Discover new beginnings at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015!

All roads are leading to the 67th Frankfurt Book Fair, which is scheduled to be held from October 14-18, 2015. Discover what will change, what others have planned, and what you can do for your all-round success, for this mecca of publishing will offer the latest trends and give a roadmap for the future.

The Frankfurt Book Fair actually consists of many book fairs. It is at once the world’s largest children’s book fair, the world’s largest educational book fair, and above all the world’s largest cookbook fair. A few highlights of the fair will include:

Guest of honour – Indonesia

Indonesia is the guest of honour country at this year’s Frankfurt book Fair. The international exhibition “Books on Indonesia” is organised by the Frankfurt Book Fair with the intention of reflecting and presenting the “outside view” of Indonesia from authors and publishers. While, Island of Spice exhibition will feature aroma, texture and a firework of colours presented through the spices of Indonesia. One may be lucky enough to even have a taste of some in the café where delicacies are served. Island of Images will showcase Indonesian comics, graphic novels and animations while Island of Illumination will present various traditional scripts used in the Indonesian archipelago from ancient times. Through it visitors will travel to the early 7th century and onwards to this modern age. There are many more such activities planned during the show.

Besides, every year, the Frankfurt Book Fair is hosting the “Competition for Young Designers” that is looking for the most creative welcome posters for the Guest of Honour. The exhibition ‘Welcome Indonesia – Selamat Datang: Posters of Young Designers’ presents the ten winning posters that welcome the Guest of Honour 2015 – Indonesia.

29th International Rights Directors Meeting

The 29th International Rights Directors Meeting (RDM), which is sponsored by Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), will take place from 2.00 – 5.00 pm on Tuesday October 13 in Room Dimension (Hall 4.2), the day before the official start of the Book Fair. Speakers from France and South East Asia will make up the programme, sharing insights into and expert knowledge about the rights market in the countries they are working in. Michael Healy, CCC’s executive director, International Relations will be the guest speaker at the International Rights Directors Meeting and will address the status of copyright in South East Asia. Chairing the session about France – an established and important player in the global rights market and Frankfurt’s Guest of Honour in 2017- will be Anne-Solange Noble, rights director at Editions Gallimard.

Presenting an in depth view on the current publishing landscape of the country will be Rebecca Byers, rights director at Editions Plon-Perrin. And providing top tips on how to successfully contact French acquisition editors will be Anne Michel, director of foreign fiction at Albin Michel.

South East Asia is a publishing territory of the future, with a young population eager for education and knowledge. At the RDM this year, publishing professionals from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam will provide an overview of the most important publishing markets in South East Asia, the challenges and opportunities available right now, and the most exciting subject areas relevant for the rights trade. Speakers attending include Pimolporn Yutisri, managing director at the Tuttle-Mori Agency (Thailand), Linda Tan Lingard, managing partner at the Yusof Gajah Lingard Literary Agency (Malaysia), and Dr Nguyen Manh Hung, owner and CEO of the Thai Ha Books Publishing House (Vietnam).

Wrapping up the programme will be Adam Silverman, senior director of digital business development at HarperCollins Publishers US, who will be giving an update on digital rights. After the conclusion of the meeting, there will be an opportunity for networking at a reception, hosted by Klopotek, for both attendees and speakers.

The Markets: Global Publishing Summit

How can foreign publishers operate successfully in China? What opportunities does the Indonesian book market offer? What role do national institutions play in the Mexican publishing industry? How is the Turkish children’s book market evolving? As part of the one-day conference, to be held a day before the fair officially opens, industry experts from these regions will provide exclusive insights into their respective markets and valuable firsthand knowledge. “With THE MARKETS, we’re helping our clients tap into business potential, recognise prospective areas for business and make personal contacts”, says Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair. For each book market, one segment will be examined in detail: China – International partnerships and joint ventures; Germany – Academic publishing and specialist information; Indonesia – Trade publishers; Mexico – Trade publishers; South Korea – Education and children’s books; Turkey – The total market; and USA – Digital publishing and innovation.

Each of the seven markets will be presented by an analyst from the respective country, who will explain and highlight the market’s potential and the business opportunities for which it is best suited. The invited experts will provide an overview of trends and overarching market developments. Placing the individual markets in a global context, they will reveal what makes each of these markets unique and where the opportunities for business and growth lie.

