The five-day Beijing Book Fair, running August 30 through September 3, is off to a great start. The mood is optimistic and the aisles at Hall 8 (for international publishers) heavily trafficked. The combined exhibit at the American Collective Stand has grown to offer titles from more than 500 small presses. “We have to turn away exhibitors due to lack of booth space. In fact, Hall 8 was sold out soon after the BookExpo,” says president Janet Fritsch who has a slightly smaller exhibit area this year but with more participants.
London-based Gloria Bailey of The Publishers Association said she has one more booth compared to the previous year, and two first-timers, Ivy Press and Verso. “People are sourcing for new markets, and while they are worried about coming out on their own to China, they don’t have the same fear coming here as part of a big group.” With China announced as the Focus Country at London Book Fair 2012 this morning, more interest from the British publishers in the Chinese market is to be expected.
For first-time exhibitor Baker & Taylor, the goal is to introduce new products, specifically e-reader software application Blio and print on-demand services TextStream. It is also about “expanding our presence in China, acquiring local content, and selling and distributing U.S. titles to Chinese clients,” says senior international territory manager Victor Ta. His colleague David Hetherington, director of major accounts (digital media group), sees China’s publishing industry on the cusp of change. “Education garners a lot of interest here, and there is much talk about digital publishing,” adds Hetherington, who will be speaking about POD, digital products and new business models at a series of seminars sponsored by GAPP (General Administration of Press and Publication) next week. China’s top 100 publishing houses are expected to attend the seminars that will also feature speakers Rob Goodman from Simon & Schuster and publishing consultant Robert Baensch.
The interest in digital publishing, says Claudia Kaiser, v-p of business development at Frankfurter Buchmesse, was evident at Exclusive Shanghai 2010 that was held from August 24 to 27. “Organized by our China-based subsidiary Creative Publishing Consulting, this digital publishing seminar featured 24 speakers and numerous site visits.” Kaiser also points out that China’s internationalization policy has put more Chinese authors on the global platform but “it also makes it difficult to place them (and other Asian authors) in the crowded marketplace. A lot is happening in the Chinese publishing industry, and the recent move to privatize publishing companies is a great leap forward.”
Springer, for instance, is certainly benefiting from the more open and internationalized China. It currently has about 40% of all English-language journals in China and a big co-publishing program. Maurice Kwong of Springer Asia is confident that more Chinese authors will turn to open access publishing through BioMedCentral and publish their research with Springer in coming months. At Singapore-based World Scientific (WP), more than 50% of its 7,000 books and 100% of its 110 journals are already in digital format, and that accounts for more than half of its total revenue.
Over at Highlights,this morning, editor-in-chief Christine Clark launched its first monthly magazine Highlight Talent Baby (or Highlight High Five as it is known in the US) at a two-hour media event attended by 40 journalists. Published entirely in Chinese with local partner XueYouYuan Education Media (which is also a licensee for BBC Kids), its first printing is a modest 100,000 copies. “This magazine has already been endorsed by local parenting, education and teacher associations, and all signs are very encouraging,” says international director Michael Davis, who is hoping to increase the subscription to its U..S level (at 850,000) before long.
A few booths away, first-timer v-p (expo marketing) Nancetta Liles of Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency is looking to turn enquiries received at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair (where China was the Guest Country) into contracts. “Children’s books is the focus, and luckily for us, we have titles that offer the same values that Chinese parents and educators are looking for.” Liles brought with her 20 authors, including Donna Brooks, Dick Dickenson, Michelle Parent and JA Davies, to the fair so that they can benefit from face-to-face interaction with Chinese buyers and reading public. “We have been so busy since the hall opened at 9.30, and it is a success for us so far.”
Over at the next building, in Hall D, India is enjoying its status as the fair’s Country of Honor with more than 3,500 titles on display. According to program and press coordinator Kumar Vikram of the National Book Trust, 27 publishers have also flown in to participate at BIBF. Its slogan “Exploring the Middle Path” sets the historical link between China and India (through Buddhism) and the goal of meeting in middle (or neutral) ground in terms of culture and literature. The exhibits also focus on Tagore (India’s first Nobel laureate in literature on his 160th birth anniversary) and Nehru (for establishing diplomatic relations with China since it was declared a republic 60 years ago). Life-size digital print of Nehru’s bookshelf in his study room and a replica of his table are also on display.
