Frankfurt Book Fair 2010

Peter in the Oratia Media corner of the New Zealand collective stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair concluded on 10 October and was a really valuable event - we're certainly hoping to be there again in 2011.

Think Australia (and New Zealand)

Click here to read the article about

the Australian and New Zealand publishing market

discussed by a specialist panel

at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2010,

and reported by

Publishing Perspectives.

Flying the Flag at Frankfurt – 7 October 2010

There’s a subdued buzz in the air at Hall 8 as I write this – subdued because it’s lunchtime and those who aren’t eating are catching breath. The fair kicked off yesterday morning and for Oratia Media and our colleagues on the New Zealand collective stand it was a busy start to the five-day event, which is the world’s largest marketplace for books, media, rights and licences.

Entering the Frankfurt Book Fair

This year marks our first appearance at the fair, exhibiting our books and talking to other publishers about distribution, rights and services internationally. This year we’re pushing the authors already published in our Libro International list, along with a number of new concepts for books that we’re pitching to likely partners. Also on our stand are titles from our Rock Your Life list, and our friends at Huia Publishers and Willson Scott Publishers.

Our corner of the New Zealand stand

Today it was my turn to take the microphone, as I joined Australian colleagues Patricia Genat of ALS, Rod Martin of Era Publications, and mediator Tim Coronel of Bookseller and Publisher magazine at a well-patronised seminar: ‘Australia/New Zealand Publishing Market Overview’. Common preoccupations with slow local markets, changing export destinations and digitisation united out two markets, which also remain distinguished by the difficulty of distributing across the Tasman.

Notice for today’s seminar session

A busy schedule of meetings continues over the next three days. Tomorrow night the New Zealand stand will host drinks, at which Creative New Zealand and the Publishers Association of NZ will launch its programme of support for translation of New Zealand writing

Better go – there’s a bunch of people browsing the stand.

Peter Dowling