Ben- coming to her from Miles in each the million books sold,” she says, Editorial Director, Gabriella Page- ning says, “is set between 1910 translation, she says. In fact, she “is that [with] so much trouble Fort, why she believes Durst-Ben- and 1930, and it’s about a traveling and Miles met once for coffee in and hatred and misunderstand- ning has been so successful. She photographer who goes from vil- Germany’s Black Forest so they’d ing today, books have the ability said, “We’re swept away to pictur- lage to village with her camera. She know each other and have faces to to unite people. In the last years, esque settings in long-ago times, falls into love, she falls out of love, put to each other’s names. I’ve felt that [translated literature] rich in historical detail, but rather but times are changing and to keep “I always want to be available strengthens our awareness that at than submitting to the social mo- up with everything, Mimi also has to Edwin, to help with any ques- the end of the day, we all have the res that might constrain them, her to change and re-invent herself.” tion he might have. This is how same issues.” •
16 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 PUBLISHING IN DENMARK
A Return to Gyldendal and Publishing
Once an editor at Gyldendal, Morten Hesseldahl worked in several industries before returning to books, this time as the CEO.
for information, the traditional PP: Any other examples from ally recognize so much: people, of- book has already lost the battle your home market in Denmark? fices, authors, and social relations. to the Internet. And it has been MH: We succeed most often On the other hand, I find that transformed into digital formats in safeguarding a broad variety in everything has changed. Product in education. But the changeover our products, in terms of genre supply from the cultural industry to digital teaching materials isn’t as well as attitude and ideology. has exploded. As a consequence, a problem for publishers because That’s desirable and suitable for a competition is fierce. In addition, their main focus has always been modern democracy. both digitization and large inter- on the market for content, not for On the contrary, we haven’t national stakeholders’ movements printing. been very good at developing have definitively wiped away the Digitization has changed but stories that reflect the cultural di- last touch of the “sheltered work-
Morten Hesseldahl not ruined the publishing business versity that increasingly has char- shop” ambiance. (Image: Robin Skjoldborg) model. New digital marketplaces acterized our society. We need to Publishing today is about life have emerged, holding opportuni- relate to an international world. and death. But then again, hasn’t it ties as well as threats. At Amazon, Our literature still primarily focus- always been? I think we’ll contin- By Marie Bilde the knowledge they’ve collected es on white middle-class men and ue to be here, recognizable while about their customers allows them women. completely transformed. • to produce their own content. PP: You’ve returned to the n May 1, Morten Hesseldahl PP: At the Danish Broad- book industry after 11 years. What Obecame CEO of Gyldendal casting Corporation, you saw the has surprised you most? Visit Gyldendal in Frankfurt: Publishers, Denmark’s largest and organization start publishing its MH: I’m surprised that I actu- Hall 5.0 B18 oldest publishing house. He replac- content in many formats. How do es Stig Andersen, who retired after you feel about publishers regard- 18 years in the role. ing themselves as general media Hesseldahl’s arrival is actually businesses? a return. He left the company as MH: It’s necessary to work a Gyldendal editor in 1997, and in closely with other media business- the intervening years has worked es and other types of expression. as CEO of Bonnier Books Den- At the same time we should not mark; Chief of Information for a forget that the markets are struc- Danish newspaper; Executive Di- turally different. I do not see why rector of Culture with the Danish a super professional player in one Broadcasting Corporation; and market would strive to appear as CEO of the Royal Danish Theater. an amateur in other markets. In our interview with Hes- Partnerships make a lot of seldahl, Publishing Perspectives sense when we want to publish in started by asking about parallels new formats and media, but at the between what book and newspa- same time, publishers must ensure per publishers have faced. that we have sufficiently qualified PP: The newspaper industry people on staff. has been deeply affected by digi- PP: Publishing is often charac- tization. Book publishing less so, terized as a conservative industry. and only later. To what extent can Do you see areas where publishers the impact on the two industries have been innovative? be compared? MH: The book industry’s MH: The newspaper industry conservatism is a convenient an- and the book business face very ecdote. We have a good example different challenges. While the de- here in Denmark, where we’ve mand for news can be met digitally completed a successful digital con- with satisfaction for the customer, version in educational publishing. the print book continues to be the And I’m thrilled to see how pub- attractive option for the common lisher-produced educational ma- reader. As the willingness to pay terial as well as literature still has for news declines steadily, liter- traction among our modern con- ature maintains a high value. A sumers. The publishing industry book is a precious thing to possess will survive as long as it delivers or to give as a gift to someone. products that can’t be matched by As a means to a pure search others.