B is for business

Ken Follett knows where to make deals. On October 15, the bestselling British author will be a guest of the Business Club at the Frankfurt Book Fair to talk about the video game adaptation of his bestseller The Pillars of the Earth. Published in 1989, the historical novel is one of the top-selling books in the world, with 25 million copies sold. After being turned successfully into a film, television series, audiobook and board game, The Pillars of the Earth is now being adapted for the first time into an official video game by the Hamburg developer Daedalic Entertainment, a company of the Bastei Lübbe AG group. Together with Felix Rudloff of Bastei Lübbe and Carsten Fichtelmann of Daedalic, Follett will discuss this collaboration.

In addition to Ken Follett, over 150 experts from 13 countries will talk about trends and developments in international publishing at the Business Club. “Our guests are key players in the most important markets and sectors. They aren’t just presenting the latest trends in the international media industry – often they themselves also started these trends”, says Holger Volland, VP business development of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

With countless interactive formats, the programme planners are responding to the information needs of Business Club customers. The daily Business Breakfast “Where’s the business?” sessions will serve up hot industry topics to kick-start the day. Among other things, these events will look at functioning business models in the international textbook market, the growing market for comics and graphic novels, as well as innovative content strategies in the children’s book sector.

Cross – media, crowd funding, communities: Mixing pitches with direct exchanges, the event series Hug the Alien will bring together creative minds from the media industry. As part of the event “Hardcore Book Fan Hugging”, digital publisher Michael Bhaskar (Canelo) and Naomi Bacon (digital communications manager, Pan Mamillan), together with moderator Porter Anderson, will discuss requirements for and the future of fanbased business models. According to Michael Bashkar, “The publishing industry relies on fans, but we don’t understand them. We don’t understand which future products and content might work with fans. We need this knowledge.” Another key topic is the use of big data and algorithmic economic models in the book industry.

Failure as an opportunity to understand – that’s the concept behind the event “Uncensored”. Under the direction of publishing expert Sabine Schubert (Kirchner + Robrecht), transmedia producer Jerome Goerke and Mareike Hermes (head of business development, Carlsen Verlag, Hamburg) will discuss pitfalls and winning formulas in implementing cross-media strategies. Under Mareike Hermes’s leadership, Carlsen was the first large book publisher to use crowdfunding as a marketing approach for its unusual comic book project “Graphic/atessen”.

The brilliant minds of tomorrow: On the Saturday of the fair, the industry’s young talent will take over the reins in the Business Club. Katja Splichal (head of online publishing and learning management systems, Verlag Eugen Ulmer will talk about opportunities and challenges in the book market of the future. On Young Professionals Day, in a workshop, Sandra Wegner (junior customer manager, PIPER Verlag) and Anja Paquin (digital media consultant, Bommersheim Consulting) will offer professional tips for starting a career in the sector. Through brief speed dating sessions, eight publishers – Schöffling & Co, Offenbach-Post Media Group, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, GABAL Verlag, Edel Publishing Group, Vogel Events, beam AG and S Fischer Verlage – will introduce themselves to interested newcomers on the stage of the Business Club.

Focus on Asia: From Indonesia, this year’s guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, comes the publisher Rafli L. Sato, whose publishing house BAB Publishing Indonesia/BAB Books specialises in high-quality publications about the island nation’s art and culture. His aim is to reveal the potential of the Indonesian book market:,“Our government now invests 20 per cent of the national budget in education. Readership is growing as a result. I see big opportunities in the children’s book and comics sector, for example.” The Englishlanguage market in Asia is the professional field of Jayapriya Vasudeva, who founded India’s first full-service literary agency in 1997. Today, she represents authors from India, Singapore, Australia, the Philippines, China and Japan. Hariza Mohd Yusof, Head of Publishing at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), will provide information about the academic publishing sector in Malaysia, with a focus on public universities and national research institutes.

Exclusive access to PressReader’s range of products: The Frankfurt Book Fair is cooperating with the Canadian digital media platform PressReader. As the Book Fair’s exclusive news partner during the week of the fair, PressReader will provide exhibitors and trade and private visitors with unlimited access to over 4,000 newspapers and magazines from around the world. In addition, holders of tickets to the Frankfurt Book Fair’s Business Club will get free personalised VIP access for up to three months after the fair. The range of products includes international, regional and local magazines and daily newspapers such as The Guardian, Vogue, GQ, Corriere della Serra, Rheinische Post, The Washington Post, USA Today, Paris Match, Cosmopolitan Germany and Joy, among others.

