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Frankfurt

FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018 VISIT PW AND BOOKBRUNCH IN HALL 6.0 STAND D42

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FAKE MONEY
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FAKE ASSETS BUILDING 6.2
STAND A22

Mixed mood at sunny Frankfurt


The wall-to-wall sunshine David Shelley, UK ceo of year: quiet, upbeat, with
all week in Frankfurt Hachette, said the fair was lots of good connections.
fashioned a positive “uneventful and feels quiet. There hasn’t been anything
backdrop for the fair, but But that has made more really significant to buy –
reactions to the event itself time for conversations, for which may have contributed
were more mixed, write talking about market trends to that feeling of bonhomie.”
Neill Denny and Ed – audio, for example, is Johanna Ingalls,
Nawotka. becoming a theme.” managing editor of Akashic
Michael Bhaskar, Jane Harris, md of Books, Brooklyn, said: “The
publishing director of children’s trade at Bonnier, mood of the fair has been
Canelo, said: “The general said: “We have had a very overall positive. There seem
feeling has been a mixture busy fair for children’s to be fewer people around,
of bullish confidence and fiction, with a lot of but that’s not a bad thing.
strange unease.” interest. There is money in It’s less frantic.” Atlantyca, a children’s
Nic Cheetham, publisher the market for the right Kevin Chapman, at publisher from Italy, said:
at Head of Zeus, said: “It’s things. But the fair in Upstart Press, New “It’s going very well for us.
been busy, our busiest ever general seems a bit quieter, Zealand, said: “The mood Frankfurt is always a
fair – I’ve seen a lot of and there are not many seems quietly confident, milestone of the year for us.
interesting Chinese Americans.” while the corridors are more We are seeing a big bump in
publishing for example,” Jeremy Trevathan, quiet, which is fine with me: requests for middle-grade
while Suzanne Baboneau, publisher at Macmillan, I get more work done.” books, particularly stand-
md of adult publishing at said: “It’s been a bit like last Llana Suppressa, of alone titles of high quality.”
S&S UK, said: “All the deals
come before the fair – as
usual.” Ian Chapman, ceo
and publisher, said: “The Agents Centre move INSIDE:
prompts mixed reactions SELF-
fair feels quiet to me. There
are no ‘big books’ any more,
and any big deals are PUBLISHING
contrived by the agents While many North American requested anonymity. “I’m BOOM 3
holding a book back.” publishers were unaware that going to have to make several
Transworld publisher Bill the Frankfurt Book Fair next changes. Either I will have to
Scott-Kerr said: “The year was moving the LitAg, bring more staff to Frankfurt to RIGHTS
weather makes a massive
difference, there are loads of
the literary Agents Centre,
from Hall 6 to the Festhalle,
accommodate our being in two
places at once, or I am going
ROUND UP 4
people out enjoying the sun those who were aware of to have to schedule one day of
in the courtyard, which the situation were unequivocal meetings at the Agents Centre
could contribute to the in their criticism. “It’s an and one day at my booth. FRANKFURT
feeling that the fair [in the unmitigated disaster,” said Either way, it’s a lose lose.” GALLERY 6
halls] is a bit quieter.” an American publisher who Continues on page 4 g
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018 FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY

Self-published titles go past 1 million


The number of self-published books topped the 1 million with 30,747 ISBNs, down 3% from 2016. Author Solutions
mark for the first time in 2017, according to Bowker’s had 10,203 ebook titles last year, down 6% from 2016.
annual report on the number of ISBNs that were issued to The total 28% rise in self-published books last year was
self-published authors, writes Jim Milliot. The total a marked increase over the 8% rise in self-published titles
number of ISBNs issued last year rose 28% over 2016, to released in 2016 compared to 2015. While last year
1,009,188. Bowker’s Beat Barblan suggested that the 8% gain showed
The gain was due entirely to the increase in the number that the self-publishing market might be maturing, the
of print ISBNs issued by Bowker last year – 879,587, a much higher increase in 2017 prompted Barblan to
jump of 38% over 2016. The number of ISBNs issued for comment that the growth in self-publishing “shows no
ebooks released by self-published authors fell 13% from signs of slowing down”.
2016, to 129,601.
Bowker noted that the 2017 decline was the third year
the number of ISBNs issued for ebooks had fallen. But the
drop is more likely due to authors moving to Amazon’s
KDP platform rather than an overall decline in the number
of ebooks that were self-published last year. Bowker’s
ebook numbers are based on ISBNs issued, and since KDP
uses Amazon’s own ASIN identifiers, KDP’s titles do not
appear in the Bowker data. Amazon does not disclose the
number of KDP titles that it releases annually.
Bowker does, however, capture the number of print
books produced by Amazon’s CreateSpace division, and the
figures show a 50% increase in title output in 2017, with
the number of self-published books released by the
company reaching nearly 752,000. CreateSpace’s closest
competitor in the print space, Lulu, saw units fall 5%, to
36,651.
The number of print ISBNs issued by the various imprints
Sillem turns agent
of Author Solutions fell again in 2017, dropping 19%, to Nina Sillem has left S Fischer Verlag after 19 years at the
15,667. The number of print ISBNs issued annually by company to become a literary agent. She will focus on
Author Solutions has fallen every year since 2012, when developing non-fiction books across a wide range of
the company had 31,531 print self-published titles. genres, from current affairs to popular science. “I’m
looking to acquire three or four good projects to work on in
Absent numbers from Amazon, Smashwords had the
my first year,” she told the Show Daily. “Non-fiction is
highest number of ebook ISBNs issue last year, although having a good moment, particularly with all the political
the number fell 15%, to 74,290. Lulu was in second place books. It should be an interesting change and I’m looking
forward to experiencing the industry from a different
perspective.”
To contact Frankfurt Show Daily at the
Fair, please visit us at the Publishers
Weekly stand in Hall 6.0 D42.
IPA elects Setzer, Al Qasimi
Publisher: Joseph Murray
BookBrunch Managing Director: Jo Henry
Hugo Setzer and Bodour Al Qasimi were confirmed
Editors: Andrew Albanese, Nicholas Clee, Neill Denny yesterday at the organisation’s General Assembly in
Reporter: Ed Nawotka Frankfurt as the future president and vice president of the
International Publishers Association. They will take up
Project Coordinator: Bryan Kinney their positions on 1 January 2019. Setzer has been IPA vice
Layout and Production: Heather McIntyre
Editorial Coordinator (UK): Marian Sheil Tankard president since 2016. Bodour Al Qasimi will chair the
organising committee of the International Publishers
For a FREE digital trial to Publishers Weekly go to Congress in Lillehammer in May 2020. Michiel Kolman,
publishersweekly.com/freetrial outgoing IPA president, described the appointments as
Subscribe to BookBrunch via www.bookbrunch.co.uk “great news for the future of IPA… It is important that
or email editor@bookbrunch.co.uk IPA’s leaders will now be gender balanced and show off the
diversity of our organisation.”

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FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