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 17 PUBLISHING IN THE UK
Adventurous Reading: 10 Years of MacLehose Press
Publisher Christopher MacLehose looks back on a decade of publishing literature in translation at his UK-based publishing house.
essential date on his calendar. He first was there in 1968 with the German publisher Leopold Ullstein, whose eponymous house had bought the small British inde- pendent Cresset Press. At the time, MacLehose was working there, having left the books pages of The Scotsman. “Leopold Ullstein is the most important figure in my working life,” MacLehose says, “and my second son is named after him. In 1968, I had really no idea how books were published. My over- whelming memory of the fair that year is of intense rain and all of us crowded into a canteen on the fair- ground where you could see steam rising from everyone’s coats. “I enjoy Frankfurt. It’s essen- Christopher MacLehose with his dog, Miska (Image: Roger Tagholm) tial. As a translation house, we always like to position ourselves in another hall, in the heart of Eu- By Roger Tagholm and a sculpture-laden mantelpiece. ures will reach the same levels rope. Last year I remember meet- It’s a literary salon, although again when storytellers of the same ing an Israeli publisher whom I the manuscripts and contracts in caliber emerge. had met briefly in Beijing. It was t’s entirely fitting that Chris- neat piles on the dining table—and “Everyone is hunting the Por- our first-ever meeting at Frank- Itopher MacLehose, a dean of the review copies snaking up the tuguese Stieg Larsson,” he says, furt and we chatted for a while and literature in translation, should stairs—leave no doubt that it’s a “and everyone is publishing lit- then I asked, ‘Well, do you have a have a dog of international ped- working publishing house, too. erary crime fiction now—Farrar book for me?’ He sent me a won- igree as his companion. Miska, How does MacLehose feel 10 Straus, Faber, Knopf.” derful crime story called A Long who has access to all areas in the years on from his stellar launch Night in Paris by Dov Alfon, which MacLehose household in north list? It included Stieg Larsson’s The ‘Adventurous Reading’ Ziv Lewis of Kinneret had pub- London, is a Hungarian Vizsla, a Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, which has lished. Frankfurt is about meetings breed the ancestors of which were notched up sales of £2.5 million to MacLehose Press is marking its like that.” Magyar hunting dogs found in the date (US$3.3 million), according to 10th year with the branding “A In 2011, MacLehose received Carpathian Basin during the 10th Nielsen BookScan. Year of Adventurous Reading”—a the CBE from Queen Elizabeth II century. The breed was mentioned “Well, the actual role one has year-long promotion intended to for services to literature, and he in writings by the Carmelite Friars of finding and creating the best engage bookshops, libraries, and retains a passion for international in the 14th century, which is also possible books,” MacLehose says, readers, as the company puts it, “to writing that goes beyond commer- fitting because MacLehose’s epon- “is endlessly interesting, and re- make discoveries in internation- cial concerns. ymous MacLehose Press, this year mains so, although the market al fiction, and to read beyond our “I’m pleased if some people celebrating its 10th anniversary, doesn’t get any easier. That wave shores.” believe that if MacLehose Press is part of Quercus. And Quercus’ of Scandi noir—Mankel, Larsson, Titles include The Truth About thinks Anuradha Roy is a writer of parent company is Hachette UK, Jo Nesbø—their storytelling genius the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël the first rank, then they might look with its London offices in Carmel- that took Anglo-Saxon readers by Dicker, translated by Sam Taylor at it. But I think we have a duty to ite House. storm, has now receded. (Switzerland), which was Septem- talk about writers as widely as pos- None of which is of the remot- “You have French, German, and ber’s title. For October, it’s The sible. You don’t even necessarily est interest to Miska, who simply Italian noir now, but the figures Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars have to have the rights—you just likes the attention she receives aren’t the same. However, televi- Mytting, translated by Paul Rus- have to press books on people and from her owner as she and he sit sion series like The Killing and The sell Garrett (Norway). And for say ‘you must read this.’” • on an antique chaise longue in the Bridge have trained English readers November, it’s The Bickford Fuse elegant first-floor drawing room to [read] subtitles, which means by Andrey Kurkov, translated by that doubles as an office. The room they no longer have any resistance Boris Dralyuk (Russia). is lined with shelves of first-edi- to anything foreign.” MacLehose says that the Visit MacLehose Press in Frankfurt: tions, floor-to-ceiling art work, He says he believes sales fig- Frankfurt Book Fair remains an Hall 5.0 A30
18 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 Get to Know the 2018 Sheikh Zayed Book Award Winners About the Award The Sheikh Zayed Book Award honours the out- standing achievements of innovators and thinkers in literature, the arts and humanities in Arabic and other languages. Launched in 2007 and covering nine categories, the award promotes creativity, advances Arabic literature and culture, and provides new opportunities for Ara- bic-language writers.
