#fbm22: Trade programme with international industry leaders
Focus on audio publishing, media for children and young adults and literary translations / Expert talks with Charlie Redmayne, Núria Cabutí, Jonny Geller, Ashleigh Gardner, Peter Warwick, Michael Tamblyn and many others
What challenges does the book industry currently face, and what trends are emerging? How can books and digital formats be made more diverse, inclusive and sustainable, and how can access to content be improved? Those are just some of the issues representatives from the international publishing, film, games and creative industries will discuss at this year's Frankfurter Buchmesse (19-23 October 2022). From top executives of major publishing houses to innovation drivers active in growth markets and related sectors: participants in the book fair’s international trade programme will appear live on the fair’s various stages, offering inspiring discussions and insightful expertise on topics that are transforming the industry.
Frankfurt Audio: Focus on audiobooks, podcasts, audio software and services
Some 250 square metres of the Frankfurt Audio area will be putting a spotlight on the spoken word (Hall 3.1). More than 20 German-speaking exhibitors will be present at the IG Hörbuch collective stand; other international players such as Spotify, Zebralution, Beat Technology, Bookwire, Pozotron, I-Contact, Saga Egmont and Blackstone Publishing Audio will have their own stands or workstations in the area. Selected events will offer insight into the audio market and impart insider knowledge: On Thursday in the Frankfurt Studio, Nir Zicherman (Vice President and Global Head of Audiobooks, Spotify) will speak about the vision behind Spotify’s new audiobook division. In the Publishing Perspectives Forum, Jens Klingelhöfer (CEO, Bookwire), Nathan Hull (Chief strategy officer, Beat Technology) and Ama Dadson (CEO, AkooBooks Audio) will discuss the latest developments in audio publishing’s retail landscape. New this year is a special service for exhibitors and trade visitors: as the book fair’s audio ambassador, Matthäus Cygan, consultant for media and audio publishing, will be networking interested parties with audio companies at the audiobook collective stand (Hall 3.1 K 61) from Wednesday to Friday (19–21 October).
Transforming diversity: Trade conference on media for children and young adults
How are stories for young readers told today? And what role does diversity play in this context? These and other topics are the focus of the Frankfurt Kids Conference, curated by Frankfurter Buchmesse, which will take place this year for the first time as part of the book fair. On Wednesday, 19 October, experts from the publishing industry will be joined by representatives of children’s and youth organisations to discuss children’s books in a socio-political context and from an international perspective. Speakers will include Peter Warwick (President and CEO, Scholastic), Loulou Drinkwaard and D'Avellonne van Dijk (founders, Wilde Haren) illustrator Anete Melece, and literary agent Anja Mundt. Author and translator Lawrence Schimel will serve as the event’s moderator. Held in English, the conference will take place on 19 October from 9.15 am to noon in the Congress Center, Level 3, Conference Room Illusion.
Tickets and programme: https://www.buchmesse.de/themen-programm/fachprogramm/frankfurt-kids
Many additional events will look at diversity and inclusion in publishing. For example, on Wednesday in the Frankfurt Pavilion, LaToya Rose (VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Macmillan Publishers) and Jessica Gedamu (VP Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Springer Nature) will talk with actor and content creator Zai Sylla about the strategies that can be used to promote diversity in media organisations.
Publishing Perspectives Forum: International expert talks on Wednesday and Thursday
At this year’s Publishing Perspectives Forum, leading voices in the global publishing industry – from top executives of multinational companies to influential entrepreneurs and small business owners – will discuss and analyse industry challenges and trends. Speakers will include Charlie Redmayne (CEO, HarperCollins UK), Núria Cabutí (CEO, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial), Jonny Geller (CEO, Curtis Brown), Niko Pfund (President and Academic Publisher, Oxford University Press USA), Shereen Kreidieh (Publisher, Asala Publishers), Tobias Henning (General Manager, TikTok Germany & Central Eastern Europe), Samantha Taylor (film producer and founder, Film and Music Entertainment) and many more.
Curated by the international trade magazine Publishing Perspectives in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse, the two-day programme will take place on Wednesday, 19 October from 10 am to 4 pm, and on Thursday, 20 October, from 10 am to 4 pm, in Messe Frankfurt’s Congress Center, Room Spektrum. Participation is free of charge for book fair ticket holders.
