The five-year anniversary of Covid-19 is just months away, but at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, the pandemic felt like a thing of the past. While the show floor isn’t as bustling on the face as it had been in pre-pandemic years, each night, the Frankfurterhof remains jam-packed—and, more importantly, all reports indicate that the deal-making business has been brisk.

“I always enjoy Frankfurt, but I’ve particularly enjoyed it this year. Book markets around the world seem remarkably resilient, and there’s a feeling of optimism in the air about our future as an industry, despite the many challenges we collectively face,” said Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK CEO David Shelley. “Our rights and sales teams have both been doing great business and proving again the value of this fair—not only in making and cementing relationships, but also doing a lot of deals.”

“We've been busier than ever,” said Michel Moushabeck, founder of Interlink Publishing. While he acknowledged that the show floor feels “a little more subdued” than in years past, “there are three of us here this year, and we all have back-to-back meetings.”

The opportunity for facetime with international partners, as always, has proved of value to publishers big and small, even when deals aren’t made at the fair itself. “It’s a chance to have people from a hundred different countries show up to your booth, talk to you about your books, and see if there’s a potential partner there,” said Josh Hayes, VP of sales at Boom! Studios, recently acquired by Random House, but still operating its own booth at the show this year. “We continue to see a lot of traction on everything, from a licensing standpoint.”

Sometimes, that facetime is unexpected. To wit: David Campbell, publisher of Everyman’s Library in the U.K., arrived on Wednesday and, finding himself free for lunch, went to the fish and chips stand on the fairground, where he found himself at the same table as six people from the Akademnasher Publishing House in Uzbekistan. “Are you the David Campbell of Everyman?” one asked. “But you are my hero!” Shortly thereafter, a deal was struck for an Everyman title, and Campbell has a trip planned for Tashkent.

The fair also provided publishers with moments to reflect on their role in the international marketplace while sitting, quite literally, in the middle of it. HarperCollins was preparing to host party at its booth on Thursday evening to celebrate its international business, which was launched following the acquisition of Harlequin in 2014.

Ten years in, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray said, HarperCollins International has non-English publishing teams in nine countries and publishing in 16 languages, with business growing by 94% over the past six years, to $100 million, often in markets that are flat or even negative; titles published, or slated to publish, across those markets include Life: My Story Through History by Pope Francis and Cher: The Memoir, Part One.

“Strategically, I really like how we’re positioned,” Murray said. “I think 10 years ago, there was a lot of skepticism over whether we'd be able to do it. But now, I feel we've done it, and it's nice. to see KKR and Simon & Schuster going down a similar path and making some investments—we all do better as an industry when there's more competition, and it's great to see them making investments outside the English language.”

Chantal Restivo-Alessi, chief digital officer and executive VP of international at HarperCollins, added: “We have more opportunities for local authors, but also international authors, to be acquired by our local teams irrespective of what the U.S. and the U.K. do. It’s meant growth overall, really for authors and agents—it’s an additional set of publishers that didn’t exist before.”

Deals, inked

In terms of deals, nonfiction has been the talk of the halls this year, with memoir, pop psychology, and self-help all selling well. Melissa White, VP of international rights at Folio Literary Management, noted that interest in self-help and wellness books for teens and young adults is growing, and books on longevity have “been a hot topic.”

Random House has signed world English rights to Hope by Pope Francis, billed by the publisher as “the first memoir written by a sitting pontiff,” hot on the heels of the publication of the pope’s book Life: My Story Through History with HarperCollins last year; Italian publisher Mondadori is handling world rights.

FSG has signed This Is for Everyone, the memoir by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the internet, and S&S has announced the publication of Who Knew, a memoir by media mogul Barry Diller. Also of interest: The Last Sweet Bite: Stories of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found by human rights activist and lawyer Michael Shaikh, a book about cuisine in conflict zones around the world, has sold to Crown in the U.S., and is due out next June.

The Cheney Agency in the U.S. has had two of the fair’s most in-demand titles. One is a memoir by the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was recently released from prison in Russia; Crown has signed it in the U.S., William Collins took U.K. rights, Meulenhoff bought it in the Netherlands, Grasset has preempted in France, and multiple offers have been made in Italy and a 14-way auction is underway in Germany.

“Serious nonfiction has slowed down somewhat in the last year or two, but there’s great hunger for projects that feel original and fresh and offer new insights,” said Beniamino Ambrosi, foreign rights director and agent at Cheney. He pointed to the agency’s other hot title at the fair, Afterlife, as an example: “We have 19 deals, because people have really connected with the idea of learning more about the science of brain death, but also these big existential questions, about the meaning of death and life.”

Fiction softens in some areas

Much of the American contingent has noted a softness on the fiction side since the London Book Fair, but there are exceptions. “People want romantasy, they want cozy fantasy. People want horror,” said Ginger Clark of Ginger Clark Literary. “I'm seeing continued interest, both on the kids and YA side and adult. I'm hearing vampires have returned from the dead—buh dum dum. I've actually had a couple scouts tell me that they're hearing requests for dystopian. It's 2010 all over again, which is fine by me.” Clark added that interest in contemporary fantasy is strong in the Western European market, especially Germany and Italy, as well as Brazil.

Simon & Schuster’s acquisition spree at this year’s fair has proven that fantasy is hot. The Rainshadow Orphans trilogy by Naomi Ishiguro, inspired by Japanese folklore, was signed by S&S in the US, U.K., and Australia, and has had 21 translation deals so far. The Deathbringer fantasy trilogy, by debut author Sonia Tagliareni, has been preempted by Atria Books in the U.S. in a six-figure deal and by S&S in the U.K.

Homebound, a debut by Portia Elan, may not be fantasy, but its scope is just as broad, spanning seven millennia following characters linked by a computer game. Scribner signed the book in a six-figure pre-empt in the U.S., and Canadian and German rights have been sold to S&S Canada and Fischer, respectively; an auction is underway in the U.K. Meanwhile, Philippa Gregory returns to HarperCollins with a three-book global deal, and HarperCollins UK signed A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage by M.K. Oliver, a London-set, voice-driven crime novel that was snapped up by S&S in the U.S.

There is also space for more introspective domestic fiction: Elisa Faison’s debut novel Skin Contact saw Hachette join forces across the pond to preempt, marking Reagan Arthur’s first acquisition since her return to Hachette last month. Pitched as a "razor-sharp exploration of intimacy, non-monogamous desire, and motherhood," it tells the story of a couple who open up their marriage as they deal with grief. Meanwhile, Nanny Nanny by K Chiucharello, pre-empted by Ecco in the U.S. and Doubleday in the U.K., tackles motherhood and domestic violence.

The steady drumbeat of deals is just the latest reminder that, despite recent challenges and a penchant for predicting that the sky is falling, publishing remains relatively healthy. “The book business has managed its way through the digital age better than most industries,” Murray said. “We’ve handled the pandemic, the supply chain. There’s good returns for investors. And there’s amazing stories being shared all around the world—and authors are getting paid.”

Next year’s Frankfurt Book Fair is slated for October 15–19. The guest of honor will be the Philippines.