Rights round up
Pamela Cannon at Ballantine Books author’s attraction to and fear of solitude and isolation, Retreat (early 2020)
(US) has signed North American will ask how extended periods of meditation alter the neurochemistry of the
rights, in a rumoured six-figure deal, brain. What is the long term emotional effect of retreat? And is isolation a
in Troop 6000 by Nikita Stewart. means of engaging more fully with reality, or of evading it? Segnit is an Anglo-
The author, a New York Times American writer based in London. This will be his first non-fiction book.
reporter, was represented by Larry
Weissman, who has an eponymous Doubleday US and Fleet (Little, Brown UK) have signed a new novel by
shingle. Troop 6000 concerns a Colson Whitehead, author of the bestselling and award-winning The
group of homeless girls who, along Underground Railroad. Whitehead’s agent is Nicole Aragi; the UK sale was
with their parents, start a Girl Scout handled by Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein. The Nickel Boys (2019) is the story
troop. Ballantine said it was “an of two boys sentenced to a stretch in a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era
inspiring true story”. Florida. The novel is based on the story of a real institution. Whitehead said:
“It was a story I hadn’t seen told before – another one of our country’s secret
Asya Muchnick at Little, Brown and tragedies. I wanted to speak for them, in whatever small way I could.”
Federico Andornino at Hachette Nikita Stewart
sister company Weidenfeld in the UK Saga Press’ Joe Monti nabbed, in a two-book pre-empt, North American
have signed The Reunion by France’s bestselling author, Guillaume Musso. rights to Nathan Ballingrud’s debut novel The Strange, and a collection
The deals were struck with Musso’s French publisher Calmann-Lévy (also called The Atlas of Hell. The latter, Monti noted, contains the novella
part of Hachette Livre), and publication is set for July next year. The “The Visible Fifth”, which has been adapted for film (starring Armie
French edition of The Reunion, Musso’s first title with Calmann-Lévy, has Hammer and Dakota Fanning). Monti said The Strange was pitched as
sold more than half a million copies since its publication earlier this year. “The Martian Chronicles meets True Grit”, and followed a 14-year-old
France Télévisions is to broadcast the novel as a six-part miniseries. It is set girl on a misguided journey of revenge in search of a gang that attacked
on the French Riviera, where dark secrets emerge during a school reunion. her father. Ballingrud (North American Lake Monsters) was represented
by Renee Zuckerbrot at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents.
What does it take to land a movie deal via Wattpad? For Sam Marsden,
whose SF novel Under Glass has been optioned by Stampede, it was f Continued from page 1
350,000 reads on the storytelling platform. Marsden, who is repped by
New Leaf Literary & Media, initially published Under Glass, described by Agents Centre move
the agency as “a modern-day Logan’s Run for the Brexit era”, in October
2017, sharing two chapters a week with readers. The book was removed Johanna Ingalls, managing editor of Akashic Books (Hall
from the site in early 2018, after Marsden received multiple offers of 6.0) said: “I don’t like it. The change will mean that my fair
representation and signed with New Leaf. The agency, which at press time
was shopping the manuscript to publishers at Frankfurt, said that a
is almost guaranteed to be less productive. I am going to
substantially revised version of the book was making the rounds at the fair. have to take half as many meetings and its likely that my
meetings will have to be shortened to 15 minutes, rather
A debut that Doubleday’s Lee Boudreaux won at auction back in January than 30.”
is a hot commodity at the fair thanks to a foreign rights sales approach
by Trident Media Group. Claire Roberts, who is selling foreign rights to
The LitAg has moved several times in the past decade,
Claire Lombardo’s The Most Fun We Ever Had, said a calculated decision frustrating some, in order to accommodate growth; this
was made to shop the book abroad after it was edited by Boudreaux. year the LitAg has 538 tables, up from some 500 the year
Foreign pubs were told about the book in London, teasing the release before. Among the agents themselves, the reaction has been
before Frankfurt. Now, with an auction closed in Germany and a UK pre-
empt accepted from Weidenfeld, the old acquisition seems, well, new.
mixed. “We are constantly told that we are ‘the heart of the
fair’ and rights are the very reason for the fair’s existence,
Writers House’s Al Zuckerman closed a deal for two series, Ninja Kid yet we are being treated like pawns,” said one, who noted
and Weirdo, by bestselling Australian author and stand-up comic Anh the existence of a petition circulating in the LitAg asking
Do. Scholastic’s Abigail McAden took US and UK rights to six books – the first
two in Ninja Kid, and the first four in Weirdo – in the agreement. Zuckerman
the fair to reconsider the decision.
noted that Do had sold over 2 million copies, in Australia, of his autobiography Another agent, one who asked not to be named for fear
(about escaping from Vietnam) as well as, on the children’s side, his series Hot of backlash, suggested that the move might prove to be
Dog! He is a fixture on Australian television as well as having appeared in various auspicious. “I don’t know what all the complaining is
shows, including the 2007 iteration of the country’s Dancing with the Stars.
about. It’s not as if what we have now is so luxurious,” she
Living in the Multiverse by Thomas Hertog was acquired, just before the said. “And who knows, maybe the Festhalle will be a nicer
fair, in a six-figure acquisition by Hilary Redmon at Ballantine Books venue – maybe it will finally have enough women’s
(US). Hertog, a world-renowned cosmologist, was represented by Max bathrooms so I won’t have to wait in line to pee.”
Brockman at Brockman, Inc. Speaking about the book, Brockman said it
chronicled the long collaboration between the author and Stephen
British publishers have expressed misgivings at the move.
Hawking, who spent 20 years developing a “new and important theory The new venue is a five-minute walk from Hall 6 using the
on how the universe began”. Hertog said that the book, which lays out moving pavements on the elevated walkway.
their theory, is “the culmination of our intellectual journey” and “a book David Shelley, UK ceo of Hachette, said: “It is not going
for a broad audience about our new cosmology”.
to be seriously inconvenient, but it is obviously not ideal.”
In a deal that may offer an antidote to the Frankfurt Book Fair, Bodley Head He predicted that there would be more meetings held in
publisher Stuart Williams has signed UK and Commonwealth rights in Hall 6, or “people would get fit” travelling to and from the
Retreat by Nat Segnit, pre-empting rights within 24 hours of receiving the Festhalle. Jeremy Trevathan, publisher at MacMillan, said
proposal. The agent was Will Francis at Janklow & Nesbit. Informed by the
he was “concerned” about the move.

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FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

Scenes at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair

Jo Henry, BookBrunch md, chaired a Women’s Prize panel with 2018 Antonio Martin (left), founder of La Lectore Futura, with Carlo
winner Kamila Shamsie and (right) Joanna Prior of Penguin. Carrenho, the founder of PublishNews in Brazil. They have joined forces
to launch PublishNews for the Spanish language market.

From left: Helen Kogan, md of Kogan Page; Orna O’Brien, conference manager, London Book
Fair; Jonathan Glasspool, md Bloomsbury Academic; Clare Painter, Clare Painter Associates.

Celebrating Macmillan’s 175th, Macmillan ceo John


Sargent (right) with Bloomsbury ceo Nigel Newton.

CP Heiser, publisher and co-founder of Los Angeles-based The


Korean novelist Un-su Kim signed copies of his forthcoming novel The Plotters. Unnamed Press, stopped by the Publishers Weekly stand to show
With him are (left) Anna Kelly, his editor at 4th Estate, and Mallory Ladd, off the company’s new non-fiction list, which is led by Cruising:
HarperCollins head of international sales. An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime by Alex Espinoza.

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FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

Cengage turns the page on textbooks


This fall, Cengage, one of the world’s largest AA: The move does seem both bold and
textbook and educational companies, risky, if only because the textbook business is
introduced Cengage Unlimited, a new digital so entrenched. Is that how you perceived it,
subscription service offering students access as bold and risky – or, was it just necessary?
to all of its digital learning platforms, MH: I think all of the above – a change of
ebooks, and online homework and study this magnitude doesn’t happen if you don’t
tools for one price. It’s a massive, and long want to take a risk. If you say I’m just going
overdue model shift, says Cengage CEO to preserve my business model, and I’m
Michael Hansen, who spoke to Andrew going to defend it until the last hour, nothing
Richard Albanese about why he believes the changes. And I think the industry has for too
textbook’s long reign needs to end. long been in this kind of defensive mode,
Michael Hansen and not addressing the real problem. So, yes,
AA: How did you come to see the light there is risk. But we’re encouraged by the
about digital subscription? reaction from students so far.
MH: It’s a really good question. There was not a moment
when it hit us; it was more of a continued observation that the AA: Do you think we’ve hit an inflection point for the
old business model of textbooks had become a game of the cat textbook? When one of the world’s largest educational
chasing its tail. Our customers have been telling us for some companies moves so aggressively to digital subscription,
time that the textbook is not worth the money they does this not suggest the business at large needs
pay for it. And, increasingly our customers, the to get more aggressive about digital too?
students, have been finding ways around buying the MH: I think they do, I really believe that. We’ll
product. In some cases they opted not to buy it at all, see what they do. But I do think eventually we’re
only to find out during midterms that that was not going to be on the right side of history, removing
such a good idea. Then the used book market a significant barrier for students, and equally
developed, then rental. And the industry responded importantly, enabling students to access material
to this by continuing to raise prices – which we digitally. I think this is the way of the future, and I
could, because the faculty, not the student, was think it will make the content even more useful.
actually the decider, and the faculty’s decision [to
use a textbook] was not price sensitive. So, what I AA: That of course is the other part of this: in
mean by the cat chasing its tail is that as more addition to better pricing, digital also offers a more
customers figured out ways not to pay for the powerful experience. One of the selling points of
books, the more the industry just kept raising prices. And while Cengage Unlimited is the supplemental material the service
the number of units sold was declining, this was masked by the offers. Do you think making the model switch gives you an
revenue – because we kept raising prices. When I arrived six advantage as we move toward a more interactive learning
years ago, Cengage was one of the biggest players in this environment?
insane game. The pivot for us came with a simple realisation: MH: Yes, and it’s a massive change. I think that the easiest
you can’t sustain a business if your end user is unhappy about way to summarise the potential is that, with this model, the
the price/value relationship of the product. You just can’t. So users of the content – the students, as well as the faculty –
that’s why we started to work on a radically different model. have the power to better inform and influence what works.
We now have real-time data, about the content, usage,
AA: Cengage recently did a survey with Morning Consult, assessment data and how different people understand
which found – no surprise – that students do find different concepts. And that is really the underlying power
textbooks to be way too expensive. Did that survey reveal of technology, and what will enable us to be much faster in
anything new to you? terms of doubling down on what works, or pulling back on
MH: I would say the degree of pain was surprising. When what doesn’t. Now, some of this is still somewhat futuristic,
you see that 43% of students skip meals in order to afford we’re in the first inning so
textbooks, or when you see that about a third of the students to speak. But that’s
said they don’t take a trip home from college because they had certainly where we
to pay for their textbooks. I think that makes it real. This is want to go. We want
not just some concept. It has a real and direct impact on to make the learning
students’ lives, and on their education. And frankly we were experience
delighted by the fact that the underlying message coming back commensurate with so
from the survey was exactly in line with what drove us to many other experiences
make this pretty bold and risky change to our business model. in the 21st century. ■

8
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of Midpoint Trade Books, August 2018

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FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

Changing the conversation


Suzanne Farley looks at what can be done to reduce publication misconduct

I hope I’m out of a job sooner rather than later. It experienced editors at Springer Nature deal with
may seem strange that, having been in my current relatively minor issues themselves, this is just a
role leading the small Springer Nature Research portion of the total number of integrity-related
Integrity Group for about two months, I have queries. Of those 500 queries, most originated in
redundancy as my aim. But wouldn’t it be the medical and life sciences portfolios. Only 10%
amazing if there was no longer any research or concerned books or book chapters, and about
publication misconduct to prevent or detect? half of the problems were detected after
Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen publication. Plagiarism, duplicate publication, and
anytime soon. The pressures on authors, editors problems with authorship, data or the peer-review
and reviewers are as intense as ever. New types of process were the main categories, and most cases
misconduct continue to emerge. Old ones become involved a single article or book.
more sophisticated and, therefore, more difficult Suzanne Farley Less frequent, but perhaps more concerning,
to detect. Plagiarism, stolen intellectual property, fake data, are the cases that play out on a massive scale: thousands of
authorship-for-sale, article mills, fake decision letters and proofs, manuscripts, and hundreds of authors, editors and in-house
fake reviewer reports, citation cartels, identity theft – just some of staff across multiple legal jurisdictions, languages and time-
the scams I’ve dealt with in my 15-odd years in STM publishing. zones. Completing a thorough investigation can take months.
And then there are the honest mistakes. The line between the two Agreeing actions can take even longer. It’s resource-heavy work
is often blurrier than you’d think. that hits obstacles at every turn. And instead of generating
In the first half of this year, my team received about 500 requests revenue it generates retractions, corrections and notifications to
for adviceNBD_Int_Advert_185x130mm_HR.pdf
from both in-house staff and external
1 editors. As16:53
26/09/2018 many authors’ institutions.