Authors writing about Arab culture and civilisation in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish also are recognised by the award. In addition to honouring LITERATURE: YOUNG AUTHOR: CHILDREN’S: writers and their publishers, the award addresses the im- REMORSE TEST SUMMER RAINS THE DINORAF portant role that translators play in helping bridge the by Khalil Sweileh (Syria) by Ahmad Al Qarmalawi by Hessa Al Muhairi (UAE) cultural and literary gap be- (Egypt) tween Arab and non-Arab In this semi-autobiographical novel, A dinosaur looking for his family readers and authors. a writer takes us through the streets Using music as a thread that connects searches the animal kingdom for of Damascus and offers a first-hand the past to the present, his novel someone who looks like him and look at life and loss during the Syrian explores what happens when settles on the giraffe. This picture civil war. traditional and cultural heritage clash book explores identity, belonging, and with modernity. acceptance. Publisher: Hachette Antoine / Naufal (Beirut, Lebanon) Publisher: Dar Al Masriah Al Publisher: Al Hudhud Publishing and Publication Date: 2017 Lubnaniah (Cairo, Egypt) Distribution (UAE) Learn more online: ISBN: 9786144386712 Publication Date: 2016 Publication Date: 2017 www.zayedaward.ae Pages: 244 ISBN: 9789772937370 ISBN: 9789948232728 Pages: 220 Pages: 32 Pages Age Range: 6-9 years
Translation Funding Available for Literature and Children’s Winners Apply for Funding
The aim of SZBA’s translation fund is to contribute to increasing the number of Arabic books that are translated, published and 1. Contact SZBA via email distributed around the world. Funding is available for the translation of all literary and children’s titles that have won the Sheikh to receive the application Zayed Book Award since the award was launched in 2007. form and instructions: [email protected]. Grant Amount: A maximum of approximately US$19,000 per title is available, plus an additional supplement, if applicable, to cover specific 2. Email completed promotion and production costs. application form and support materials to Application Deadline: [email protected] Applications are accepted all year round. Notification is made after 2-3 months of application date. with the subject line “Translation Funding”. CEO INTERVIEW
Eksmo CEO: Focus on Russian Authors and Rights
Seeing positive signs in Russia’s book market, Eksmo CEO Evgeny Kapyev is looking to foster its Russian authors and grow international relationships.
“With our big stand this year in Frankfurt, we’ll be able to offer much more, especially in children’s and nonfiction.”