To the programme: https://publishingperspectives.com/pp-forum/
Frankfurt Studio: Industry events from Wednesday to Friday
Talks with CEOs, current data and accessibility, academic publishing and AI
Discussions with experts and events for publishing professionals will make up the programme at the Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Europa Room) from Wednesday to Friday (19–21 October 2022). CEOs of major publishing houses and international industry players will be taking questions from the trade press on Wednesday,19 October. Jesús Badenes del Río (CEO, Planeta publishing group), will speak with Porter Anderson (editor-in-chief, Publishing Perspectives) and Ashleigh Gardner (Senior Vice President, Managing Director Global Publishing, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios) and Michael Tamblyn (CEO, Kobo Rakuten), will answer questions by representatives of the international trade press during the Global 50 CEO Talk. At the Book Fair Directors’ Round Table on Friday, four book fair directors from three continents come together: Juergen Boos (Director, Frankfurter Buchmesse) will discuss with Eva Orúe (Director, Feria del Libro Madrid), Rex How (Chairman, Taipei International Book Exhibition) and Mamadou Aliou Sow (Director, Conakry International Children's Book Fair, Guinea) the challenges and opportunities associated with the publishing industry’s biggest events. Facts and figures on the international book market will be presented by the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Wednesday. Speakers at the WIPO event will include Bodour Al Qasimi (President, IPA) Ronald Schild (CEO, MVB) and Kevin Fitzgerald (Director of Digital Outreach, WIPO). On Thursday, everything will revolve around academic publishing: from noon to 3.00 pm, Wiley-VCH, ProQuest, Taylor & Francis and Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) will be hosting a range of talks by industry professionals. How do you develop an AI application? Kaushik Subramanian, senior research scientist at Sony AI, will be speaking on Friday, 21 October (11.00 am – noon), with Holger Volland, board member of brand eins and author, on the development of Gran Turismo SophyTM – an artificial intelligence that competes against the best drivers in the most successful racing simulation video game, Gran Turismo® Sport. The event is one of the book fair’s S+T+ARTS Day happenings, which are taking place as part of the EU project S+T+ARTS.
To the Frankfurt Studio programme: https://www.buchmesse.de/en/highlights/professional-programme/frankfurt-studio
The Frankfurt Studio sessions will be recorded and posted in the Frankfurter Buchmesse media centre.
Trade programme on translation
On all five days of the fair, the topic of literary translations will take centre stage at the International Translation Centre (4.0 G 114). This is where discussions on making editors and translators more visible can be heard, along with talks will on postcolonial translations and how Arabic literature is received in Europe. The International Translation Centre’s programme is being curated by the German translators’ association VdÜ and Frankfurter Buchmesse; partners include European literary organisations such as Czech Lit, ENLIT, FILI, Goethe Institute, Litprom e.V., the Slovenian Book Agency, Die Weltlesebühne e.V., and many others.
To the programm: https://www.buchmesse.de/en/highlights/professional-programme/translation-centre
Spotlight on Africa: Seminar for publishing professionals
Organised by the International Publishers Organisation, a seminar for publishing professionals will be held at the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund stand (Hall 4.1 H 102) on Thursday (10.00 am – 1.30 pm). Among other topics, the seminar will examine efforts to promote inclusive publishing, the library landscape, and access to books for school students in African countries. Participation is included in the book fair ticket, no registration required.
For more on the programme: https://www.apinnovation.fund/en/media-center/news/28/9/2022/frankfurt-2022-apif-leads-spotlight-on-africa-program.aspx
Accessible publishing and reading
From Wednesday to Friday, numerous trade events will take place dedicated to the topic of accessible publishing and reading. This includes the trade talk “Accessibility in Action” on Wednesday afternoon in the Frankfurt Studio, and the open networking event for publishing professionals which will follow afterwards. Another event focuses on ways to achieve accessibility in different regions. Many of the events are being organised by Frankfurter Buchmesse as part of the EU project Aldus Up.
