In October 2018, All Lit Up’s parent organization, the Literary Press Group (LPG)—a collective of indie publishers—attended Frankfurter Buchmesse (aka Frankfurt Book Fair) for the first time. As the largest book fair in the world, Frankfurt Book Fair attracts over 280,000 visitors each year, over 7,000 exhibitors and 10,000 journalists, and hosts 4,000 events. The fair included international publishers, literary agents and scouts, publishing solutions and book trade services, art books, rare books, an education and learning hall, a future of culture festival, a cosplay area, author readings, a gourmet gallery, an audiobook conference, and much more.
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ALU Editor
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For our first year at the fair, the LPG produced a collective rights catalogue and displayed 35 titles by 18 authors at its booth, and our publisher representative Bryan Pike of Rebus Creative took meetings to seek rights sales and raise awareness on behalf of LPG’s stellar indie publishers. Some LPG members attend Frankfurt directly, and are established in their rights selling activities, but it can be challenging for Canadian indies to make the trek as the fair is a major investment of time and resources. LPG’s collective presence helps members develop international contacts and interest in their authors and books, which takes years to generate impact, in the hopes of developing their markets and better enabling them to take over the activity in the future, especially leading up to Canada as Country of Honour in 2020.
Canada representin’ at Frankfurt. LPG rights catalogue featuring some of Canada’s best indie publishers. This year’s theme at the opening ceremony, On the Same Page, was about identity and diversity and seeking support for the general declaration of human rights. Other themes included digital and the future of culture.Â
The opening ceremony. I spent time in meetings and walking the expansive fair, which is held in six buildings, with several floors and long halls. Those taking meetings have long treks and short time to move between spaces. A visit to the LitAg, where the rights agents meet, was also pleasantly overwhelming: rows upon rows of desks with simultaneous animated conversations happening. The atmosphere was electric. Literature was vibrantly alive and thriving, at custom book filled booths, on stages, in conversations everywhere. The fair can be exhausting—a reminder of the volume of publishing—and despite collegiality, it is a very competitive industry, but it’s also inspiring and invigorating. * * *For more Field Trip, click here.Â