—Evgeny Kapyev Eksmo stand at Moscow Book Fair this September (Image: Thomas Minkus) Eksmo CEO Evgeny Kapyev
By Porter Anderson bookstores open in the country “although we started very small. Unit sales grew by 6 percent, to in the first half of the year,” he With our big stand this year in 143.3 million copies. says. Kapyev notes that some of Frankfurt, we’ll be able to offer In a given year, Kapyev says, ews of the Russian book mar- those were bookstore chain shops, much more, especially in children’s Eksmo itself will produce between Nket’s challenges, according “but we also opened 12 stores of and nonfiction.” 8,000 and 10,000 new titles. True to Eksmo CEO Evgeny Kapyev, our own. Our August sales were Kapyev has observed with in- to tradition in the Russian market, has been somewhat exaggerated. strong, as well, as in the first part terest that in nonfiction, “political the classics still are among top sell- When Russia’s largest publishing of September.” books on Donald Trump don’t ers, he says, with self-help coming house arrives at the Frankfurter sell so well, but business books— in second these days. Buchmesse in October, its stand Focus on Foreign Rights secrets of the business success of “The people want to read more will reflect what Kapyev says is an Trump—have nicer sales.” books on success. They want to expanding marketplace at home In our interview from the compa- Kapyev and Kuzmenko are improve themselves, or their rela- with a growing approach to the ny’s Zorge Street offices in Mos- also shopping for titles, he says. tionships, and we’ve seen self-help rest of the world industry. cow, Kapyev and foreign rights “We buy some 2,000 new titles per double in the past year.” director Julia Kuzmenko describe a year,” Kapyev says, “in nonfiction In the children’s sector, Kapy- Positive Signs in the widening bookselling footprint at alone. And the company overall ev reports that the market is “sta- Russian Book Market home and a deeper offer of content will buy about 4,000 titles” from ble, like [general] fiction—stable to other territories. other markets in a year. If you add but it’s nonfiction that’s growing.” “We see the growth of the Russian This year, for the first time, in the AST division, which com- book market in the first half of Eksmo’s foreign rights push at petes with Eksmo on many prop- International Outreach the year to be at 7 percent,” Kap- Frankfurt will include children’s erties, he says, then the foreign yev says. With his own company’s and nonfiction titles, as well as an rights acquisition runs to as many “We want to develop our relation- sales having grown some 2 percent emphasis on literary fiction. as 6,000 titles in a year. ships” with the international in- in the same period, he adds that the The success of Eskmo’s Rus- Eksmo is the larger company, dustry, he says, “especially with our Moscow International Book Fair, sian authors, Kapyev tells us, have Kapyev explains, “but we also have content in the kids’ and nonfiction which ran September 5 to 9, was helped focus his strategy on work- more shareholders than AST, and departments. And we will be there especially well-attended this year. ing hard to more fully exploit the although we’re both part of Eks- looking for the huge number of ti- “We sold 10,000 copies” of Eksmo value in the work of the company’s mo-AST, we’re working like com- tles we want to buy. We want to titles “in four days,” he says. authors and their lists. petitors.” show our international partners Kapyev’s centricity in the Rus- “We see a huge potential in- that we have the best distribution sian field today has a lot to do, he side the company. And we’d like to What’s Selling in Russia system in Russia.” • says, with the company’s develop- double the company’s sales in five ment of its own distribution net- years. So we’re investing this year Taken together, Eksmo and AST work. That includes hundreds of much more in selling our rights.” reported sales last year of some 25 bookstores owned by Eksmo. Eksmo’s foreign rights sales billion rubles (US$440.5 million), Visit Eksmo in Frankfurt: “Here, we’ve seen 70 new are doubling each year, he says, a 15-percent increase over 2016. Hall 5.0 C89
20 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 CHILDREN’S AND YA BOOKS
Kids Can Press Brings Modern Content Strategy to Traditional Book Publishing
This Canadian children’s and YA book publisher is finding success with issue- driven books and adaptations of popular web and film properties.
