Representation at International Book Fairs
When it comes to licensing translation rights, face-to-face meetings are still one of the top ways that rights agents connect to buy and sell titles. While these important meetings have taken place by video call this past year, we are looking forward to returning to the international book fairs where we typically exhibit: the Frankfurt Book Fair, the London Book Fair, the Beijing International Book Fair, and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
At DropCap, while we believe that technology can enhance the rights-buying process, we know that software alone can never take the place of real, long-term relationships with buyers and face-to-face sales meetings.
The Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair takes place in mid-October and is the publishing world’s largest trade show event with over 7,000 exhibitors and nearly 300,000 visitors each year. DropCap has a prime location on the main floor of the English-language publishers hall. We are one of the only rights agencies that exhibits with a booth rather than meeting with buyers at a table in the rights center. We believe having books on display for potential buyers to see and feel is crucial to successful rights sales and connecting with new licensees.
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair takes place in the Spring, typically at the end of March and is geared specifically towards children’s book publishing. It draws over 1,400 exhibitors and 30,000 visitors each year. We love the opportunity this gives us to focus exclusively on our publishers’ children’s books as we meet face-to-face with our buyers in Bologna.
The London Book Fair
The London Book Fair takes place in the Spring, typically at the beginning of April. Over 25,000 book professionals attend this three-day fair. Since it takes place within weeks of the Bologna Book Fair, we use the London Book Fair as an opportunity to focus on our adult titles.
The Beijing International Book Fair
The Beijing International Book Fair takes place at the end of August and was attended by more than 320,000 visitors in 2019. DropCap publishers are represented at this fair and the Shanghai Children’s Book Fair by our wonderful co-agents at CA-LINK International.