3rd Sharjah International Booksellers Conference

Facilitates new partnerships, growth and learning opportunities

The third edition of the International Booksellers Conference, organised by the Sharjah Book Authority’s (SBA), on April 27-28 at Expo Centre Sharjah had 550 Professionals (Booksellers, Publishers, Distributors) from 76 countries.

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Bodour Al Qasimi – Chairperson, Sharjah Book Authority, welcomed professionals with the Keynote Address in which she emphasised that this conference again is a testament to Sharjah’s unwavering commitment towards promoting- Bookselling, Publishing and beyond. She said, “We must realise that the boundaries of our industry have become increasingly difficult to define and in these transformative times we must stand united. The challenges we face may vary across regions, but our diversity remains our true strength, this conference is an example of global collaborations.”

Experiences Shared

The keynote speakers shared experiences in their respective areas adding to the learning of the audience.

Andrea Giunti, Executive vice-president, Giunti Editore S.P.A and VP of Giunti al Punto, spoke to Porter Anderson about the group’s goals, distribution, promotion and innovative experiments.

Dr Raja Easa Al Gurg, Chairperson and Managing Director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group (ESAG), motivated the audience with her views on a life with purpose, role of woman, leadership, power of mentorship and belief in self.

Emile Tyan CEO of Librairie Antoine spoke to Nadia Wassef Co-Founder, Diwan Bookstores about the importance of implementing innovative strategies which have helped them leverage digital technologies for enhancing sales and marketing efforts.

Ahmed Rewihel, Co-Founder & CBO Arabookverse shared the Arabic audio and eBook market insights-their growth, challenges, accessibility and availability of Digital content distribution.

Buzz around the Roundtable Workshops

The workshops were on topics, such as Partnerships in bookselling, Making the most of social media, Community Engagement, Magnifying the voice of the Bookseller with AI, Stock Curation, Strategic planning, Curating and selling graphic novels and many more. There were six Arabic language sessions on: Distributor and Publisher Brand, Publishing in the AI era, Strategic planning for bookstore management, Smart content distribution, Innovative working methods for distributing children’s books, Agreements with distributors. A new segment of ‘PublisHer’ was added to promote and support women.

Agnes Debiage, ACDF Consulting (France) discussed Beyond the Bookstore: Selling books outside of your own shop.

Ajay Mago, OM Books (India) shared the advantages of Bookstores in shopping malls and said that this helped in a diverse audience, extended hours of shopping, increased brand visibility, presence in a social hub etc.

Fatimah Abbas, Fala Agency (Egypt) spoke about Publishing in the AI Era and explained key concepts, AI in publishing, audio, electronic, impact, challenges and future trends.

Govind Dee Cee,DC Books (India) shared the vibrancy of the Kerala Literature Festival with its 330-sessions attracting about half a million people in the 4 days. He enlightened the groups as to how literature festivals help people get to know new authors and the alchemy of a literature festivals.

Jessica Stockton-Bagnulo, Greenlight Bookstore (USA) discussed Bookstore Partnerships, wherein the book store can partner with other individuals, bookstores, authors/ publishers, university, restaurant, theatres etc – to raise awareness, book sales and collaborations.

Jose Manuel Anta, FANDE (Spain) emphasised the importance of Collaboration between distributors, publishers and bookstores and the 4C-Community, Curation, Convenience and Connection for an Independent Bookseller to thrive.

Steve Jones, Kinokuniya (UAE) shared his knowledge and different examples of Visual Merchandising.

There were presentations by Ajay Jain (Kunzum Bookstores -India) on Time to read, Federico Lang (Librería Luces Spain) on Creating a network of global Book stores, Kritee Sharrma (SheTrade Initiative) on Breaking Barriers in Publishing. The event also had Publisher Pitches where in the book seller selected the Publisher and learned about them.PublisHer Lounge had Meet a Mentor, Career Lab and other sessions. There was lot of learning and takeaway from the two days vibrant and dynamic event curated by Emma House & Kuo-Yu Liang, Moderated by Kenny Chan and the fantastic SBA Team.

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