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FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018 FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY

It’s no surprise that there’s such a “negative vibe” around these So many questions! And – as yet – not a lot of answers. But there
types of issues. Being caught has serious repercussions for the are many more conversations happening on these topics than in
individual. Failing to prevent and detect misconduct can damage the recent past. There have been some improvements: for example,
the reputation of employers, funders and publishers. And even more-informative retraction notices, speedier resolution of issues
admitting that it happens at the scale that it does is not something and heavier investment in resources by some publishers. But these
that all stakeholders are prepared to do. Throw in some lawyers, improvements are patchy. Most stakeholders are only now
and these are extremely tricky waters to navigate. Everyone realising the scale of the problem and taking their first steps
involved feels twitchy and uncomfortable. towards building mechanisms to address it.
So, my more realistic, shorter-term goal is to help create an As well as addressing issues when they arise, we need to do more
environment – first at Springer Nature, but then more broadly – in to prevent them happening in the first place. I hear from many
which addressing integrity issues is a normal, non-confrontational authors and reviewers that they receive zero training in this area
part of what we do. Let’s use retractions to illustrate the concept. from their employers, and that many publishers provide very little
Retractions happen for myriad reasons, both honest error and guidance on what is and isn’t acceptable. When guidance is
deliberate misconduct. Why, then, are retractions inevitably provided, it often differs between publishers for no apparent
regarded as blots on authors’ records? Shouldn’t authors who reason. How much does someone have to contribute to qualify as
detect honest errors in their own work and initiate correction of an author? Which third-party services are OK to use? Where are
the scholarly record be applauded? Why do many retraction the lines between quotation, paraphrasing, text recycling and
notices provide readers with such scant information about the plagiarism? How does licence type affect these parameters?
reasons for retraction? Is the label “retraction” so loaded that we Sharing resources and working towards common standards are
should replace it altogether? Should retractions be used as two ways in which publishers can move things forward. I’d love to
“punishment” for misconduct? Is dispensing punishment the role hear from anyone who is interested in working on this together. ■
of the publisher or the employer? How should whistle-blowers be
Suzanne Farley, PhD, is director of research integrity at Springer Nature
protected? Who should decide all these things? (s.farley@nature.com).
FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

US librarians fear ebook market changes


After years of relative stability, the library licenses titles to public libraries for two-
ebook market is beginning to show signs year terms, while dropping some prices.
of movement, writes Andrew Richard Librarians, however, say that the price
Albanese – but unfortunately, librarians drops are not nearly enough – and that
say, it is movement in the wrong direction. the publisher in fact has raised prices on
In July, librarians protested after some titles under the switch.
Macmillan officials unexpectedly Among the other “Big Five”
announced a four-month embargo on publishers, Simon & Schuster officials
ebook editions of new Tor titles in declined to comment specifically on
libraries, citing evidence of a negative whether any new models or terms were
impact on retail ebook sales. And this under consideration, saying only that
month, Penguin Random House Michael Blackwell, organiser of the library group that the publisher is always “evaluating
(PRH) announced changes to its ReadersFirst, which supports better access to our sales and sales models in our
library ebooks, at a digital content summit at the
library ebook model, which have American Library Association Annual Conference different channels of distribution”.
drawn criticism as well. A Hachette spokesperson,
Macmillan officials say that its embargo on Tor ebooks is meanwhile, said the publisher “believes strongly” in public
only a “test” and that for now is restricted only to Tor titles. But libraries, and that the publisher is “proud” to make
with no engagement with librarians from Macmillan officials, it Hachette ebooks available for borrowing in public
is unclear exactly what is being tested by denying readers timely libraries. “At the same time, we continually reassess our
access to ebook editions of new Tor titles. And in response, business arrangements and cannot rule out a change in the
librarians have dug into their own data. Their conclusion: given future, if we were to independently determine that another
the small numbers of Tor ebooks available in libraries, they approach would both satisfy borrowers’ needs and be
dispute that library ebook lending could possibly be having any sustainable from a business standpoint.”
measurable “adverse” impact on the publisher’s retail sales. Both S&S and Hachette offer one- or two-year licences,
Indeed, our recent look at the numbers from a sample of at prices that are significantly higher than the print prices.
libraries, and from OverDrive, a leading ebook service Perhaps the best news for libraries comes from HarperCollins,
provider to libraries, backs up librarians’ claims. In looking which says it has no plans to change its current model, which
at the titles Tor has released in the last year, Steve Potash, librarians have rated highly. HarperCollins licenses titles to
CEO of OverDrive, told PW that the average Tor author libraries for 26 lends per term at prices near the hardcover
has only about 50 to 60 total ebook copies available to print price, after which the licence must be renewed. And
borrow “from the thousands of library catalogues” last year, Harper even began experimenting with what’s
OverDrive supplies worldwide. been described as a pay-per-use option for some of its
“In other words, if you’re in the middle of the Tor list, within deeper backlist titles.
your first year of publication, from the thousands of library Harper executives said the pay-per-use option has been
catalogues out there, you will only have about 50 total copies meeting expectations, and is succeeding in surfacing deeper
of your ebook available to discover or borrow,” he explained. backlist titles within library catalogues, which was a goal of
Further, “the most typical number of unit holdings for a the programme. And in terms of its frontlist and the state of
library for Tor ebooks,” Potash said, “is zero”. the library ebook market, Adam Silverman, senior director
But that’s not only true for Tor authors, Potash added. “The of digital business, said the market seems “fairly stable”.
reality is, that if you’re an author, unless you’re on the New
York Times bestseller list, due to limited budgets and the The Panorama Project
volume of ebooks entering the market, you’ll have a hard time Librarians, meanwhile, remain concerned, and say Macmillan’s
finding your ebook in most libraries. And if you can find it, and “test” and PRH’s changes must serve as a wake-up call
you have a valid library card, you’re lucky if it’s available.” after years of relative calm. In response, with initial funding
from OverDrive, librarians are responding with a data-
The “Big Five” and their models driven programme, called the Panorama Project.
Meanwhile, as of 1st October, Penguin Random House has The project – in which both Macmillan and Penguin
changed its entire ebook model. Until recently, PRH licensed Random House have agreed to participate, will collect data
ebooks to libraries on a perpetual access model – in other and analyse evidence, which will hopefully lead to objective
words, no lend limits or expiration dates on titles. That model conclusions about the role libraries play in the publishing
had garnered mixed reviews from librarians, who like the ecosystem, including the impact of library holdings on
option of perpetual access, but didn’t need to keep (and pay book discovery, author-brand development and sales.  ■
for) multiple digital copies of once-popular bestsellers after The Panorama Project is open to all, and participation is welcome. For
they have stopped circulating. But as of this month, PRH now more information, visit https://www.panoramaproject.org/.

12
FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

The rise and rise of the indie author


As someone who has been following the symbiotic relationship. Two of the most
digital transformation of the book business effective tools to put new books in front of
very closely for the last 10 years, in my readers have been Kindle Unlimited and Kindle
opinion, the winners have been indie (self- Owners’ Lending Library. The compensation to
published) authors, writes Sam Missingham. authors in monetary terms is small; the upside
This army of passionate and determined makes sense for indie authors who use these
authors has taken advantage of every tools as tactics in a longer game plan.
opportunity going. Neither KU or KOLL have been widely
Getting your book published has always adopted by traditional publishers, as neither
been dependent on agents, editors, reviewers, makes financial sense for them. However, both
booksellers and others, a necessary process of programmes effectively ring-fence voracious
curation in a world with limited shelf-space. Sam Missingham readers with mostly indie authors. This is just
There wasn’t room for everyone in bookshops. one way indie authors are gaining readers and
The publishing gates were closed to any authors who weren’t building writing careers. During these 10 years they have
established, connected or lucky. Amazon, the great disruptor, become a skilled and self-supporting group of professional
changed all of that a mere 10 years ago when it launched its authors. In fact, many are fully functioning micro-publishers
KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform, giving everyone a of their own books, driving every element of the publishing
chance to be published. With no gatekeepers and infinite process with significant success.
shelf-space, thus began the democratisation of publishing. In particular they are leading the way in book marketing, and
Indie authors seized the day, learned how to use Amazon’s it is true to say their approach has been copied by other authors
systems, and took advantage of their flexibility, their and indeed several digital-only publishers. And why not, there
promotions and regular new services. The success of indie is much to learn. The most successful indie authors market their
authors is absolutely in Amazon’s interest, a mostly books strategically, continually marketing and leveraging their

