Plans for the Frankfurt Book Fair are shaping up: Professionals from 60 countries have committed to participating in the in-person fair to be held this October 20-24. Most German publishers are participating with individual stands, while the remainder of European, Asian, and North and South American countries will have national or collective stands, fair organizers said. Canada, the guest of honor, will have stands for both its English-language and French-language publishers.
The fair will offer both in-person and virtual events featuring authors and publishers, held on the fairgrounds and throughout the city of Frankfurt. Some of the authors who have committed to attending the fair include Johanna Adorján, Bülent Ceylan, Dietrich Grönemeyer, Elke Heidenreich, Daniela Krien, Janina Kugl, Eva Menasse, Helen MacDonald, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Sven Regener, Edgar Selge, Colm Tóibín, and Aminata Touré.
As it did last year, the fair has partnered with German broadcasters to screen events to the public. On the professional side, a full slate of virtual conference and networking events will be available online, including a new series of one-hour "master classes" looking at best practices. The popular CEO talk will take place on Wednesday, October 20, and will once again introduce the Global 50 World Publishing Ranking presented by industry consultant Rüdiger Wischenbart. The Hof, a series of virtual networking events, will return as well.
On the rights side, the fair is again promoting its digital Frankfurt Rights Platform. The platform currently features 1,500 companies and more than 10,000 individual buyer and seller profiles, along with a database containing 400,000 titles, according to the organizers.
To protect the health of the fairgoers, organizers are limiting the number of attendees allowed at the live fair on a given day, and will enforce social distancing guidelines, to be monitored by video, in addition to implementing other precautions.
