BIBF: Publishers revel in fierce demand for rights

UK publishers have seen the “busiest” Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) “in years”, some have said, with rights in fierce demand from Chinese publishers.

The trade fair opened on Wednesday (24th August), with a strong contingent of UK houses in attendance.

Many have told The Bookseller that the fair has “exceeded expectations,” with rights for children’s and illustrated books particularly in demand.  

Samuel Bennet, head of international editions at Phaidon, said: “I have had more interest here than at any other book fair, Bologna, London or Frankfurt,” adding that Chinese publishers had been “fighting” to buy books. “I think it’s actually busier than in previous years,” he said. “We’ve had back-to-back meetings, it’s a really important fair for us. More deals are being done. For us it’s been successful, and I’ve spoken to other exhibitors who’ve said the same thing.”

He added: “All the publishers here are selling books like there’s no tomorrow.”

One of the stands in the children's area of BIBF. Picture: Katherine Cowdrey

Bennet attributed the increase in demand to a growing middle class in China which has more disposable income and Mr Tan Yue, the president of China’s largest publisher, the Chinese Publishing Group, agreed that reading in China was experiencing a “revival” due to better living standards, where white-collar workers now had more time and money to spend on reading.

Polly Powell, owner and publisher of indie press Pavilion, attended the fair this year for the first time after appointing a new editor six months ago, Neil Dunnicliffe, whose list of “edgy” titles has been “going down a storm” in the Chinese market.  “[BIBF] exceeded our expectations," she said. "It’s far busier than we anticipated, and I think the materials people are looking for is more sophisticated, the style particularly in children’s books. I think the Chinese market has grown up. We’ll sell a lot of rights off the back of the fair."

Publishers noted that Chinese publishers were especially keen to buy children’s science books and titles in the “sweet spot” of where education meets children’s books. They also reported that interest for illustrated titles was “broader” than in previous years, extending to cookery and lifestyle genres.

Nosy Crow m.d. Kate Wilson at the company's stand at BIBF. Picture: Katherine Cowdrey

Charlotte Cross, who works in export sales at Usborne Publishing, said the appetite for learning English was so great in China that people would come up to her in the street and ask if she wanted to be an English-language teacher. That enthusiasm was now translating into sales, she said.

"People are really liking the books; I think there's a huge market for English books in the original language," she told The Bookseller. "There's a desperation for teachers teaching English, kids learning English, so we're seeing that in our English book sales. They're increasing at a crazy rate."

Grant Hartley, director for English Language Export at Usborne, added: "The surprising thing is the number of people who are interested in English language books. Library suppliers, distributors, you name it. We still get a lot of people who are incredulous we have no Chinese rights on offer. But we had a very busy day yesterday and we have a very busy day in front of us today."

Hartley added China used to be "a very frustrating place to do business", around seven years ago, but this was now changing. "It always had lots of potential, lots of conversations, but nothing ever seemed to come out of it," he reflected. "Now we're in a place where, it still can be frustrating, but a lot more comes out of it. It's actually delivering sales growth: it's our largest market in Asia. And I suspect that's the case for most publishers now. Whereas seven years ago it was all about potential, now it's real. And you feel you're only just scratching the surface."

Usborne also prints its books in China, so it is able to deliver directly to customers and to cater for bespoke requirements, adding special products to the market. "It means we have more flexibility and the customers get great deals," said Cross.

Political publisher Pluto Press too said it had noticed an increase in interest for its titles after having a stand at the fair for the first time. Tania Palmieri, rights manager for Pluto Press, said its titles on the Middle East were "really difficult to sell in China”, and this year even more so, but the rest of the list had been "well received", with areas experiencing "a lot of interest" including history and current affairs. "I'm hoping to bring in a couple of deals as well,” she said. “Rights deals are our priority, and new contacts, to find out which publishers share our interests," she said.

Ahead of the fair, UK publishers had told The Bookseller BIBF had supplanted BookExpo America (BEA) to become the third most important event on the international publishing calendar.