Advancing Copyright. Visit us at Hall 4.2 Stand E18


Accelerating Knowledge. Complete program information available at
Powering Innovation. copyright.com/Frankfurt2018
#FBM18CCC • @CopyrightClear
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018 FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY

backlists, price pulsing across their lists, launching more driver of book sales, such as literary prizes, real bookshop
frequently, building databases of readers and potential readers, shelf space, retailers’ books of the month, reviews in the
automating where they can, testing and iterating at every press and trade journalism only include books from
marketing touchpoint. This is granular marketing, where traditional publishers. Indie authors are excluded.
money is spent only when a positive return on investment can As a determined group, indie authors will continue to try
be achieved – little wastage, focused and effective. This to break down these barriers or will create alternative
marketing also happens year-round, at weekends and during awards, prizes and mechanisms to drive sales. Amazon is
the evenings. Who could be more motivated than an author already playing its part in facilitating this, with the Kindle
watching the fruits of their labour in real time? Storyteller Awards.
This is totally unachievable by publishers working at Indie authors are entrepreneurial, nimble and determined
scale; this approach is time-consuming and would require and I think we’ll see more rapid change. Self-publishing will
significantly larger marketing teams – which are surprisingly gain in credibility, and will become a viable and attractive route
small for the huge volume of books they work on. Large for more and more authors. I assume Amazon will continue to
publishers do indeed use some of the same digital marketing facilitate this, by making self-publishing easier and supporting
techniques, but tactically and usually around a launch. The indie authors – who are effectively their motivated sales team.  
marketing budget is spent during a launch window, which Traditional publishers should be aware of indie authors’
may be anywhere between six weeks and a year (for a very progress, but should also consider evolving more rapidly,
hot prospect). If a book takes off, publishers may find more exploiting digital opportunities, better terms for their
budget to keep the ball rolling, but this is mostly an exception. authors and more granular year-round and effective book
Many indie authors have bestseller status on Amazon, but marketing for all of their authors. ■
as yet only a small number of indies have broken through to
Sam Missingham is founder of Lounge Marketing (http://www.
the top of the New York Times or Sunday Times charts – still
loungemarketing.com), a book marketing service for authors. She was
a very significant shift. And don’t forget almost every other head of audience development at HarperCollins UK.
FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

Brazil: A bossa nova market


A bossa nova composition by Antonio Carlos company has faced several problems in recent
Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes in 1958 goes years, including low performance, management
like this: “Tristeza não tem fim / Felicidade changes, stockholder disputes and competition
sim.” In English, it means: “Sadness never with Amazon. All this led to a particularly
ends / Happiness does.” That’s not a bad serious financial situation this year, and the
way to describe the economic and political company has been forced to withhold payments,
chaos in Brazil, writes Carlo Carrenho. or constantly renegotiate them with publishers.
Happiness was abundant in Brazil until 2013, Livraria Cultura has only 18 stores – but they
when under the command of the Workers’ Party, are megastore venues. Last year, it acquired the
Brazil showed great economic growth and, more Brazilian operation of French FNAC and its 12
importantly, social development. But the country stores in the country. And in a surprising move,
has since hit a serious economic crisis, and Carlo Carrenho FNAC actually paid Livraria Cultura BRL 150
entered a period of political turmoil that led to million ($50 million) to take its assets. But a year
the impeachment of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff in 2016. later, Livraria Cultura faces huge cashflow difficulties, with
From 2014-2017, the Brazilian economy was in deep payments to publishers constantly delayed. By mid-September,
recession, down roughly 6.3%, despite a modest 0.98% the company had already closed 11 FNAC stores, leaving the
growth last year. And the political polarisation between the market to wonder why they were acquired in the first place.
left and the right jeopardises the everlasting Brazilian Amazon, meanwhile, keeps growing its market share. For
image of gentleness and peace. The general feeling in the the top 20 trade publishers, an educated guess put Amazon
country is that the storm is far from receding, and that the in the range of 8% to 10% of the print book market.
sadness, as the song goes, may never end. Book distributors are also facing difficulties in Brazil. Last
April, BookPartners, one of the largest Brazilian distributors,
Stagnation and decline had to file for bankruptcy. And another distributor, Acaiaca,
The turmoil has of course affected the book market. has recently downsized and reduced its activities.
According to BookMap’s 2017 report How Big Is Global
Publishing, Brazil is now the 13th largest market in the Other sectors of the book market
world, just above Canada and below Australia, down three The digital market, meanwhile, is more happy than sad. In
positions from a 2014 International Publishers Association 2017, the first digital census of Brazil showed that for the top
survey (which used similar methodology). four trade publishing houses digital sales represented 4.51%
According to a study conducted annually by the Brazilian of their 2016 revenues. German Bookwire controls more
Book Chamber and the National Book Publishers Union, than 80% of the Brazilian traditional ebook market, and
turnover in 2017 for the whole Brazilian industry was BRL had a 64% growth last year according to Marcelo Gioia, the
5.167 billion (roughly $1.559 billion). The trade sector country manager for Brazil. He expects another 22% growth
alone was responsible for BRL 1.164 billion ($351 million). in 2018. So the top trade publishers in Brazil are looking at
An analysis of the market shows a pattern of stagnation until roughly 7% of their revenues coming from digital.
2015, and then a serious fall. Overall, publishers lost 21.7% Unlike other parts of the world, the digital audiobook
of their revenue in real terms since 2014. Looking back even market has just started to crawl in Brazil. There is, however, an
further, the picture is not much better: from 2008 to 2017, interesting subscription-based company showing growth. Rio
the turnover from Brazilian publishers declined 24.9%. de Janeiro-based Ubook has content agreements with all the
mobile operators in Brazil and is now starting to move abroad
Some signs of hope with operations in Mexico and Central America. Meanwhile,
However, happiness appears to have come back to the book Audible and Storytel are about to be fully operational in
market this year. According to Nielsen BookScan, retail the Brazilian market. Though the Brazilian audiobook
turnover has grown a healthy 9.8% in the first 32 weeks of catalogue is still limited, the sector is poised for growth.
2018. That translates to real growth, since inflation was a There is no question that the financial and political crises,
little above 4% for the last 12 months. In units, Nielsen along with the lack of payments from the largest retailers,
points to a 5.9% increase in the number of copies sold. have created a serious bottleneck in publishers’ cashflows.
But while sales are up, that has not been enough to end But the bossa nova repertoire is huge – Jobim and Moraes
sadness. One can feel the morale sinking in the aisles of any also wrote The Girl from Ipanema, and Brazilians are
Brazilian publishing house when passing through, owing hopeful that, sometime soon, the book market will be “tall
largely to the deep crisis faced by the two largest book and tan and young and lovely” again. ■
chains in the country: Saraiva and Livraria Cultura.
Carlo Carrenho is the founder of PublishNews in Brazil
Saraiva has more than 100 stores in the country and it is (www.publishnews.com.br) and co-founder of PublishNews in Spanish
comparable in importance to Barnes & Noble in the US. The (www.publishnews.es). He is Brazilian, but can’t sing bossa nova.

16
FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

The second-oldest profession


With the end of the Cold War came a slowdown in follows the story to the beginning of the Cold War, as
what was once a very profitable genre for publishers Polish code-breakers continued to assist the UK.
– the spy novel. But as political tensions simmer
around the globe over election meddling and other The Cold War
endeavours, writes Lenny Picker, interest in the spy Three titles deepen the story of the Cold War. Eric
game is picking up steam – and as is often the case, Haseltine’s The Spy in Moscow Station: A
truth is better than fiction. Counterspy’s Hunt for a Deadly Cold War Threat
Often called “the second-oldest profession”, (Thomas Dunne, March) lifts the curtain on the late
the spy game has inspired an array of new and 1970s work of NSA (National Security Agency)
forthcoming non-fiction books ranging from “the engineer Charles Gandy in Russia. Haseltine, a former
first-ever detailed, comprehensive history of intelligence” director of research at the NSA, offers a cautionary tale about
to volumes on the cracking of the Enigma Code, Watergate another period in history when “Russian spycraft had proven
and a dramatic account of an obscure real-life plot, the itself far beyond the best technology the US had to offer”.
success of which would have changed the world. In The Moscow Rules: The Secret CIA Tactics That Helped
In The Secret World: A History of Intelligence (Yale America Win the Cold War (Public Affairs, May), Antonio and
University Press) Cambridge University history Jonna Mendez, experts in disguise who worked for
professor Christopher Andrew offers a truly global the CIA in Moscow during the 1980s, lay out how
look at the spy game, exploring why intelligence they created tactics of subterfuge that agents used to
services were a low priority for Julius Caesar; and get a step ahead of the KGB and gather valuable
how the prophet Muhammad used “a surveillance intelligence during the Cold War.
team” headed by his cousin to maintain an economic Seth G Jones’ A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA,
blockade of Medina. But it’s more than a and the Cold War Struggle in Poland (Norton) was
compilation of interesting facts. The history of called a “complex and well-written account of a
intelligence is full of well-intentioned policymakers major US intelligence operation of the Cold War” in
“seriously handicapped by their failure to PW’s review. Jones, of the Center for Strategic and
comprehend the importance of past experience”. International Studies, recounts the operation code-
named QRHELPFUL, which helped the democratic movement
The first conspiracy in Poland wage an information campaign against the Soviet-
Perennial New York Times’ bestseller Brad Meltzer’s The First backed government. In an amusing coup, some pro-democracy
Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George propaganda was even unwittingly smuggled in the
Washington (Flatiron Books, January) explores a luggage of Yugoslavian dictator Josip Tito.
complex conspiracy that could have changed the Matti Friedman told Publishers Weekly that he
course of history. In a little-known plot prior to the wrote Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth
American Revolution, the British conspired with New of Israel (Algonquin, March) to tell for the first time
York City’s mayor and the state’s governor to the story of “four young men who became Israel’s
assassinate George Washington – a scheme that almost first spies in 1948”. Friedman’s leads belonged to the
succeeded. Flatiron president and publisher Bob Miller Arab Section, formed during the Second World War
told PW that the book not only details the history of jointly by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in
that scheme, but illuminates “the early precursors to the Palestine. Friedman says he had “always thought of
modern-day Secret Service, FBI and CIA”. Israel’s intelligence world as incredibly professional”,
James Bond fans interested in 007’s creator will enjoy Mark but at the very beginning, it was “amateur agents in an ad-hoc
Simmons’ Ian Fleming and Operation Golden Eye: Keeping operation driven by sheer desperation”.
Spain Out of World War II (Casemate, November). Fleming was Some historical perspective on domestic spying in America –
one of the brains behind a sabotage plan to be enacted if and presidential obstruction of justice – is provided by Shane
Germany invaded Spain, which Simmons believes was O’Sullivan’s Dirty Tricks: Nixon, Watergate, and the CIA
“the closest Fleming came to being a real secret agent”. (Skyhorse/Hot Press, November), which covers how
The Academy Award-winning film “The Imitation the Nixon administration sought to shift blame for
Game” revived interest in cryptographer and the scandal to the CIA. And there are also surprising
computer pioneer Alan Turing. His nephew, Dermot conclusions in Steven T Usdin’s Bureau of Spies: The
Turing, has now written X, Y & Z: The Real Story Secret Connections between Espionage and Journalism
of How Enigma Was Broken (The History Press, in Washington (Prometheus), which probes how spies for
December), which explores how the intelligence decades used journalism as a cover to send secrets abroad.
communities of France, Poland and England joined His exploration of the evolution of fake news as a tactic
forces to break the German Enigma code, and in 20th-century spycraft will provoke further thought. ■