author Kim Turrisi. Much like CitizenKid is A Voice younger children. We were also drawn to the for the Spirit Bears, which tackles PP: And what will you be of- film Kiss & Cry, based on the true the issues of animal and environ- fering at Frankfurt for foreign story of Carley Allison, an 18-year- ment protection while telling the rights sales? old figure skating star and talented story of the real-life “citizen kid” LL: For Frankfurt we’re real- singer whose life was cut short by Simon Jackson, who set out to ly excited about our YA options, an extremely rare form of cancer. protect this rare species. particularly the web-series adap- We immediately saw the univer- There continues to be an in- tation of Carmilla, as mentioned sal appeal of this young women’s terest in STEM-related books, too, before—with rights already sold tragic yet inspiring story, and we and we have a number of new ti- in Germany—and The Hive, based paired it with a project bestselling tles on the theme, including a fun on a concept from actress Jennifer YA author Alice Kuipers is doing. look at the science of smells with Beals and producer Tom Jacobson, PP: How are current trends Stinky Science: Why the Smelliest especially because New York Times impacting what Kids Can Press is Smells Smell so Smelly and an up- bestselling author Barry Lyga has
Lisa Lyons Johnston, Kids Can Press publishing and which titles have close-and-personal perspective of partnered with his wife, writer been successful? the Apollo 11 spaceflight, Moon Morgan Baden, for the first time, LL: Today’s youth are incred- Mission: The Epic 400-Year Journey to adapt the concept into a thrilling By Carla Douglas ibly engaged—politically, civical- to Apollo 11. YA novel for Fall 2019. ly, socially—and we as publishers PP: What do parents seem to We are also featuring beauti- need to encourage that engage- want the most? ful new picture books, including ne of the speakers in Frank- ment with books that will inform LL: We had an opportunity to My Forest is Green, about how our Ofurt’s The Markets conference and inspire. hear a presentation by George Car- various senses experience a day on Tuesday—in which she spoke That’s part of the reason we ey, the CEO and founder of The in the forest; and OjIchan’s Gift, a about brand partnerships and new wanted to support Canadian Geo- Family Room, a strategic research heartwarming story about the re- revenue models for publishers— graphic’s efforts with their ambi- and insights company, and learned lationship between a girl and her Lisa Lyons Johnston is President tious and essential resource, the that one of the things that parents grandfather. We’ll be highlighting and Publisher of Kids Can Press, Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. want most is for their children to new nonfiction titles with serious the largest and most influential And there’s definitely been grow up to become well-adjusted, issues at their core, including Un- Canadian-owned publishing house a recent uptick in young readers good human beings. der Pressure: The Science of Stress by of children’s and YA content. wanting to make change. Books like the award-win- Tanya Kyi, which focuses on stress Publishing Perspectives spoke to The activism we’re seeing ning Virginia Wolf subtly teach and anxiety, and Join the No Plastic Lyons Johnston to find out how around the world goes hand-in- social awareness, while books Challenge! by Scot Ritchie, which she sees the book market shaping hand with inspiring young people like Me, Too! and Me, Me, Me and examines the global issue of sin- up this autumn. to be better global citizens, which the upcoming Mine. Yours. help gle-use plastic pollution. • Publishing Perspectives: was our mandate when we began kids manage feelings and develop How is the book market changing the CitizenKid collections of non- relationship skills. We’ve always with the times? Are there ways fiction books almost 10 years ago, been good at taking tough subject Visit Kids Can Press in Frankfurt: that Kids Can Press is changing its and which is now 20 books strong. matter and making it suitable for Hall 6.0 B73 approaches? Lisa Lyons Johnston: I was talking about this at my presenta- tion at The Markets—about find- ing great content and how we need to look for what’s trending and de- termine whether it can be adapted to print. We found a compelling oppor- tunity that ticked all the boxes in the global hit web TV series Car- milla, a modern spin on the cult classic, gothic, vampire novella by Joseph Sheridan, Le Fanu. Carmil- la’s legions of fans (called cream- puffs) are anxiously awaiting the Spring 2019 YA book release by
PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 21 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Examining Turkey’s Oppression of Writers
Turkish authors speak out for their fellow writers in jail and recall their own encounters with government censorship.
