How does one measure the success of a book fair? By its billing as Asia's largest book exhibition (and the world's fourth largest)? By its service, as exemplified by a quadrilingual English/Chinese/Japanese/Korean catalogue featuring selected titles from four guest countries (France, Germany, Greece and Poland)? Or by the numbers, such as a participation rate of 880 publishers from 42 countries during the six-day event?
For the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) 2006, the answer is all of the above. Since its inception 14 years ago, it has slowly—but surely—become a regional platform for industry professionals to meet their Asian counterparts, and vice versa. It's a must-visit event on the itineraries of dealers of rights and hunters of new titles and authors. And the fair is not exclusive to the established and the famous: Iranian publisher Shabaviz managed to sell 60 titles at this year's exhibition. TIBE has also become a meeting point for exchanges on all things books and publishing: this year, authors such as Mirjam Pressler (Germany), Beatrice Alemagna (France), Rhea Galanaki (Greece) and Reiko Okano (Japan) held special talks, and more than 200 discussion panels, seminars and forums were organized for overseas publishers. The public thronged into the exhibition center and TIBE sold 400,000 entry tickets: a sign that reading—and publishing—is very much alive in Taiwan.
Says Government Information Office (GIO) minister Wen-tsang Cheng, "Between freedom of speech and a free market, Taiwan's readers have at their disposal a vast variety of publications, giving them wide exposure to different cultures and diverse literary works. As for evidence of the vibrancy of our book market, just drop by the 24-hour Eslite Dun Hwa bookstore, Asia's first ever and only such establishment. You'll see that our readers don't sleep at three or four in the morning."
This is a small island of 24 million people, where 9,000 registered publishing houses generate over 40,000 new titles annually. Compare that with 5,000 new titles back in 1990, and you have an idea of the scale of the growth. Undeniably, the appetite for foreign titles—aka translations—is voracious. In general, the scene observed elsewhere is replayed here: blockbuster authors like Dan Brown, J.K. Rowling and Mitch Albom monopolize the bestseller chart, while book sales are kind of flat and new titles fade just as fast as they appear. However, originals from the likes of Chan-ping Lee and Man-chuang Chang are no less popular and are attracting increasing translation interest. But these authors face stiff competition, especially after the ban on books imported from China was lifted three years ago. In any case, promoting local authors is an uphill battle for any country, the U.S. and U.K. exempted. To date, Taiwan's biggest success belongs to its picture book segment, and the Bologna Book Fair is always a focal point for its many homegrown talents.
The general consensus among industry observers is that there is renewed vigor at TIBE in recent times, and the 2004 creation of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation (TBFF)—by 18 of the country's major publishing houses with GIO support—has a lot to do with it. Says foundation chairman and owner of Locus Publishing, Rex How, "We have one mission: to foster greater collaboration, interaction and exchanges by improving both cultural exchanges and business opportunities for Taiwanese and overseas publishers alike. Now that we have 18 committee members armed with the know-how privy only to those living and breathing the industry, TIBE is poised for a new, dynamic course."
That course, it seems, is to validate TIBE's position as a premier regional book exhibition and a launch pad for venturing into the largely unexplored China market. "The question is: Why should people bother with TIBE when the global focus is on the Beijing Book Fair? What role do we play? Well, one European publisher once compared the Beijing exhibition to a beautiful showroom where one never gets to see what's behind it, and TIBE to a window, not a large one but, nevertheless, transparent," adds How. Interestingly, every year TIBE holds a seminar on the Greater China publishing market, providing an abundance of information and updated market observations on the China market, information that's usually not available elsewhere. "Taiwanese publishers and rights agencies are the perfect partners for venturing into China: we speak the same language and share the same culture and historical background as our counterparts across the straits." On all counts, Taiwan's publishing industry is at least 15 years ahead of China; its players are old hands at dealing with foreign and China publishers alike.
But How and TBFF do not intend for TIBE to serve as the entrance to Taiwan and China only. Its creation of the Best New Art Designer in Asia award this year—which went to Japanese artist Tomohisa Okamoto (gold) and Korean illustrator Yeon-kyong Yoo (silver)—serves to illustrate this point. The message is clear: TIBE is taking on the region as its playing field and it intends to be the point of access—or a window, if you will—to works from the East.
For players from the West, what's not to like? There is adherence to intellectual property law coupled with a pro-business mindset supported by an established legal framework, as well as transparent publishing activities. Best yet, its publishers know the ins and outs of the China book market right next door. So, what are you waiting for? Key this into your BlackBerry: TIBE 2007, January 30—February 4. See you there!
