The 75th edition of the Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair) is all set to take place from 18 – 22 October 2023 in Frankfurt in Germany with many Indian publishing companies and book printers taking part. Slovenia, the guest of honor country this year, will highlight its long-established literary tradition. Collective exhibitions offer exhibitors an opportunity to showcase a theme-based presentation of books.
FBF features special offers from anniversary year partners. The Frankfurter Buchmesse app helps users stay up-to-date with events and exhibitors while offering a personal calendar, personal favorites list, interactive hall plan, and relevant information about the fair.
The 75th anniversary edition of the fair will offer a range of digital opportunities, apart from the physical representation on the fairgrounds. This includes a range of masterclasses from 9 to 13 October on AI to boost book distribution, TikTok for book publishers, case studies to deliver change in a transforming book publishing landscape, and #BookTok for authors. The masterclasses will host established publishing professionals providing a combination of expertise, learning, and inspiration to attendees. Participation in the masterclasses is free of charge for exhibitors after registration through Zoom.
FBF’s digital networking platform, the HOF, provides a blend of music, networking, and live interviews with guests. Introduced in 2020, the HOF brings together authors, publishing professionals, and literary enthusiasts to live discussions on a range of topics such as new adult literature, the latest trends, and challenges in the publishing industry.
The hybrid edition of the Frankfurt Rights Meeting will take place through four digital sessions in September 2023 followed by a networking reception at the fairgrounds on 17 October. The rights and licensing conference has been bringing together key professionals and decision-makers from book publishers, printers, and publishing firms for the last 30 years.
The theme for this year’s hybrid format will be ‘Licensing in the times of turmoil.’ The rights meeting platform will provide insights into burning topics and trends in the book publishing industry. This is a paid event and interested participants need to purchase tickets for individual sessions or a combo offer for all events. The rights sessions on 5, 12 , 19 and 26 September will focus on the impact of AI on the rights business, current developments in audio, exploring the film (rights) market, and political challenges for rights sellers, respectively.
FBF’s media library offers a range of highlights from previous editions to participants. Talks, podcasts, readings, conferences, and performances from past editions of FBF can be accessed by participants and exhibitors at the click of a button.
The FBF Literaturgala 2023 on 21 October will feature renowned authors, literary critics, and guest authors about their latest work and challenges. The 75th anniversary fair has a great lineup of readings, interviews, and talks with international authors.
Indian participation at the 75th FBF
Many well-known Indian publishing companies and book printers have already confirmed their presence at the 75th edition of the fair. The list includes National Book Trust (NBT), Thomson Press, Academic (India) Publishers, Repro India, Prakash Books India, Little Pearl Books (a division of Nutech Print Services), Roli Books, CBS Publishers, Chennai Book Fair, Dreamland Publications, Tibetan Translation & Research Institute, Om Book Shop, Sheth Publishing House, Wise Eagle, DC Books, Replika Press, Nutech Print Services, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, Red Ink Literary Agency, BrijBasi Art Press, Westland Books, Mapin Publishing, and Nageen Prakashan.
Indian Printer & Publisher spoke to Ravi Shroff of Nutech Print Services about his plans for the 75th FBF. Nutech will be presenting its complete portfolio at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The company specializes in printing on thin paper and will showcase its thin paper books at FBF. It will showcase books in Arabic, English, Spanish, and Portuguese, along with some African languages.
Frankfurt Book Fair is a great place to meet customers because most publishing companies from across the world participate in the fair. On a single visit, a visitor is able to meet customers from multiple countries, have a discussion on their future plans, and work together on how to be a part of that plan. As a printer, there’s not much to present other than the samples of what you have done through the year – something that you have done differently or something new that you have done, he said.
Europe has many countries and it is difficult to go to each one and meet customers individually, he added. That is the reason why they consider FBF as a meeting ground where they can meet everyone. Talking of leads, he said, “Sometimes, it takes many visits from a customer over the years to transform into a working partnership. Bigger customers don’t give an easy break – they visit you many times to gauge your consistency and see what you have been doing. Larger customers have huge requirements in terms of audits as each global publisher has its own set of audits. They want you to become a part of those audits and join those agencies. Most of the larger customers have a long-term vision in terms of what their plans are in terms of what they intend to do,”
Smaller customers, on the other hand, can get converted within a year. Most of the smaller customers are looking to fulfill immediate requirements and that’s why they approach us, he said. Customers are looking at print quality and the product types in terms of different types of colors, paper, and substrates.
Nutech will also showcase its children’s division (Little Pearl Books) at a different stand at the FBF.
