UK publishers hail 'buoyant and optimistic' start to BIBF 2018

The 25th edition of the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) has opened to an “upbeat” and “inspiring” start, with a flurry of rights activity and collaboration between industry figures.

The fair, which kicked off on Wednesday (22nd August), has 2,500 exhibitors, with the number of visitors estimated to reach 300,000 by its conclusion on Sunday (26th August).

UK publishers have told The Bookseller that the atmosphere at the event is buoyant and optimistic.

Adrian Greenwood, sales director at Laurence King, said: “The fair’s very busy, with lots of positivity about the market and new ideas. We’ve heard lots of new ideas about how we can work with partners to reach different parts of the market.”

Similarly, Watkins rights manager Jenna Brown said the fair has been “buzzing with excitement”.

“It was nice to meet publishers we’ve worked with for a long time, putting faces to names as well as making new contacts”, she added.

Nick Wells, founder of Flame Tree Publishing, said he was experiencing “brisk activity” on the rights front, with interest higher than it has been in previous years and more Chinese publishers keen to work in the lifestyle genre as well as the “already lively” children’s, education and science categories.

“Our highlights so far include the likely sale of two new SF novels and a joint publishing series of short stories featuring both Chinese and English language writers," he said. "More to come!”

Grant Hartley, export sales director at Usborne, also praised the “upbeat” mood at the fair, and added that the company seemed to has reached a “tipping point” when it came to brand recognition in China. “We’ve been really impressed by how many customers mentioned seeing our Chinese social media activity recently - people expressing genuine admiration that we’re running WeChat and Weibo accounts and that they’ve seen our official store for English language titles on Tmall.”

He added: “Another busy day of meetings beckons and we’re looking forward to it.”

A dedicated Children’s Publishing Forum (CPF) was held on the eve of the fair (21st August) as part of a two-day programme of industry visits, seminars and a conference aimed at giving an introduction to the Chinese market as a whole. Industry experts argued that there was a huge demand in China for quality picture and early years books, while other speakers provided case studies of how some picture books and licensed characters had become the stimulus for games, puzzles, clothing lines and food branding.

The forum also saw Tyrrell Mahoney (pictured below), president of Chronicle Books, discuss the challenges of creating a global bestseller, and Erika Bradfield, director of foreign rights at Insight Editions, give advice on licensed publishing. Bradfield gave a case study about the launch of Harry Potter: A pop-up guide to Hogwarts to highlight the growing popularity of pop-ups and collectibles in China.

A word of caution was sounded by Ameet Publishing’s vice president of publishing Eric Huang, who pointed out that – in the West at least – the biggest competition for traditional publishers was now coming from non-traditional players such as Apple and Disney.

Meanwhile at the fair, Chronicle Books launched a new venture to publish and distribute Chinese-language editions of some of Chronicle's best-selling children’s books in China in partnership with Trustbridge Global Media. The venture, called Chronicle Bridge, is debuting with five titles in August 2018. The new imprint will publish approximately 20 titles in its first year and will take over the Chinese license for the popular chapter book series Ivy & Bean.
 
Mahoney called the new venture "a significant milestone in developing Chronicle Books' global brand presence.”

She added: “We have found in TGM an ideal partner to introduce our publishing to young readers in China. TGM not only shares Chronicle Books’ aesthetic and education values, they have unparalleled publishing expertise and a deep understanding of the Chinese book market.”

BIBF will conclude on the 26th August.