tell the audience how the justice new afterword that Erdoğan is system and rule of law function in writing. Erdoğan won the presti- Turkey today. gious Sait Faik Short Story Award “What justice, what rule of in 2010 for The Stone Building. law?” answered Sert. “I can only Getting the word out to the quote Altan when he was arrested. world about what’s happening in He said there has never been de- Turkey is of the utmost impor- mocracy in Turkey. Turks know tance, the panelists agreed. “We the word, but they have never hope to have given Ahmet Altan lived it.” strength,” said Guillaume Perrier Sert said a Turkish publish- in conclusion. er who was imprisoned in 1980 during the military coup d’état felt The Role of Foreign that the situation today is different. Publishers “In those days, you could defend yourself in a court of law. Even if it France and Germany have an im- was a military government, there portant role to play, said Muhi- Asli Erdoğan (Image: Olivia Snaije) was rule of law. Today, justice isn’t dine, in that other European coun- dealt from the court, it comes from tries have fewer translators and the government.” connections. By Olivia Snaije Sud, which publishes a number of Erdoğan said 4,000 judges have “These two countries are aware Turkish writers, and by Les Nou- been fired and 2,000 are currently that we must show the histori- veaux Dissidents, an association in jail. “They’ve been replaced by cal roots of these contemporary here is a joke going around founded in 2016 to raise the visi- young, inexperienced judges who novels and thus accompany these TTurkey these days: a prisoner bility of dissidents worldwide by are easily manipulated,” she said. publications with other historical, goes to the prison library and asks publishing their work. sociological, or topical books.” for a book. “We don’t have it,” says Author Asli Erdoğan (no re- Speaking Out This fall, imprisoned politician the librarian, “but we do have the lation to the Turkish president) Selahattin Demirtaş’ collection of author.” recently spent 133 days in prison. The program’s participants took short stories, already out in Ital- So began a recent author event She spoke at the Paris event, along care to point out that the authors ian last spring, will be published in in Paris in support of author and with journalist Aysegul Sert and who got into trouble were arrested French and German. journalist Ahmet Altan, who was Actes Sud editor Timour Muhi- because of their journalistic work. Europa Editions will be pub- convicted by the High Criminal dine. Together, they discussed the But Sert and Erdoğan said they lishing in October the first of Court in Istanbul in February, situation of dissidents in Turkey agreed that some novelists felt they Ahmet Altan’s Ottoman quartet, ostensibly of attempting to over- with moderation by journalist and had to speak out. Like a Sword Wound, in English, throw constitutional order. The author Guillaume Perrier. “For Turkish literary authors, translated by Brendan Freely and government of Recep Tayyip Er- there’s a moment when you wake Yelda Türedi. • doğan asserted that Altan sent ‘What Justice?’ up and look around at the suffer- subversive “subliminal messages” ing and lack of democracy, and it during a television appearance. Although freedom of expression becomes impossible to turn your When Altan and his brother, has been an ongoing struggle back on reality and write the way Mehmet, were arrested in 2016, through much of Turkish his- you want to,” said Sert. Related Events: an impressive list of writers, pub- tory—and purges have occurred Erdoğan said she has started lishers, and academics worldwide in the past—the participants at to write her own prison novel, The Right to Speak Freely, called for their release. Mehmet the Nouveaux Dissidents session but she hasn’t written fiction in a with Aslı Erdoğan was released in June. didn’t pull any punches. while. Her last book, a collection Wed. 10 October, 13:30–14:30 In the past two years, the free- “We’re in the 21st century,” of essays titled Le Silence même n’est Weltempfang Stage, Hall 4.1 B81 dom to publish in Turkey has been said Asli Erdoğan. “I think this plus à toi (Even Silence Is No Longer sharply curtailed. Numbers cited at time there’s a new approach. I’ve Yours), appeared in French from The Future of Media and the Paris event include 180 news lived through two juntas, and I can Actes Sud in 2017, before being Justice in Turkey outlets closed and 148 journalists easily say the juntas were better. published in Turkish. Wed. 10 October, 17:00–17:45 and writers being held in Turkish You knew the danger. Now, it’s a Pierre Astier, Asli Erdoğan’s Forum Börsenverein, Hall 3.1 H85 prisons—the highest number in burning building. No one knows literary agent, said that Penguin the world. where the fire is, the smoke is in- Verlag will be publishing the Ger- Exiles: Hopes and Hurdles, The event, held in the office side all of us.” man translation of her collection with Aslı Erdoğan complex of the mayor of Paris, Moderator Guillaume Perrier of prison work, a story collection Fri. 12 October, 13:30–14:30 was organized by publisher Actes asked journalist Aysegul Sert to called The Stone Building, with a Weltempfang Stage, Hall 4.1 B81
