While thousands of rights deals were concluded at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, the 2010 event will most likely be best remembered as the year fair organizers fully embraced the digital revolution. Approximately 350 panels were dedicated to digital issues, and two major initiatives debuted—the Frankfurt StoryDrive, a two-day conference aimed at uniting different parts of the creative industries, and Hot Spots, whose goal was to connect technology and content providers. The new programs aim to position Frankfurt as a "content and media fair," as fair director Juergen Boos observed. "The sale of rights and licences has always been the core business of the Frankfurt Book Fair," Boos wrote in the first issue of PW/BookBrunch's Frankfurt Fair Dealer. "New digital products increase the need for know-how when it comes to selling rights and marketing content. We will help provide this know-how."
With the global economy recovering, Frankfurt was far more lively than it had been in the past few years, with deal making on a steady pace and most publishers looking at digital publishing less as a threat and more of an opportunity, albeit with lots of questions to be resolved. To read PW/BB's extensive coverage of the fair, go to publishersweekly.com/frankfurt2010.
