Members March Update
London Bookfair
The Irish Publishing industry was ably represented at the London Book Fair. A well-attended event in the Irish Embassy on Monday 11 March (huge thanks to Wordwell, particularly Caoimhe, for making this happen) set the scene for a very busy fair. A visit from Paschal Donohue provided a great opportunity to talk directly to a senior minister and his civil servants, for those of us on the stand. The Irish stand featured books from Wordwell, Royal Irish Academy, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Mercier Press, New Island Books, Blackstaff/ColourPoint and O’Brien Press, as well as journals and the Literature Ireland zone. There were a lot of other Irish publishers walking the halls without taking stand space.
Our stands at bookfairs are very substantially subsidised by Culture Ireland, who contribute over €30k each year: for publishers, the costs of having a physical location are very low, and are a great opportunity to make new contacts and have people see (and possibly buy!) your books. We are conscious that a large number of publishers choose not to take space, and are keen to find out what the barriers are, and to break them down!
The pricing options for 2019 were
- Deluxe: €1,750. 2 metres of display space [prime location], two tables, two badges
- Standard: €900. 2 metres of display space, one table, two badges
- Shared, for two publishers: €1,000. 2 metres of display space, one table, two badgesPlease complete the short survey linked [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XBZSLCH] and give us your feedback on how we can make exhibiting at the fair more attractive!
EP Passes Vote on Copyright Directive
MEPs formally adopted the law in a vote in Brussels at the European Parliament this afternoon (26th March). MEPs voted to pass the controversial Article 17 (formerly known as Article 13), which makes platforms legally responsible for all content they host, after opponents failed to win enough votes for last-minute amendments to the legislation. A full press release from the Federation of European Publishers is available via https://fep-fee.eu/PRESS-RELEASE-FEP-welcomes-the
The Bookseller Irish Market Focus Edition
The third Irish Market Focus edition of The Bookseller magazine is currently scheduled for 19 July: a good time to show our forthcoming Autumn titles to the broadest possible audience. As a profile-raiser for what we do, it’s great: The Bookseller reaches booksellers, librarians and other book people throughout the English-speaking world.
Myself and Caoimhe from Books Ireland had a great meeting with the editor at London Book Fair and there are many ideas for interesting articles about the Irish book world being explored.
Now to the money bit. These issues are advertising-supported, but at quite reasonable rates: £300 for a quarter page, £700 for half page, £1,200 for full page. As with last year’s issue, the contact for this advertising is Gerard O’Hare gerard.ohare@thebookseller.com
Books for Screen
We are picking up where we left off after last year’s hugely successful event: a large booklet promoting over 100 Irish published books, from a range of publishers, aimed directly at the screen industry. Paid for directly by Publishing Ireland last year, we have attracted some funding from ScreenSkills Ireland for the 2019 edition. We are extending the invitation list from the directors (this has been built between PI and the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland), to include producers and screenwriters.
This things are slow-burn, but if you took part last year and have optioned or sold screen rights in your books as a result, please let us know: we’d love to shout about it.
The board strongly encourages all publishers to take part this year, as it’s a golden opportunity to put your books in front of people who might be able to make them appear on a screen near you, whether TV or in cinemas.
Dublin Book Festival
We are delighted that the Dept of Arts have once again committed support for Dublin Book Festival. After a very strong first year with PI back at the helm, with the best ever attendance and book sales despite the loss of funding from ACNI and all the complexities of the transition, we want to keep the festival moving forwards. Taking place in Smock Alley once more in 2019, it will be from 14-17 November. Julianne <julianne@dublinbookfestival.com> will be putting out an official call for ideas soon. Remember, this is our festival, and a superb opportunity to showcase great Irish-published books in the run-up to Christmas, so get your creative hats on to help the programming committee to raise the game even further in 2019!