22 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018 INDIA’S BOOK MARKET
Publishing in India: Nitasha Devasar Has Written the Book on It
Nitasha Devasar
By Porter Anderson of the largest higher-education would be the big challenge. IL publishing in select languages, systems in the world, and the gov- PP: You’ve brought up anoth- like Hindi and Bangla. This is true ernment has been focusing on dig- er challenge that other Indian pub- for both academic publishers and ndia is a remarkable market and, ital resources for education in the lishers have mentioned to us—the trade publishers. Iat times, a daunting one. The last few years. tradition of low prices for books. The reason is easy to under- size, shape, and evolving commer- So India is a market where Does this persist? stand: India has the third largest cial pressures and opportunities in print continues to sell, while e-re- ND: Yes, this market is very Internet user base in the world. India present a complicated sce- sourcing is also growing thanks to price sensitive, and that’s a fact of According to the 2017 KPMG- nario for the book trade. special government funds and ini- life. This is true for all South Asia, Google study, the Indian-language Publishing Perspectives has tiatives. including Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Internet user base exceeded the turned to Nitasha Devasar, Man- The supply chain is also chang- Bangladesh. English user base in 2016 and will aging Director of Taylor & Francis ing and evolving in parallel, with Publishers have learned to continue to grow by 18 percent India and the editor of a new book, both on- and offline players of deal with it by pricing to market, annually, reaching 536 million by Publishers on Publishing: Inside In- varying sizes. offering special pricing for the 2021. That’s compared to a 3-per- dia’s Book Business (All About Book PP: With audiobooks hav- most price-sensitive segments and cent growth in English users. Publishing, April 2018). ing made a digital comeback and staying with international pricing Of course, at this stage, the Devasar provides a look at this selling forcefully in many world norms at the higher end of the content being consumed in specif- fascinating market of many lan- markets today, do you see a similar spectrum for the more specialized, ic Indian languages is primarily en- guages, cultures, and traditions. trend in India? upper level, reference market. tertainment and news, and there’s Publishing Perspectives: ND: On the one hand, one PP: One of the most fascinat- a dearth of other types of regional Can you start by giving us just the hasn’t seen audiobooks as a big ing characteristics of the Indian language content, especially of the highest-level, broadest view of trend here, at least not yet, al- market is the country’s many lan- technical variety. where Indian publishing stands though trade publishers do men- guages. Do you see publishers re- Usage is highest in a handful today? tion some pick up. On the other, sponding to the opportunities to of languages like Telegu, Tamil, Nitasha Devasar: Indian the potential exists. do more translation for “internal” Hindi, and Gujarati, and not in all publishing has always been vola- For example, we have the larg- languages, meaning those spoken the 33 official Indian languages we tile, yet resilient. est blind population in the world, within India? have, so these are in focus. Also, 99 As a Nielsen 2015 study in- about 15 million, who could po- ND: Translations have never percent is reported to be accessed dicates, 94 percent of the market tentially benefit from such offer- had it better, and the same goes for on mobile phones. is in educational publishing, and ings. Also, in our multi-lingual regional language content. Getting to viable commercial the bulk of that is K–12. Academ- society, if local-language versions The separation between local, models for IL content, where price ic publishing forms a small part become available, these could have regional-language publishers and sensitivity is even higher than in and has always been plagued by a traction. the pan-Indian and multination- English, is also a challenge. In the shortage of library funds, piracy, There’s some news that Ama- al English-language publishers is future, there’s the potential for and a highly segmented market. zon plans to introduce locally pro- blurring rapidly. There are many technology to break down lan- Add to this price sensitivity and a duced Audible books narrated by more tie-ups and collaborations guage barriers—automatic instan- fluctuating and weak currency, and Indians and in Indian languages. between English and Indian-lan- taneous AI translation—and that’s things really do get exciting. Of course, as with all offerings in guage (IL) publishers. Several mul- something that Taylor & Francis is On the plus side, we have one this market, getting the price right tinational publishers have started exploring in some markets. •
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24 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES / FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR 2018