Event overview: https://www.buchmesse.de/en/visit/barrier-free
Sustainability in the publishing industry
Under the motto “Act now!”, the United Nations and Frankfurter Buchmesse are hosting two events on Saturday, that call on the publishing industry to go climate neutral and show young readers how they can act sustainably (“Act now! How young readers can support climate action” and “Act now! How publishers combat climate change”). In addition to the Sustainability Summit on Wednesday organised by the International Publishers Association, other events will examine the topic of sustainability in the book industry – from climate-neutral practices in bookshops to the current state of corporate social responsibility at publishing and media organisations.
Books meet movies: Book-to-film events
Together with the Berlinale, Frankfurter Buchmesse will bring together representatives of the book and film industries to facilitate cross-media rights and licensing agreements. On Friday, Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Berlinale invite publishers and film producers to a matchmaking event in Frankfurt. How can a bestselling book be turned into a successful movie or series? That is the topic to be addressed by Jonny Geller (CEO of the British literary agency Curtis Brown) on Wednesday at the Publishing Perspectives Forum.
Trade events
All events can be found in the Frankfurter Buchmesse app and in the online Calendar of Events at www.buchmesse.de/en/visit/calendar-events.
Education, Media for Children and Young Adults:
Transform Diversity: Trade event for children’s and young adult media
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 9.15 am – noon, Raum Illusion (Congress Center, Level 3)
Act now! How young readers can support climate action
Saturday, 22 October 2022, 5.00–5.30 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
Future of Publishing – Sustainability, Diversity, Accessibility:
How to diversify a media company
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 1.30–3.00 pm, Frankfurt Pavilion (Agora)
Accessibility in action: Three challenges for the publishing industry
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 3.00–4.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
The Future of Storytelling and Engagement
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, noon – 12.45 pm, Raum Spektrum (Congress Center, Level 2)
Seminar: Spotlight on Africa
Thursday, 20 October 2022, 10.00 am – 1.30 pm, Hall 4.1 H 102
Act now! How publishers combat climate change
Saturday, 22 October 2022, 5.30–6.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
Facts, Figures and the Importance of Data:
The book market in Europe in 2021/2022: Key data and trends
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 10.30–11.00 am, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
How does data serve the publishing industry?
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 11.00 am – noon, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
CEOs in conversation:
Executive Talk: Charlie Redmayne (CEO, HarperCollins UK)
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 10.00–10.45 am, Raum Spektrum (Congress Center, Level 2)
Executive Talk: Jesús Badenes del Río (CEO, Verlagsgruppe Planeta (Spain))
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, noon – 1.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
Executive Talk: Núria Cabutí (CEO, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial)
Thursday, 20 October 2022, 10.00–10.45 am, Raum Spektrum (Congress Center, Level 2)
Global 50 CEO Talk: Beyond Publishers: New facets of the global book business today
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 2.00–3.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
What Young Readers Need Today: Children’s Publishing CEOs in Conversation
Thursday, 20 October 2022, 3.00–3.45 pm, Raum Spektrum (Congress Center, Level 2)
The Book Fair Directors’ Round Table: Issues and Outlooks
Friday, 21 October 2022, 1.00–2.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
Audio:
Spotify’s New World of Audiobooks
Thursday, 20 October 2022, 4.00–5.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
The Audiobook Retail Evolution
Thursday, 20 October 2022, noon – 12.45 pm, Raum Spektrum (Congress Center, Level 2)
Academic Publishers:
Talks with Wiley-VCH, ProQuest/Clarivate, Taylor & Francis, Copyright Clearance Center
Thursday, 20 October 2022, noon – 3.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
Book-to-Film:
Executive Talk: Jonny Geller on Books-to-Screen Development
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 1.00–1.45 pm, Raum Spektrum (Congress Center, Level 2)
AI – Artificial Intelligence:
S+T+ARTS Day Talk – Gran Turismo SOPHYTM
With: Kaushik Subramanian (Sony AI) and Holger Volland (brand eins)
Friday, 21 October 2022, 11.00 am – noon, Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Raum Europa)
Are you planning to attend Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022?
Apply now for press accreditation online before 14 October 2022 via My Book Fair.
There will be no press accreditation at the fairgrounds.