Frankfurt still expecting visitors as organisers reveal digital details

Frankfurt organisers have said they still expect publishers and agents from Europe to make the trip this year, as they laid out details of their virtual programme at a press briefing yesterday (14th July).

A “special edition” of the fair is being held in October, combining a physical event with an online one. Although many UK publishers have announced they will not travel to the city, the majority are still expected to have a digital presence.

At the briefing, fair director Juergen Boos said it was not yet possible to give an exact number of how many would attend the physical event, with many expected to make their decision at the last minute.

He said: “Right now we can confirm that most of the European collective stands will be there, some of them will be hosting other publishers who have never joined the collective stands [before].”

Boos said the Brazilians planned to come, while German delegates would man the Chinese stand if necessary. He said: “At this point in time we see German participation, we see European participation, mostly the collective stands, and we see a strong desire from Southeast Asia and the Middle East to join Frankfurt this year. This really depends on the travel restrictions.”

He also confirmed there will be a physical rights centre as usual, located in Hall 6.1, with agents and rights professionals from publishers who are able to make the trip also getting access to the digital offer.

The digital programme is being made available for free, thanks to half of the €4m in federal government funding provided for the event as a whole, and has been drawn up by organisers alongside publishers.

Frankfurter Buchmesse's website will host the digital formats, offering streams and magazine-style content with clickable ads, from 12th-18th October, with social media channels sharing content under the hashtag #fbm20.

The Frankfurt Rights platform will enable firms to create a rights catalogue, presenting their titles and company. Programme managers at publishing houses can use the platform which is indexed by keywords, to find promising titles and new business partners from around the world. They can also use it to contact rights-holders directly and request preview materials. All trade visitors will be able to access the platform as of mid-September and will be able to use it for free for nine months.

Trade visitors can also register for a matchmaking tool to receive recommendations for new contacts, search by professional area and region and get in touch with potential business partners

Companies will be able to create a digital presence in an online exhibitor catalogue and have been asked to submit ideas for digital events.

They can also take part in Bookfest, a 16-hour live-streamed programme of events starting at 4 a.m. on 17th October, which is aimed at the public.

The professionals' programme includes digital conferences and further events during the book fair week. From mid-August on, companies and trade visitors can register for participation in the digital formats of the fair, using an online form.

Frankfurt will also be offering an online conference programme, themed by day, taking in academic and scholarly on 12th October, followed by rights and licensing the following day, publishing insights on 13th October and ending with audio on 15th October.

Boos said: “We want everybody to participate in some sort of Frankfurt. We also plan to surprise people, so it's going to be a very special edition of Frankfurt. We want to reach out to as many people as possible. We have to put the focus on book publishing, on storytelling in any form.”