Attendance up at Frankfurt Book Fair 2015; ‘strong’ interest in translation rights

Professional attendance at the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair was approximately level with 2014, with 140,474 attendees this year compared to 140,291 last year, reports Publishers Weekly. Total attendance was up 2.3%, with 275,791 overall attendees (including consumers and journalists) compared to 269,534 last year. The modest increase in overall attendance runs against a decreasing trend in professional attendance, with numbers dropping 6.7% since 2009 when the fair drew 152,530 professional attendees. The Bookseller reports that although there was no dominant book or theme at this year’s fair, attendees reported a ‘busy, business-like week, with strong translation rights trading in key categories’, with publishers and agents welcoming the fair’s new layout. Pan Macmillan publisher Jonathan Trevathan told the Bookseller there was a lot of optimism in foreign rights territories, including Germany and Italy, although ‘Spanish publishers are not looking too optimistic’. Faber rights manager Lizzie Bishop also said the Scandinavian market seemed to be picking up. ‘It feels like people are actually coming to the fair to make deals again, whereas recently it hasn’t been like that,’ said Bishop. Books+Publishing will publish a report on Australian publishers at the fair later this week.

Category: International news Rights and acquisitions