The New European Media (NEM) Summit at Frankfurt Book Fair

“Media & Technologies for new Storyworlds – The European perspective” is the motto of the New European Media (NEM) Summit 2015, organised by the NEM initiative in cooperation with the Frankfurt Book Fair. The summit will be part of the newly launched “Media & Technology Forum” in Frankfurt.

My World, My Writing: Readings by Indian Authors organised by Sahitya Akademi

On October 15, 2015 at Forum International Dialogue Hall 5.1, Sahitya Akademi, India’s premier Institution of Letters, will be hosting a literary event, ‘My World, My Writing : Readings by Indian Authors’, featuring illustrious authors like K. Jayakumar (Malayalam), Raghav Chandra (Indian English), DP Sinha (Hindi) and Joe Dcruz Remigius Nicholas (Tamil) at an international event stage such as the Forum Dialogue at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Dr K Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi will lead the delegation.

South and South-East Asia: A production Hot Spot

On October 16, 2015 at Forum Production (Hall 4.0), visitors can attend this interesting session. From interactive books, educational mobile apps to innovations in print – the shores of Asia offer a world of services to meet the needs of cost-effective production for the publishing industry. Meet successful service providers from India, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines as they present the trends, success stories and tricks of the trade from the region.

Gourmet Gallery

Thanks to the cooperation between Frankfurt Book Fair and the World Cookbook Fair, the Gourmet Gallery has just got even bigger and more international. In this first year of the cooperation, the target numbers have already been reached: thus far, 80 exhibitors from more than 30 countries will exhibit on an area of 1,000 sq m dedicated to delicious delights, and 50 events have already been planned. Culinary inspiration will be provided by 30 master classes and much more. Here star chefs from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Russia, UK and USA will present their culinary arts live on stage. Come visit the Gourmet Gallery and take a peek over the chefs’ shoulders to watch the magic!

German Book Prize 2015: Jury nominates 20 novels

The nominees for the German Book Prize 2015 have been selected. The jury has chosen 20 novels for the longlist. Since the call for submissions went out, the seven members of the jury reviewed 199 titles published – or yet to be published – between October 2014 and September 16, 2015.

Jury spokeswoman Claudia Kramatschek, an independent critic, said, “This year’s longlist is an illuminating map that illustrates the diversity and range of voices in German-language literature. Yet one thing clearly stands out this year: the world is their home. The selected authors dedicate themselves to the psychological dramas of African refugees, or spirit us away to the expanses of Afghanistan or to the narrow alleys of a slum in Istanbul. At the same time, this literature remains completely true to itself by talking about big and small things in a sometimes utopian, sometimes dystopian, sometimes mischievous, sometimes documentary manner, and by trying to come to terms with the individual’s place in a world battered by the capital currents of money and repressive systems of power. This map features familiar names next to unfamiliar ones, large publishers next to rather small ones – making it all the more delightful to us.”

The nominated novels (in alphabetical order) are: Alina Bronsky: Baba Dunjas letzte Liebe (Kiepenheuer & Witsch August 2015); Ralph Dutli: Die Liebenden von Mantua (Wallstein, August 2015); Jenny Erpenbeck: Gehen, ging, gegangen (Knaus, August 2015); Valerie Fritsch: Winters Garten (Suhrkamp, March 2015); Heinz Helle: Eigentlich müssten wir tanzen (Suhrkamp, September 2015); Gertraud Klemm: Aberland (Droschl, February 2015); Steffen Kopetzky: Risiko (Klett-Cotta, February 2015); Rolf Lappert: Über den Winter (Carl Hanser, August 2015); Inger- Maria Mahlke: Wie Ihr wollt (Berlin Verlag, March 2015); Ulrich Peltzer: Das bessere Leben (S. Fischer, July 2015); Peter Richter: 89/90 (Luchterhand, March 2015); Monique Schwitter: Eins im Andern (Droschl, August 2015); Clemens J. Setz: Die Stunde zwischen Frau und Gitarre (Suhrkamp, September 2015); Anke Stelling: Bodentiefe Fenster (Verbrecher Verlag, March 2015); Ilija Trojanow: Macht und Widerstand (S. Fischer, August 2015); Vladimir Vertlib: Lucia Binar und die russische Seele (Paul Zsolnay, February 2015); Kai Weyand: Applaus für Bronikowski (Wallstein, March 2015); Frank Witzel: Die Erfindung der Roten Armee Fraktion durch einen manischdepressiven Teenager im Sommer 1969 (Matthes & Seitz, February 2015); Christine Wunnicke: Der Fuchs und Dr. Shimamura (Berenberg, March 2015); and Feridun Zaimoglu: Siebentürmeviertel (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, August 2015).

