Series of events at GBO New Delhi for Frankfurt Book Fair

The time of the year is here again when everyone involved in the publishing industry converge at the Frankfurt Book Fair. This year, the event is being held from 8 to 12 October, and if you really wanted a reason why this event is important, Frankfurt Book Fair is where the entire industry gathers. This is where new trends and fields of business are discovered, and where one finds opportunities for training and networking, not to mention there are lots to see and to experience.

02 Oct 2014 | By Dibyajyoti Sarma

On the occasion, the German Book Office, New Delhi has organised a series of events aimed at participants from India and the neighbouring countries.  

At the book fair, participants can ask the experts on one-on-one consulting, on 8 October 2014, from 11 am to 1 pm, at Hall 4.0, Lounge 2. The questions can be personal, specific and confidential, and can range from management, rights and licencing or concrete projects. In personal one-on-one conversations, GBO specialists will offer the participants objective and confidential advice on specific topics. Participants can arrange personal appointments in advance via e-mail with Maike Bannas, Bannas@book-fair.com

If you have questions about the growing Indian publishing industry, or need information about business opportunities, market potential, and translation funding programmes, assistance with licencing deals or consulting on specific segments of the Indian book market, you can meet Prashasti Rastogi, director GBO, New Delhi, to ask your individual questions and learn more about the specifics of the Indian book market.

There will also be topical expert tables on issues such as, copyright collective management, and selecting the right IT systems for a publishing house and so on.

There will also be two guided tours organised by the German Book Office New Delhi and Frankfurt Book Fair, especially for participants from South Asia, exclusively for exhibitors and trade visitors from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and India. These two tours are being organised with a view to assist the participants further their business outreach. One focuses on the ever-expanding domain of international educational publishing and the other on different foreign markets to explore. The two tours are ‘Guided tour & business networking – education’, scheduled for 9 October and ‘Guided tour & business networking for trade visitors, scheduled for 8 October. Entry is by prior registration only. For details, you can write to srivastava@newdelhi.gbo.org.

Each year, a group of small publishers form Asia, Africa and Latin America are invited to exhibit at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Invitation Programme is co-funded by the German Office of Foreign Affairs and takes place in cooperation with Litprom. This year, two publishers from South Asia invited to this programme. They are Jumhoori Publications from Pakistan and Duckbill Books from India.   

Founded in 1999, Jumhoori Publications has set new trends as an independent and progressive publisher in Pakistan. Its catalogue includes political, philosophical, fictional and cultural books. They have translated works of world’s renowned authors into Urdu.

Duckbill, founded in 2012, publishes books for children and young adults. The books are compelling and distinctive, with offbeat ideas, contemporary themes and a serious predisposition towards humour.

Meanwhile, under the aegis of the visitors programme of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal Foreign Office is organising an Information Tour to the Frankfurt Book Fair 2014 from 6 October to 12th October 2014. The objective is to provide international publishers, agents and journalists, a chance to meet, network and understand the German publishing landscape. Applicants were selected from a pool of specialist journalists, publishers/publishing agents, booksellers and representatives of booksellers’ associations from developing and threshold countries - Finland, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The tour is being coordinated by Goethe Institut in Berlin.

The invited participants from India are Ruby Hembrom, founder-director of Adivaani, a publishing and archiving outfit of, for and by Adivasis, and Shobit Arya, founder & publisher, Wisdom Tree.

German Book Office (GBO), New Delhi is a joint venture of the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Besides promoting German books and the activities of the Frankfurt Book Fair, GBO New Delhi serves as a contact point between the book industry in South Asia, Germany as well as the international book and media industries.