18
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Australians focused on health and wellness


Positive growth of 1.4% (all sales like for like) in the Australian a noticeable shift towards a “wholesome”
market this year (to week ending 25th August 2018) has mainly and clean approach to everything Australians
been driven by trade non-fiction, taking the market to AU$679m, do. This shift is visible in book sales across
writes Julie Winters. Within this sector, Personal Development other categories too: from Mind, Body &
has grown by a huge +41% this year and is now the largest Spirit (with growth of +20% this year);
genre within non-fiction, overtaking both Food & Drink and Health, Dieting & Wholefood Cookery, with
Biographies/Autobiographies. The number one title in this sector a six year compound annual growth rate
and across the total market is The Barefoot Investor. Scott Pape’s (CAGR) of +10%; Coping with Problems and
no-nonsense money advice book has been a huge success in the Illness (a +14.1% six year CAGR suggests that
Australian market, selling 839,000 copies since launch in mental health discussions are becoming more mainstream, with
November 2016, making it one of the Top 10 bestsellers since titles like First We Make the Beast Beautiful selling well); to Politics
BookScan Australia began in 2002. Of the 92 weeks The Barefoot & Government with a +11% six year CAGR led by Fire and Fury.
Investor has been selling in the Australian market, it has taken Our colleagues in the greater Nielsen predict that Health &
the overall number one spot for 47 weeks and the number one Wellness will continue to drive growth throughout the grocery
non-fiction spot for 74 weeks. However, the growth in Personal industry as macro factors like an ageing population, increases
Development is not just down to Scott Pape. Even in chronic diseases, rising healthcare costs and a
without The Barefoot Investor and Mark Manson’s The greater demand for product transparency continue
Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** (the top two titles), to influence consumer behaviour. Many consumers
Personal Development would have grown this year. are turning to superfoods to manage their ailments
In 2015, adult colouring books took hold in Australia, and conditions proactively. In books, we have seen a
as they did around the world, and at their peak dramatic shift in the Food & Drink genre away from
accounted for up to 11% of all book sales per week. General Food & Drink (-8% six year CAGR) to
Colouring books started a trend of mindfulness, with Healthy Cooking, with a +10% six year CAGR.
In another trend, Aussies are becoming fonder of
homegrown fiction. We saw Liane Moriarty own the

Come Visit Us! bestseller list at this time last year, and this year we have various
Australian authors selling as well as or better than their overseas
Hall 6.1, E133 counterparts. Australian authors accounted for nearly a third
of the Top 50 Fiction sales by value last year (15 titles from 8
Australian authors) and this year they have stepped up to take an
The Gold Standard in recovery... even larger slice of the fiction pie, accounting for nearly two in five
of the Top 50 fiction sales by value (16 titles from 11 Australian
authors). Five of the Top 10 titles in 2018 so far are by Australian
authors; in 2016 they accounted for only three of the Top 10.
With a strong DDS (Discount and Department Store) channel,
Children’s is a large sector in the Australian market, making up
44% of all units sold. Although the children’s
market is down slightly so far this year
(-1.5%), we are seeing single-digit long-term
growth in this sector (+4% six year CAGR),
with the increase coming from both fiction
and non-fiction. Australian authors such as
Andy Griffiths (Pan Macmillan), Aaron
Blabey (Scholastic) and Anh Do (Scholastic)
have been dominating the charts. A special
mention needs to go to debut title Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
(Hachette), which has been in the spotlight, winning booksellers’
How to Heal the Underlying Causes • and children’s hearts alike since release in October 2017. It has
How to End Relapse • How to End Suffering now won eight awards and sold more than 89,000 copies. The
second volume, due this month, is sure to make waves. Two other
From the bestselling author of Zen and the
Art of Happiness (published in over 25 languages) debuts that climbed up the bestseller charts were Andy Lee’s
surprise debut Do Not Open This Book (Lake Press) and Zoe
Foreign rights: Nigel J. Yorwerth • nigel@publishingcoaches.com
Hall 6.1, E133 (next to SCB Distributors) Foster Blake’s No-One Likes a Fart (Penguin Random House). ■
Julie Winters is associate director at Nielsen Book Pacific.

20
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018 FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY

‘Frankenbook’ escapes the MIT lab


Two very different laboratories, as a platform for passion, as
two very different experiments, much as publishing.
separated by two centuries – but “It was driven by the
they share a common DNA, different way that research at
writes Christopher Kenneally. the Media Lab is typically
Frankenstein; or, the conducted,” said Rich, a 2017
Modern Prometheus, PhD graduate at the MIT
published in 1818 by 20-year- Media Lab and project lead of
old prodigy Mary Shelley, is a PubPub. “We don’t have
novel whose composition traditional academic grants
resembles the famous creature that have a start date and an
itself: a stitched-together Terry Ehling Travis Rich end date with a very clear set
assemblage of Gothic horror, of goals. It’s an undirected
science fiction and romantic
“We took that otherwise static print research model that is
philosophical reflection. version of Frankenstein and put it on supported by a consortium of
Frankenbook, launched corporate members. We
online in January 2018 as part
PubPub with the goal of not only being typically operate by driving
of Arizona State University’s able to add new annotations... over time some passion and not
celebration of the novel’s necessarily just writing that
200th anniversary, is a
and having rich media annotations, up and sending it off to be
collection of contemporary but also to open that up to a broader published at some point. We
scientific, technological, enjoy having feedback and
political and ethical responses
community of commenters”–Travis Rich Continues on page 22 g
to the original Frankenstein
text. And the innovative publishing platform that hosts
Frankenbook is PubPub – among the first experiments to
escape the lab at the Knowledge Futures Group, a
Come Visit Us!
collaboration of the MIT Press and the MIT Media Lab. Hall 6.1, E133
“We serve as a test kitchen, an incubator, and a staging
platform for the development and launch of open source
publishing technologies and aligned open access
publications,” according to Terry Ehling, director of strategic
initiatives for MIT Press. “The open source approach not only
reduces the precarious dependency on costly outsourced
technologies and a limited network of commercial vendors
that most nonprofit academic publishers have, but also it
provides a foundation for greater in-sourced experimentation
and innovation,” she explained in a recent interview for
Copyright Clearance Center’s “Beyond the Book” podcast
series. Because publishing is no longer “technology-informed”
but “technology-driven”.
And yet too much of that technology, Ehling said, resides
outside of publishers’ control. At MIT Press, which publishes
more than 200 new books a year and more than 30 journals,
close business relationships exist with more than 20
commercial-grade service providers and technology platform
vendors, she estimated. “It’s costly for us. It also demands that
we compromise in many ways that I think are unproductive
for us,” she said. “The technology is, of course, someone else’s Breakthrough new perspectives on
technology. It was architected in a particular way for a ADD, ADHD, OCD, and autism
particular cohort and a customer base that doesn’t always
Foreign rights: Nigel J. Yorwerth • nigel@publishingcoaches.com
appeal to us as a not-for-profit publisher.” Hall 6.1, E133 (next to SCB Distributors)
As co-developer of PubPub in 2015 with his MIT Media Access Consciousness Publishing
Lab colleague Thariq Shihipar, Travis Rich positions PubPub

21
FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

f Continued from page 21 add new annotations to that over time and having rich media
conversations with member companies of the Media Lab. annotations, but also to open that up to a broader community
That iterative, feedback-driven, interactive, data-heavy of commenters,” Rich said. “Being able to do things on
approach… felt like the right way to do research. PubPub like include video annotations and links
[Before PubPub] we just didn’t have a tool that to augmented reality video games, changes it
let us work the way we wanted to work.” from just being a book that has annotations
Her inspiration for Frankenstein, Mary Shelley into a book whose annotations let you dive
recalled, was a friendly competition on a into different depths of content.”
summer’s holiday with writers Lord Byron and Since its founding in 1986, the MIT Media Lab
Percy Bysshe Shelley (her future husband) to has inspired conversations and coding that aim
write a ghost story. Now a fixture in the English to harness technology for creative expression. In
canon, Frankenstein originally depicted a 1995, MIT Press published one of the first open
Romantic era infatuation with nature colliding access books, City of Bits by William Mitchell,
with the growing power of science. who foresaw the ways that online communication
So it’s almost fitting that in 2017, MIT Press published was a powerful and liberating force. Years later, in 2018
an annotated edition of Frankenstein by David H Guston with Frankenbook, noted Terry Ehling, MIT Press is going
(founding director of the School for the Future of Innovation back to the future.
in Society at Arizona State University) and his ASU colleagues “City of Bits was by all accounts the very first book to be
Ed Finn and Jason Scott Robert. The open-ended, two-way online full-text, not just snippets, not just a chapter here or
publishing platform of PubPub represented an opportunity to a chapter there. That was really quite a breakthrough,” she
bring Shelley’s masterpiece to a global audience and to invite declared. “There was a lot of concern then that going an open
responses to the same moral puzzle she once confronted. access route would destroy sales of the print edition, and it
Thus, Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, did not. At the time, it actually amplified them. We sold about
and Creators of All Kinds begat Frankenbook. three times the number of copies of the print edition.” ■
“We took that otherwise static print version of Frankenstein
Christopher Kenneally hosts “Beyond the Book”, a podcast series from
and put it on PubPub with the goal of not only being able to Copyright Clearance Center.