The German Book Prize is awarded by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Stiftung – the Foundation of the German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association. The prize will be awarded on October 12, 2015 at the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair in the Kaisersaal of the Frankfurt Römer.

Indian Exhibitors at Frankfurt Book Fair 2015

All About Book Publishing, New Delhi (4.0/C58); Amnet Systems Private Limited, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (4.2/M97); Ananda Publishers (Pvt) Ltd, Kolkata (4.0/D93); Ane Books (Pvt.) Ltd, New Delhi (4.2/L62); Art Factory, (A division of JJ Imprints Pvt. Ltd.), Noida (4.0/B98); CBS Publishers & Distributors (Pvt) Ltd, New Delhi (4.2/K35); DC Books, Kottayam, Kerala (4.0/D94); DiTech Process Solutions Private Limited, Andheri (E), Mumbai (4.0/E5); Edit One International, New Delhi (3.0/K70); Exeter Premedia Services Private Limited, Chennai (4.2/M86); Focus Medica India (Pvt.) Ltd., Bangalore (4.2/H18); Hurix Systems Private Limited, Mumbai (4.2/B67); Inspiration Publication (India), Agra (3.0/G59); Integra Software Services, Private Limited, Pondicherry (4.2/L73); International Print-o-Pac Limited, Noida (4.0/C57); Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (Pvt) Ltd, New Delhi (4.2/M12); Kalachuvadu Publications (Pvt) Ltd., Nagercoil (4.0/ D92); Karadi Tales Company (Pvt.) Ltd., Chennai (4.0/D92); Little Kingdom, Meerut (UP) (3.0/H131); Lumina Datamatics, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (4.2/K101); mammoth world, New Delhi (5.0/A144); Manipal Technologies Ltd, Manipalm (4.0/H6); Mapin Publishing (Pvt) Ltd, Ahmedabad, Gujarat (4.0/D88); Mehta Publishers, (Mehta Offset Pvt. Ltd.), New Delhi (5.0/E49); Moti Mahal Delux Management Services Pvt Ltd, New Delhi (3.1/ L142); MPS Limited, Noida (4.2/N10); Narosa Book Distributors (Pvt.) Ltd., New Delhi (4.2/N45); Narosa Publishing House (Pvt) Ltd, New Delhi (4.2/N45); National Book Trust, New Delhi (4.0/B106); Navneet Education Limited, Mumbai (3.0/E153); Nimi’s Culinary Ventures, Nimi Sunilkumar, Munnar (3.1/L142); Niyogi Books, New Delhi (4.0/ D84); Nova Publications & Printers Pvt Ltd., Faridabad, Haryana (4.0/E98); Nutech Print Services – India, New Delhi (4.0/H99); PHI Learning Private Limited, New Delhi (4.0/D89); Prag ITech Private Limited, Chennai (4.0/J71); Printmirchi, New Delhi (4.0/ D91); Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi (4.0/ B106); Publishers & Booksellers Guild, Kolkata (4.0/D103); Quixot Publications, New Delhi (4.0/C47); Rachna Sagar (P) Ltd., New Delhi (4.0/C35); Red Ink Literary Agency, New Delhi (6.3 LitAG); Replika Press (Pvt) Ltd, Haryana (4.0/E62); Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (4.0/B106); Scientific International (Pvt) Ltd, New Delhi (4.2/M28); Scope eKnowledge Center, Chennai (4.2/N92); Seven Wonders in my Spice Box, Bangalore (3.1/L142); Sheth Publishing House, Mumbai (4.0/D99); Speaking Tiger, New Delhi (4.0/C59); Spring Time Software, New Delhi (4.0/D97); Sterling Pixels (Pvt.) Ltd., New Delhi (4.2/B84); Tara Books (Pvt) Ltd, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (4.1/N98); Thomson Digital, A division of Thomson Press (India) Ltd., Noida (4.2/C53); TNQ, Chennai (4.2/M90) and Xact Studio International, New Delhi (4.0/D98).
A set of few publishers from India shall be exhibiting via their International offices.