Taipei Book Fair sees strong UK turn-out

UK publishers have upped their presence at the 25th annual Taipei Book Fair (running 8th to 13th February).

The UK’s Quarto rented a stand for the first time, joining another first-time British exhibitor Lawrence King and others who have been coming for several years – Thames & Hudson, Bonnier, Sweet Cherry Publishing and freelance sales agent Marco Rodino who represents Octopus and Macmillan Children’s, among other companies.

The UK stands make up a small but robust contingent at the fair, whose main international exhibitors are from Australia and other East Asian countries such as Thailand and Korea.

The event has upped its game to mark its quarter centenary and attract more consumers to visit and buy books to stimulate the Taiwanese book market, whose sales have dropped 52% in value from $38bn to $18bn (Taiwanese dollars) in the last three years, the chairman of the Taiwanese Book Fair Foundation James Chao told The Bookseller.

To this end, a giant six metre wooden figure made out of books created by artist Akibo greets visitors, meant to be a metaphor for reading as “both a force of movement bringing about changes in our era and also the essence of what shapes us”, according to fair organisers.

Four box-shaped art installations also welcome guests to the event recreating the different areas we read – on the move, while surrounded by nature, in the bedroom and in the bathroom. Several audiobook stations also allow visitors to listen to book extracts through headphones, while a giant screen encourages the public to interact with a virtual reality game.

To help boost the market, the Taiwanese government has supported this year’s fair with increased funding, which has allowed organisers to offer publishers to rent out booths at a discount and has lead to a 55% increases in Taiwanese exhibitors to 315 publishers. Overall exhibitors have increased by 10%, with 621 spread over 1, 780 stands across the 30, 198 square metre venue.

The exhibition has also been open longer – until 9pm until Thursday and 10pm on Friday and Saturday to encourage more people to attend, while new seminar programmes including the International Bookstore Forum, which features Foyles’ marketing manager Simon Heafield, also debut to attract a wider audience.

Chao said: “The publishing industry forecast has a bleak outlook… but we have all these new events to attract people to this year’s fair… our aim is to become the ‘Reading Capital’ of the east.”

For UK publishers, the rights market is strongest for children’s illustrated fiction and non-fiction and adult fiction, but business relies on strong relationships and face-to-face meetings, said Rodino.

“There is a danger sometimes that publishers attend one regional global book fair and they will have a great fair because of the novelty of it being their first time, but then they won’t come back because they think they have secured that business,” he said. “I have been coming for years and the trade is great. But if you are going to commit to this market, you need longevity, you need to come every year and have those face-to-face meetings and build up those relationships.”

Meanwhile Quarto’s foreign rights manager Lucy Gibbs said: “This is the first time Quarto has had a stand and we have been coming to the fair for six years. The co-edition market is very strong, and that revenue is very valuable. So far I have had a lot of interest in our popular science books. I have had a lot of enthusiasm from Taiwanese publishers in our meetings, and hopefully that will convert into orders when I get back.”