22
November 11-18, 2018
MIAMI, FLORIDA
MIAMIBOOKFAIR.COM
/miamibookfair #MiamiBookFair2018

POETRY, FICTION & NONFICTION FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD


STREET FAIR / PUBLISHERS & BOOKSELLERS / CHILDREN’S AUTHORS & ACTIVITIES
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018
Visit us in Hall 4.2, Stand J72

Here be dragons
IMF Publications Book Industry Communication (BIC) reports

Ever wondered why that


glowing review from
Broadsheet X doesn’t show in
your book’s listing on
bookshop.com? Why the US
publisher is issuing rights
infringement claims against
your edition? Why bookshop.
com says your book is “Unavailable” when there are 1,000
copies in your warehouse? The BIC metadata map may be
able to help with these and many more metadata questions.
Throughout history, maps have been drawn to help make
sense of our surroundings, enable better communication,
safer, more reliable journeys and improved trading between
The story of Senegal’s process of economic people. However, early mapmakers often filled gaps in their
transformation and its application for many low-income knowledge with subjective beliefs, hearsay and imagination
countries is explored in this book. (“Here be dragons!”), and it was only by repeated surveys
$40. 2018. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-48430-313-9 and good objective observations by explorers that
trustworthy maps began to emerge and could be used
effectively by travellers and traders.

Objective knowledge
The BIC Metadata Sub-Committee recognised that a similar
lack of objective knowledge of the routes that product
metadata takes could lead to poor decision-making by both
data suppliers and recipients, and bad consumer experience.
Each organisation may have accrued its own set of beliefs,
but none of us can appreciate all the routes that metadata
takes to its points of use, nor all the potential pitfalls and
diversions along the way. If we all had a better
understanding of our metadata “world” then we might use
the data in the supply chain more effectively.
The challenge was to create a Map that could show what
product metadata is being created by whom, how it is passed
from one organisation to another (and possibly changed in
Through the evolution of inflation-forecast targeting, the process) and what recipient organisations do with the
this book tracks the development of monetary policy data they receive. BIC believes the most effective approach
over the past quarter century. to surveying these questions is to collect responses from all
willing supply chain participants, and then aggregate and
$30. 2018. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-48432-594-0 present the details in a searchable resource – the Metadata
Map itself. The Map will be published as an online,
constantly updated resource that will only be accessible to
Map contributors – full disclosure allows full visibility.

Significant challenge
The challenge is not insignificant (Best Practice+Wikipedia+
Bookstore.imf.org/fbf18c CityMapper for metadata…), but we expect the Map to
provide practical, real-world data so that contributing
I N T E R N AT I O N A L M O N E TA R Y F U N D organisations can benchmark their own metadata activity
and identify potential improvements to their data supply,
ingest or maintenance activities.

24
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

ports on the benefits of the BIC Metadata Map

2020
To take a concrete example, publishers have lots of
information about their authors: real names, pseudonyms,
biographies, links to other works by the same author(s) and
so on. A better understanding of how (or whether!) that
information is passed on by data intermediaries, and how it
is used by online booksellers should lead to better author
data being made available by data suppliers – data which
could be better trusted by recipients, data which should The year Canada will be the
GUEST OF HONOUR at
lead to better discoverability, better linking of multiple
products to the correct authors, and ultimately to increased

the FRANKFURT
sales and author, agent and customer satisfaction.
The project was launched officially at the London
Book Fair this year, and we have since developed a set of
extensive survey questions that are currently being trialled
by a “Pioneer” group of selected book trade organisations
from the UK. We appreciate the investment of time and
BOOK FAIR
resources by these companies to provide an honest
appraisal of capabilities and processes, and the level of
detail required. The Map cannot provide detailed answers
unless it collects detailed survey data in the first place. This year, meet us in Frankfurt
Nevertheless, we recognise that, like all good maps (as
we firmly believe ours will become!), our own Map is a Rencontrez-nous cette
work in progress: we do not expect to cover the année à Francfort
topography of the metadata supply environment in
complete detail at the first attempt, nor can we start
“drawing the Map” until we have objectively collated the Canada stand, Hall 6.0 B67
survey data provided by the Pioneer group.
Once our Pioneer group survey is complete we will seek
Stand du Québec, Hall 5.1 E111
contributions from the wider BIC membership, since it is
the BIC membership which is funding this project, and later • Translation Incentives
from all those organisations who are willing to participate.
Our goal is to enable organisations to improve their • Online Rights Catalogue,
metadata behaviour through comparison to the Map and, French and English Selection
as a result, raise the standard of data use throughout the
metadata supply chain. We fully expect the Map to inform • Fellowship Opportunities
BIC’s agenda over the next few years – let’s hope we don’t to Canada
find too many dragons! ■

BIC METADATA MAP STEERING GROUP


BDS – Eric Green
À bientôt !
HarperCollins – John Bell
Bertrams – John Garrould Gardners – Simon Pallant
BIC – Karina Urquhart Thames & Hudson – Andy
EDItEUR – Graham Bell Williams
Faber and Faber – Azar Hussain Nielsen – Howard Willows canadafbm2020.com
There are a number of useful resources on the BIC website @CanadaFBM2020
(http://www.bic.org.uk/195/BIC-Metadata-Map/) including monthly
project updates and the Terms of Reference for Contributors.

BIC (www.bic.org.uk) is an independent, not for profit members’


organisation working to promote supply chain efficiency in all sectors of
the book world through e-commerce, best practice, training, events and
the application of standard processes and procedures.
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

Bittersweet feeling
Lizzy Kremer explains why she has
mixed feelings when hearing the news
that a publisher has paid a seven-figure
advance for a book at a book fair
Publishing is our business
and the economics of it
demand our serious
attention. And yet, despite
the seriousness of our work,
we find joy in running the
risks of our unpredictable
industry. Agents and
publishers take pleasure in
being excellent at this game
of strategy and skill; in
being alert to the Lizzy Kremer
opportunities that come
from talent, from luck and from great timing. Every huge
advance paid for a non-brand name author signifies that
some of our fellow players have played well and won big,
and that at least one publisher is willing to gamble on
success with very high stakes.
And the sweetness for all of us in the seven-figure
Frankfurt book deal is that it acts as the proof that –
despite excruciating pressures on retail and variable
results for debut fiction in particular – publishers still
believe that they know how to make and find success for
authors and for themselves. Without publishers’ belief in
their own ability to actively build and predict bestselling
success, where would any talented author be? I welcome
every big bet a publisher places on a new book as a
rallying cry: books are our cultural lifeblood, books can
make money, authors deserve generous rewards. Let’s
share the best books and drive their success together!

Part of a larger game


But paired with the sweetness of the handful of buzzed-
about Frankfurt acquisitions is our knowledge that these
deals are part of a larger game into which publishers have
necessarily incorporated the potential for failure and for
write-offs. As stated already, success in our beloved
business can be unpredictable. And so it is that many of
the biggest auctions at book fairs are held for books that
actually don’t go on to sell in the sort of huge numbers
that justify a high six- or seven-figure advance. So how
can publishers continue to go with their guts and gamble
so big at Frankfurt?
Here is the bitter taste that lingers for some authors
and agents along with the sweetness of the bigger deals:
publishers can afford to gamble, because they are making
Continues on page 28 g

26
FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

f Continued from page 26


“Most authors As an agent I want my authors to earn
hundreds and thousands of bets every year good advances too. In the case of gambles, I
that pay off for them much more reliably of literary and want publishers to believe, at the moment
and profitably than do the huge book-fair genre fiction of acquiring my authors’ books, that these
deals we will read about this week. Most are the books that can and should become
mid-list authors earn out their advances are living off the mega-sellers of tomorrow. Publishers’
over the long term and live on their royalties, not conviction fires their creativity and
royalties. Most debut authors are paid low investment, and feeds enthusiasm in
advances. Most authors of literary and un-earnable everyone to whom they market their books.
genre fiction are living off royalties, not
un-earnable advances. And the downward
advances.” But I also aspire to negotiate big
advances because I am not convinced that
pressure on their royalties is inexorable standard royalties alone – in this era of
and real. high discounts (print), net receipts (digital) and
subscription platforms (audio) – any longer offer authors
Ever-narrowing market a fair share of a publisher’s profits.
It’s not only authors of lower-selling books who are Like other agents for brand name authors, I have
taking a small-ish slice of the pie, but some of our most worked out that the best way to guarantee my clients a
successful authors too. Our ever-narrowing market means greater share of the profits is to negotiate advances which
that there are fewer bestselling books, but with each one won’t necessarily earn out. Like other agents, I would
selling more copies. Those mega-bestsellers are not argue that authors with reliable audiences whose sales can
usually the books that were acquired for mega-advances, cover a predictable portion of a publisher’s overhead have
albeit that some were paid for with substantial sums. Even every reason to expect a higher share of the profits from
so, they have all exceeded expectations. Some have their publishing than a royalty alone can offer them.
exceeded expectations by large margins, some by vast But, as someone interested in the economics of publishing
ones. The authors of the mega-selling break-out books are for all authors, would I exchange a significantly higher and
also living on royalties, not advances. escalating royalty from copy #1 for all my authors for the
chance of never being paid another seven-figure advance
for one book by a new or unproven author? Yes I would.

