So I can officially say I have been to my first Frankfurt Book Fair and I have lots to share about my experience.
We arrived at the massive conference centre and made our way to hall 8 - the international hall. Once there we were surrounded by stands for all the publishing houses we recognised from the spines on our bookshelves. We were starstruck and spent the first half hour taking photos next to the big-name stalls. But once this initial groupie-style gush was out of our systems we got to work.
We went with Oxford Brookes as part of our course and one benefit of this was that the department had set up a string of appointments for us. I began the day
We arrived at the massive conference centre and made our way to hall 8 - the international hall. Once there we were surrounded by stands for all the publishing houses we recognised from the spines on our bookshelves. We were starstruck and spent the first half hour taking photos next to the big-name stalls. But once this initial groupie-style gush was out of our systems we got to work.
We went with Oxford Brookes as part of our course and one benefit of this was that the department had set up a string of appointments for us. I began the day
by visiting Querverlag, a small German language publisher specialising in gay and lesbian titles. This meeting gave me an amazing insight into what it's like to start up and run a small publishing house and the difficulties they face (mainly in dealing with big boys like Amazon). It was also interesting to learn that while the 12 or so titles they publish a year are gay and lesbian orientated, their new range of crime fiction has crossed over to general appeal, especially when stocked in the crime and not the gay lesbian section of the bookshops.
From here I went on to meet David Attwooll of Attwooll Associates Ltd. Although he had set up camp in the literary agents hall, his company occupied a very different but very necessary role in the publishing sector. Attwooll and his company help companies who have not yet got to grips with digital rights management to license their content out to providers of digital products. This is obviously a role that has been created with the advent of digital publishing and it was great to meet someone taking advantage of the digital revolution. He spoke to us about digital rights management in general and how his role differs from but is similar to that of a literary agent.
Next stop was the V&A Publishing stand. This stand was littered with the highly illustrated and beautifully crafted art and design books that the museum is famous for. Here I learnt about the importance of branding and about the V&As successful step into children's fiction. All the books at the stand had a very high production value and we were told of how the company were reluctant to try and transfer these high quality titles to a digital format. This was the general message I found around the fair as I went independently to similar publishers, such as the British Library, and was consistency met by negative feelings towards digital products. Many told me that the high quality of the books they produced wouldn't transfer to digital formats, especially given the highly illustrated nature of the books, and that these companies, often linked with a charitable organisation, could not afford to shell out the high prices needed to produce a successful app as there was no guarantee of a return. But V&A could not deny the need for some kind of digital presence and had begun to transfer some of their text-heavy gift titles to digital as well as their hugely successful children's book, although they had noticed higher sales of the print version than the ebook.
Last appointment of the day was with CRW Publishing who pride themselves on providing affordable, collectable editions of literary classics. The aim here wasn't finding the next big name author but to provide their readers with a nice edition of the books they love. Most of the titles they provide are out of copyright but as part of the company's tenth birthday next year they are venturing into publishing titles that are still within copyright. I really admired these men for their devotion to the printed word and the book in its traditional form. We also learnt about the importance of placing within the bookshops as we were told that when Barnes and Noble moved CRW's books from the classics section to by the till they saw sales grind to a halt as people do not impulse buy a nice edition of a classic text, they collect them.
So after a long day and a lot of walking I feel I learnt a lot from the Book Fair, even though I only saw a fraction of what was there to see. The overall points to take away I think are that advances in the digital market are both a blessing and a curse as people like David Attwooll take advantage of the situation while others such as the V&A and CRW hold their ground. It is also possible to see a love-hate relationship between the publishers and Amazon with some taking advantage of the possibilities working with the global giant opens up while others only have horror stories and ill-feelings towards them. But the one thing I did take from this experience is that the Frankfurt Book Fair is an amazing experience with publishers converging from around the world to basically have a catch up and a gossip and maybe do a bit of business. I hope my first is not my last!
From here I went on to meet David Attwooll of Attwooll Associates Ltd. Although he had set up camp in the literary agents hall, his company occupied a very different but very necessary role in the publishing sector. Attwooll and his company help companies who have not yet got to grips with digital rights management to license their content out to providers of digital products. This is obviously a role that has been created with the advent of digital publishing and it was great to meet someone taking advantage of the digital revolution. He spoke to us about digital rights management in general and how his role differs from but is similar to that of a literary agent.
Next stop was the V&A Publishing stand. This stand was littered with the highly illustrated and beautifully crafted art and design books that the museum is famous for. Here I learnt about the importance of branding and about the V&As successful step into children's fiction. All the books at the stand had a very high production value and we were told of how the company were reluctant to try and transfer these high quality titles to a digital format. This was the general message I found around the fair as I went independently to similar publishers, such as the British Library, and was consistency met by negative feelings towards digital products. Many told me that the high quality of the books they produced wouldn't transfer to digital formats, especially given the highly illustrated nature of the books, and that these companies, often linked with a charitable organisation, could not afford to shell out the high prices needed to produce a successful app as there was no guarantee of a return. But V&A could not deny the need for some kind of digital presence and had begun to transfer some of their text-heavy gift titles to digital as well as their hugely successful children's book, although they had noticed higher sales of the print version than the ebook.
Last appointment of the day was with CRW Publishing who pride themselves on providing affordable, collectable editions of literary classics. The aim here wasn't finding the next big name author but to provide their readers with a nice edition of the books they love. Most of the titles they provide are out of copyright but as part of the company's tenth birthday next year they are venturing into publishing titles that are still within copyright. I really admired these men for their devotion to the printed word and the book in its traditional form. We also learnt about the importance of placing within the bookshops as we were told that when Barnes and Noble moved CRW's books from the classics section to by the till they saw sales grind to a halt as people do not impulse buy a nice edition of a classic text, they collect them.
So after a long day and a lot of walking I feel I learnt a lot from the Book Fair, even though I only saw a fraction of what was there to see. The overall points to take away I think are that advances in the digital market are both a blessing and a curse as people like David Attwooll take advantage of the situation while others such as the V&A and CRW hold their ground. It is also possible to see a love-hate relationship between the publishers and Amazon with some taking advantage of the possibilities working with the global giant opens up while others only have horror stories and ill-feelings towards them. But the one thing I did take from this experience is that the Frankfurt Book Fair is an amazing experience with publishers converging from around the world to basically have a catch up and a gossip and maybe do a bit of business. I hope my first is not my last!
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