News
The organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair have disclosed details of online events for the publishing industry. The two most important components of the programme for professionals are "Frankfurt Rights" and "Frankfurt Conference".
The digital programme of the fair will be co-created by publishers and will be available to trade visitors and literature lovers around the world. Digital events will be accessible free of charge thanks to the funds provided to the organisers by Monika Grütters, German Federal Government’s Commissioner for Culture and Media.
"The Frankfurt Book Fair 2020 will be a unique book fair – a ‘special edition'. Digital events and services cannot replace in-person meetings, but in a year when exhibitors and trade visitors from many parts of the world cannot come to the fair because of travel restrictions, digital venues are essential. Under the motto 'All together now' we want to offer publishers and partners, culture enthusiasts and trade visitors from all over the world the opportunity to engage with each other and celebrate authors and stories at the fair and in a virtual environment,” said Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
‘Frankfurt Rights’ is a platform facilitating international copyright and licensing trade. One can find there online catalogues with keyword indexing and title search functions, as well as contact details of right holders. All trade fair visitors are to have access to the platform as of mid-September.
“Frankfurter Buchmesse is the platform for the international rights business. That’s why it’s especially important for us to provide our customers with effective digital services, in addition to our physical venue. This allows literary agents, editors and rights and license managers from around the globe to be present and drive their business forward,” said Jenny Kühne, Key Account Manager Rights & Licences and Project Lead Digital Book Fair at Frankfurter Buchmesse.
The Internet edition is divided into four parts, each session will take place between 3pm and 5.30pm. The individual thematic blocks are as follows:
• Academic & Scholarly – in cooperation with Scientific Knowledge Services (12/10/2020, 3.00–5.30 pm)
• Rights & Licensing (13/10/2020, 3.00–5.30 pm)
• Publishing Insights (14/10/2020, 3.00–5.30 pm)
• Audio (15/10/2020, 3.00–5.30 pm)
Also, from mid-September, people from the industry will have access to a free ‘matchmaking tool’, which is meant to facilitate communication with potential business customers.
The Arts+ platform is to be used to present creative content, where professionals can present their work to, among others, managers, publishing experts, agents, film and game experts, programmers, IT specialists, investors, and start-ups. One initiative already launched by THE ARTS+ is Pitch your CIP (creative intellectual property), a closed Facebook group with already over 900 members that brings together players from the publishing and creative sectors.
Further thematic areas are as follows: Frankfurt Audio, Frankfurt Kids, Frankfurt Academic, Frankfurt Authors, and Frankfurt EDU - digital talks and curated networking sessions for international trade visitors.
[source: rynek-ksiazki.pl]