Come Visit Us! Tilting the market


Hall 6.1, E133 One of the problems with the game of risk we all play
with advances is the way it tilts the market towards debut
(unquantified potential) and away from books written by
A Compelling Guide to Fearless, Creative Living not-yet-bestselling talented authors deeper into their
Written by a Female Martial Arts Grandmaster careers. I don’t enjoy that an author’s sales track record
can demolish his or her chances of a good advance for his
or her next book. And, although I love to pitch books, I
don’t want to have to fire a publisher’s imagination or
hope for a trick of the light or of good timing in order to
secure a fairer deal for my authors. I resent the time spent
persuading publishers to pay new authors, smaller
authors and mid-list authors a decent share of export
sales or a separate advance for audio rights. Anyway, I
know that mega-bestsellers have a habit of surprising us
all, as market leaders should. Everyone needs to be
contracted on a great royalty. Most importantly, I know
that my literary agency’s profits – a fair reflection of all
authors’ profits as a cohort – rely more heavily on fair
royalties than on one-off unearned advances.
I want all authors to be paid well, and for us all to
gamble together. I love the game, but I want us all to play
on the same side. Let’s keep up the rallying cry: books are
“An exciting new voice in self-transformation.” our cultural lifeblood, books can make money, authors
—New York Times bestselling author Marci Shimoff deserve generous rewards. Let’s share the best books and
drive their success together! ■
Foreign rights: Nigel J. Yorwerth • nigel@publishingcoaches.com
Hall 6.1, E133 (next to SCB Distributors) Lizzy Kremer is president of the Association of Authors’ Agents in the UK
and an agent and director at David Higham Associates.

28
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018 FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY

Just another international prize?


Neill Denny looks at the Man Booker Prize’s decision to allow US authors to enter

I’m at a minor literary prize last summer, yet I worry that the widening of the pool for
having a glass of wine with an author. She’s submissions has narrowed the chances of
famous, she has the talent to win the Man authors from the UK and Commonwealth
Booker one day, you’d know her name. being given the attention and acclaim which
Which is why I’m not going to use it. the prize once bestowed. It is of course
The conversation turns to the Booker, and necessary for prizes to innovate, but often
the decision to admit Americans. “It’s an change comes at a cost. In this case, I worry
epic act of cultural vandalism, the worst I that the cost is the diminution of possibilities
have seen in my lifetime,” she says, quite for authors who previously would have had
unprompted. No British writer has won the their careers made by the prize.”
prize since 2012. So where is the space for Commonwealth
I’m at another literary gathering, talking American writer George Saunders writers? Since the rules changed, American
winning the 2017 prize
to a prominent London publisher, whose writers have occupied two of the six places
house has won the Booker. I’d heard that he on the shortlist every year, with three out of
was ambivalent about the change, but I was misled. In fact, six American last year. This year the shortlist has the
he is dead against it, angry even. Again, I won’t use the obligatory two Americans (Rachel Kushner and Richard
name, he’s worried about the repercussions of talking Powers), three Brits (Anna Burns, Daisy Johnson and
publicly. Passions are running high on both sides. Someone Robin Robertson) and a lone Canadian (Esi Edugyan).
close to the prize attempts to shut down the debate by There are no Indians, Africans or Australasians.
telling me those seeking a return to the old rules are Continues on page 30 g
advocating a “Brexit for books”.
According to Man Booker the rules of the prize changed
at the end of 2013, to embrace “the freedom of English in
all its vigour, its vitality, its versatility and its glory wherever
Come Visit Us!
it may be”, opening up to writers beyond the UK and Hall 6.1, E133
Commonwealth. But do British publishers actually want that?
Anthony Cheetham, founder of Head of Zeus (and
several other publishers in the course of a glittering career),
describes the decision as “a disaster for British publishing...
it has basically become an American prize, just another
international award”. His wife, the agent Georgina Capel,
“tore strips off the boss of Man at the Buckingham Palace
reception [for the prize’s 50th anniversary celebrations]
until the poor man was left sweating with embarrassment”.
Cheetham believes the quality of the judges, and hence
the prize itself, has declined, and the net effect has been
detrimental to British literary culture. “If you had asked
people at the turn of the century they could have named the
top ten British writers, they can’t do that now.” There is a
sense that the Amis/McEwan/Barnes cohort has not been
replaced; there is now an atomised literary culture.
A leading publisher, who has edited a Booker winner and
some of the most famous British writers, says: “It was a
poor decision to let the Americans in, and it is having a
negative impact on the quality of the prize, and on the The Original Version, Restored and Revised™
development of British literary writing and writers.”
Worldwide bestseller. The copyright-protected
Ian Chapman, ceo of Simon & Schuster UK, says: “I
edition that makes all others obsolete.
completely understand why one might want to broaden out
the prize to American writers. We have been beneficiaries Foreign rights: Nigel J. Yorwerth • nigel@publishingcoaches.com
Hall 6.1, E133 (next to SCB Distributors)
of the change, having had Virginia Reeves’ wonderful novel © The Mindpower Press
Work Like Any Other selected for the 2016 longlist, and

29
FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

f Continued from page 29


“Publishers director of the Booker Prize Foundation,
Earlier this year Mark Richards, refers to it rather tellingly as a post-
publisher of John Murray, pulled together would be happy colonial organisation – but the publishers
around 30 of London’s top literary to have non- would be happy to have non-American,
publishers, who signed a letter asking for non-Commonwealth writers eligible. The
the change to be reversed by the prize American, non- underlying concern remains that Americans
organisers. The two sides first met face-to- Commonwealth will dominate. “The US has such economic
face in London restaurant Quo Vadis; and, power, the market is five times bigger,
says Richards, “talks are ongoing”. writers eligible. advances are five times bigger – the
The letter principally objected to the
marginalisation of Commonwealth writers.
The underlying circumstances for the production of literary
fiction are so much better for American
“The diversity of the prize has been concern remains writers,” Richard says.
significantly reduced. The 2017 shortlist
consisted of three Americans, two Brits and
that Americans The prize is still considering similar
number of novels as in pre-2014 times,
one British-Pakistani, as opposed to 2013’s will dominate.” around 150, but, as Richards says: “If
shortlist, which consisted of a New they want to be a global prize, they need
Zealander, a Zimbabwean, an Irishman, an American- to be reading 400 books a year.” That’s a tall order given
Canadian, a Brit and a British-American. In a globalised the comprehensive manner in which Booker judges
but economically unequal world, it is more important than read submissions.
ever that we hear voices not from the centres. The rule Richards is certain he is speaking for the vast majority.
change has made this much less likely to happen.” “The Booker prize should realise that it is doing this in the
And there has been no change this year. “Not just the teeth of the opposition of 95% of British literary
shortlist, but the entire longlist this year was North publishing.” And as for Brexit for books? “It’s a bit rich to
Atlantic,” says Richards. say that when the prize has become demonstrably less
The Commonwealth element of the original prize rules global under the new rules. I’d say that they’re putting
may be a problem for the prize – Gaby Wood, literary America first.”
Wood is keen to correct one misconception immediately
– that British writers will lose out. “Any good British
writer should feel that if they are working at their best
then they have nothing to fear.” The recent decline in the
numbers of Commonwealth writers making it onto the
shortlist has been noted with some concern, and may be
partly because publishers are not entering them, but Wood
notes that the Commonwealth itself is a “post-colonial
concept” that may now be out of date. (Although rights
directors may disagree!)
Wood responds: “The issue with the Commonwealth – I
say this because I take the point about rights – is not just a
semi-political one. It’s cultural. The countries that form the
Commonwealth are infinitely varied and distinct from each
other. There is no literary style or tradition that belongs to
‘Commonwealth literature’. I understand that in sales
terms for publishers that is a valid category, but Man
Booker judges shouldn’t be reading that way. There’s
something patronising in thinking of it as a single entity.
Much better to recognise the variety within it, which global
eligibility does.”
She stresses that the prize is not set in stone: “There is
every chance it will evolve – we’re keeping an eye on it with
a genuinely open mind”, but she rules out a return to the
old rules. “I don’t think there is much chance of the prize
going back, that would not be progress. I don’t mourn the
loss of all things British, literature is global and we have to
be open to the world.”
Perhaps the irony is that by seeking to take nationality
out of the prize, the organisers may have inadvertently
focused attention on it. ■

