Book Fairs

On Wednesday at the Frankfurt Book Fair, two ceos discussed the top-level changes at their companies, their opinions on growth, and more. In conversation with Publishing Perspectives editor in chief Porter Anderson, Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK ceo David Shelley, who took over as CEO of the US division less than a year ago, discussed ways he can bring the two companies together. “I come from an editorial background, so I could see ways in which, if you get editors and publishers talking more, there’ll be more things that just organically come with that,” he said, primarily getting world […]

Bestselling Italian author Roberto Saviano will appear this weekend at the Frankfurt Book Fair, despite not being among the initial writers chosen to represent Italy, this year’s guest of honor at the fair. Saviano will appear on a panel at a PEN Berlin event on Wednesday and will speak several times on Friday and Saturday of the fair, the days that typically cater to consumers. In June, 41 authors signed a letter of protest, saying that Saviano’s exclusion from Italy’s official programming was a form of censorship by the government, led by far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni, of whom Saviano has […]

While exhibitors were preparing for the official start of the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday, the opening press conference on Tuesday morning—featuring speeches by German Publishers and Booksellers Association chair Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, Frankfurt Buchmesse director Juergen Boos, and Turkish author Elif Shafak—foreshadowed what will likely be topics of discussion across the event—politics, global conflict, and technology. Schmidt-Frederichs noted that diversity has always been part of the fair, and that it is “an event where clear distinction is made between fact and fiction,” “where debate is cultivated, freedom of opinion is practiced.” While she did not reference the US election or […]

Jerusalem International Book Forum (JIBF) has postponed its 2024 event until next year. At a virtual meeting for the Forum and the Zev Birger Editorial Fellowship, JIBF director Sharon Katz spoke briefly about the postponement. “Unfortunately, as most of you know, [the Forum] can only happen in May 2025,” he said. “After a long wait, we realized that for the JIBF to take place in the safe and prosperous environment it deserves, we would have to wait for next year.” The dates of the 2025 event have not yet been announced. JIBF chairperson and former director Yoel Makov concluded the […]

Frankfurt Book Fair concluded over the weekend, with overall trade attendance rising to 105,000 (up from 93,000 in 2022), a continuing rebound since the pandemic. (Our standard reminder: Their count is not what it seems. FBF tallies visits or scans rather than unique individuals. So the three trade days averaged 35,000 visits a day. Many of those were likely the same people, on multiple days.) What was supposed to be a celebration of the fair’s 75th year was ultimately politically fraught. In the halls of the convention center the conflict in the Middle East was inescapable, sometimes with messy outcomes. […]