The Frankfurt Book Fair officially opened on Tuesday morning (though the halls don’t open until Wednesday), presenting a study in contrasts. While the Fair celebrates its 70th anniversary, this year’s opening press conference was held in their new space-age Pavilion, dubbed everything from “a bright wooden skeleton covered with canvas reminiscent of a ship’s belly” to “a snazzy wooden UFO, which landed in the middle of the exhibition grounds.” For the average international visitor, the biggest contrast might simply be the weather, with the forecast calling for unseasonable highs of 75 degrees every day of the show. A robust economy […]
Book Fairs
Things Will Move Around Again At Frankfurt, Starting Next Year
The Frankfurt Book Fair announced some changes to expect starting with next year’s show, in 2019, due to construction at the fairgrounds. Floor 6.3, which has served as the agents’ center for a number of years — and finally had the agents next to (or actually above) North American publishers as of 2015 — is being turned into “a technical control center.” So the agents will be moved away from everyone else again, moving into the historic Festhalle near the fair’s main City entrance. (The Festhalle is the attractive older, roundish building that traditionally has not been utilized for the […]
AAP Celebrates Copyright and Freedom of Expression
The AAP (Association of American Publishers) held its annual meeting in the Penguin Random House Building on Thursday afternoon, using the occasion to underscore the organization’s new focus. As PRH ceo and current AAP chair explained, “We wanted to refocus AAP on two core priorities: Copyright protection, the publishers’ lifeblood, and…the value proposition of publishing for society…as well as our collective contribution to the economy.” AAP’s ceo Maria Pallante was hired with that focus in mind, “to lead in the areas of law and policy,” and she in turn emphasized the subtleties of enacting that mission. While “copyright is absolutely […]
People, Etc.
At the Penguin Random House US Finance Group, Justine LeCates has been appointed vice president, director of US finance. In the newly created position, she’ll be responsible for overseeing the US division’s financial planning & reporting, analysis and financial Systems. Yvonne Ricciuti has been promoted to senior director of financial systems. In the Random House Publishing Group publicity department, Jennifer Garza has been promoted to director of publicity, Ballantine Bantam Dell; Greg Kubie becomes associate director of publicity; and Dhara Parikh moves up to senior publicist. Emily Ritter has joined Simon & Schuster Children’s as digital & social marketing manager. She was most recently marketing manager at […]
Despite Organizers’ Efforts, Bookseller and Librarian Attendance Fell at Book Expo
For years now as Book Expo has plainly diminished in actual scale — primarily show floor exhibition space and attendees — organizers have understandably shied away from much discussion of the core data, bringing to bear a series of efforts to “reimagine” the show and drive the best possible experience for those who do participate. (Including, perhaps, imagining that the show could be as big or as important as it once was.) But numbers are numbers, and we like to keep ours as straight and clear as possible. Show officials released some preliminary data about this year’s show. Because there […]
Listening to Worries About Barnes & Noble, Audible’s Growing Ambitions
The WSJ uses Book Expo to remind their readership that publishers are forever worried about the future of Barnes & Noble: “Permeating the industry is a sense of foreboding about struggling bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc., a sentiment that was palpable in recent days at the annual book show in New York…. The retailer’s continuing sharp decline raises fundamental questions for the book business, publishing executives say, including whether it will become increasingly difficult to introduce new writers and make their books visible to consumers.” BN chairman Len Riggio’s opening speech teed up that lede, as he spoke to the […]