30
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018 FRANKFURT SHOW DAILY

Indonesia: Market Focus at London Book Fair 2019


At the London Book Fair (LBF) 2018 participating representatives
from the Baltic Countries formally passed Indonesia the baton
as Market Focus Country for the upcoming LBF 2019, writes
Laura Prinsloo. Since then, we have been putting together an
ambitious programme of cultural and professional publishing
activity in partnership with the London Book Fair and the
British Council, to take place across the next 12 months.
The LBF Market Focus programme will be a cultural showcase
for our country’s thriving publishing and literary scene, as well as a
platform for the exchange of knowledge amongst trade
Indonesia: a beach in Bali
professionals, encouraging more opportunities for Indonesian
writers to prosper. London is a key cultural capital in the world will present a unique insight into her work as an internationally
and we are delighted to be showcasing Indonesian publishing and published author, and into her ongoing contribution to the
literature at the London Book Fair. Indonesian publishing industry.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, Alongside Laksmi, we will also have Javanese writer Nuril Basri
consisting of up to 17,000 islands across which arts and culture as part of our cultural programme. A promising young novelist, he
play a major role in the daily lives of its people. It is therefore fitting has an upcoming work entitled Not a Virgin due to be published
that our theme for the cultural programme, devised by the by Monsoon Publishing in the near future.
National Book Committee and the Indonesian Agency for We are delighted to have this opportunity to reveal some early
Creative Economy, is “17,000 Islands of Imagination”. From a details of the LBF Market Focus programme, showcasing the best
recent compilation of reports, titled Understanding Indonesia, it is of the Indonesian literary imagination and bringing this creative
evident that there is a momentous national appetite for reading, energy into exchange with the UK and the rest of the world. ■
with nearly 2,000 publishers operating across the country and tens Laura Prinsloo is head of the National Book Committee in Indonesia.
of thousands of books published every year. We have always been
one of the largest publishing rights buyers in Southeast Asia, as
well as a prominent exporter of authors and translated works of
writing to the international literary scenes.
This has been an exciting few years for Indonesia and with the
help of the LBF Market Focus programme, we have an even
greater chance to unlock the potential of many more authors and
publishing professionals, and unveil the wealth of our heritage
through literature.
Our programme for LBF Market Focus will include a number
of events, many hosted in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast
Asian Nations) forum, which will explore trade developments in
the past three years, since we were Guest of Honour at Frankfurt
Book Fair in 2015, examining the impact of collaboration across
the international publishing community. Others will discuss
diversity in gender and genres, as well as the key publishers and
agents operating across Indonesia.
Further, headlining our programme at Frankfurt this year is
Jakarta-based novelist and poet Laksmi Pamuntjak, whose first
novel Amba was
an international
success, and
awarded the
LiBeraturpreis at
Frankfurt in 2016.
This year, she is
back with
Herbstkind,
published earlier
this year by Ullstein
Bornean orangutans (Germany). Laksmi

31
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

The dream Norway carries


The last time Halldór
Gudmundsson led a Guest of
Honour initiative, the Guest of
Honour country was going
bankrupt, writes Vebjorn
Rogne. Now organising
Norway’s effort for the 2019
Frankfurt Book Fair, things are
going better this time. “Norway
is experiencing a literary
golden age,” Gudmundsson,
an Icelander, says, a 100 years Margit Walsø and Halldór
after great Norwegian writers Gudmundsson
like Henrik Ibsen and Knut
Hamsun became international names. “The timing is perfect.”
Jo Nesbø is now one of the world’s most widely-read crime
novelists. Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle books have
become a phenomenon in numerous countries. Åsne Seierstad
is one of the world’s most acclaimed non-fiction writers.
Dramatist Jon Fosse has been a hot tip for a Nobel Prize. And
last year, The Life of Bees by Maja Lunde was Germany’s
biggest selling novel.
Gudmundsson knows what he’s getting into, after leading
Iceland’s Guest of Honour initiative in 2011, under perhaps the
most difficult conditions ever. As Gudmundsson prepared a major
literary offensive for Frankfurt, Iceland’s economy was sinking
into the sea. “The relatively large delegation planned for Frankfurt
suddenly became a one-man delegation,” he recalls. “My bank
cards didn’t work anymore, and I had to get euros from the black
market. When I travelled to Frankfurt to convince the fair that
we were still a good choice, I was barely convinced of it myself.”
But it went well. In Frankfurt, Gudmundsson was met with
great understanding. And back home in Iceland, the politicians
decided not to give up the project.

The Norwegian dream


The 62-year-old Gudmundsson possesses considerable literary and
cultural knowledge, drawn from, among other things, his years as
publishing director at Mál og menning. And in between his two
Guest of Honour initiatives, he has been the director of Iceland’s
large concert hall, Harpa. This time around, with Norway, he
has everything he needs: money, more people and more time. 
The Guest of Honour slogan, “Norway: The Dream We Carry”,
is taken from one of Norwegian poet Olav H Hauge’s best known
poems. And that dream is being supported by funding from three
Norwegian ministries, the Ministry for Culture, the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Industry, which is each
giving a third of the state’s 30m kroner (approximately 3.2m euro)
grant. In addition, private funding amounting to 1.5m euro has
come from the Norwegian book industry and other foundations,
and another million from private sponsors.
Then there is NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad),
whose efforts have already been underway for several years.
NORLA provides funding for sample translations to
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER 2018

s
Norwegian publishers and agents, and substantial support to
foreign publishers that wish to buy Norwegian literature, Since 2008, BookBrunch has been
usually paying half of the translation costs, sometimes up to keeping publishing professionals
75%. Currently, it is estimated that around 1,000 foreign
rights related to Norwegian literature are sold annually. “Last round the world informed about
year we provided support for 538 translations, divided the latest developments in the
between 363 different titles,” says Margit Walsø, director of
NORLA. “In addition, we estimate that roughly the same book industry on a daily basis. In
number of translations are released without support from us.” the last 10 years we’ve published
With a budget of up to 3m euro, NORLA employs 13
people, including the project group working on Norway’s thousands of news stories and
Guest of Honour initiative for Frankfurt 2019. “We have one opinion pieces, and interviewed
of the world’s most solid organisations for literary export,
perhaps the very best,” says Walsø. some of the most influential
And she sees an extremely happy long-term development in her book trade figures.
figures: “The number of translations has doubled in the past ten
years, and since 2004 we are talking about a five-fold increase,”
she says. “Adult literature is the largest area, but children’s
books and non-fiction is the area growing fastest with us.”

Nothing “big and pompous”


The last six months have been spent paving the way towards
Frankfurt, by creating relationships and building networks,
primarily between key people in Germany and Norway, and
bringing publishers, bookstores, press staff and bloggers from
Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Norway, where they
meet high profile writers and literary agents. And Norwegian
literature is being highlighted to German publishers,
bookstores and readers at literature festivals, literature houses,
bookstores and libraries all over Germany.
Meanwhile, Norwegians have already had a sneak preview of
Norway’s 2,000m2 pavilion for Frankurt next year. Of the 65 www.bookbrunch.co.uk
contributions submitted to an open architecture competition, the
jury fell for LCLA Medellín/Oslo and Manthey Kula’s dreamy
landscape of figurative and functional furniture elements dubbed • Sign up now to receive our Daily
Norway Tells. “We want this to be open and welcoming, nothing Newsletter email for FREE
big and pompous. The people, the literature and the reader
• Subscribe to gain full access to all our
should be central,” emphasises Gudmundsson. In addition to
books and authors, other art forms will be promoted, stories, and keep up to date with
showcasing the breadth of Norwegian culture. what’s going on
In fact, Norway’s Guest of Honour turn at the 2019
• We offer discounts on annual subs to
Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest foreign cultural initiative ever
undertaken in the country. And as such, it is not without its critics.
members of the IPG, Society of Authors
Over the summer, the well-known Norwegian writer Jan Kjærstad and SYP, as well as freelancers
came out and stated he would sooner use the funding for grants • BookBrunch subscriptions are FREE
for authors. But Kjærstad met opposition from several Norwegian
for booksellers and students
writers, associations and the industry. “Whether the project is
successful is not something we will really know next Autumn,”
Gudmundsson says. “It is the long-term effect that is interesting, For more details contact
not primarily what happens over a few days in Frankfurt.”
And how will success be measured? “When we have created a
editor@bookbrunch.co.uk
strong and lasting impression of Norwegian culture, ideas and
thoughts,” he says. “In Germany, and the rest of the world.” ■ * Applies to annual subscriptions
Vebjorn Rogne is the publisher and editor of Oslo-based BOK35.

33
Frankfurt Rights Marketplace
PW’s Title Showcase
Welcome to PW’s 2018 Rights Marketplace, a new feature launched last year. Here you
will find a diverse list of titles, embodying a wide range of categories within the
industry. This section was created to give publishers the opportunity to promote
individual titles, open up rights opportunities, and generate brand awareness
within the international marketplace.

Astrotheology: The Spiritual Atheist:


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ISBN 978-1-300-48474-5 ISBN 9781999731526

Hailed as one of the most gifted “Eye-opening. A nuanced way to


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40 books, including the well known
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the most advanced Mathematical presenting an accessible history of
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love, and leadership in the Digital Age
(506) 652-6350 St-michael@hotmail.com Sophie Wells | sophie@switchonnow.com
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Protected by Muslims
during World War II
Feature Your Books at Upcoming Shows
A Robert Neurath
Neurath Publishing PW will continue to produce our Title Showcase
ISBN 978-0-692-15061-0
section in all of our upcoming Show Daily
Describing the employment of
German professionals by Turkey
publications including:
after the rise of Hitler; the protection
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Contrasts with recent xenophobia,
• London Book Fair (March 12-14)
disdain for immigrants in the US;
admiration of Russian communists,
• Bologna Childrens’ Book Fair (April 1-4)
Copyright 2018 by Robert
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and endorsement of far-right politics. • BookExpo (May 29- 31)
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The 2019 New York Rights Fair will run concurrently with BookExpo, making
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