The Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest event of its kind, makes its post-pandemic return this week in the presence of publishers from around the world reinvigorated by the resistance of the book during the health crisis but worried about paper shortages.
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After an almost entirely online edition last year, the fair wants to reconnect from Wednesday to Sunday with the effervescence which makes it the main international meeting of the sector.
Restrictions are maintained, however, with a daily number of visitors capped at 25,000, half as many as usual, and a health pass required.
"
It's still not a normal book fair
," warns event director Jürgen Boos, who will chair the traditional opening ceremony on Tuesday evening.
But it is a chance for the industry to "
reconnect
", after 18 months without a major trade show, he adds.
During this period of pandemic, the book sector “
behaved rather well
», He believes. The restrictions that increased the time spent at home boosted reading, especially among young people. In the United States, sales of printed books increased by more than 8% in 2020 to record their highest in ten years, according to the research group NPD. The growth of the sector has been driven by books for adolescents but also by how-to books for adults, the latter turning to cookery and craft books to occupy their free time. In Germany, the largest book market in the European Union, bookstores have developed online sales, leading to a 20% jump in their internet revenues, which reached 2.2 billion euros. The sale of audiobooks and digital books also saw double-digit growth. Books "
have proven to be a particularly resilient and popular medium during the pandemic,
”said Boos.
Worries for Christmas
However, book professionals, whose annual turnover is around 86 billion euros, fear that this good news is only fleeting. Like the automotive and home appliance industries, they fear being hit by global commodity shortages that are disrupting supply chains and affecting the global economic recovery. As the crucial holiday season approaches, publishers are already sounding the alarm bells over paper and cardboard shortages, bottlenecks at ports, and the lack of truck drivers for them. essential deliveries. "
I am afraid that at Christmas, people may not be sure to get the book quickly.they wish
Jonathan Beck, director of the famous German publishing house CH Beck, told the financial daily Handelsblatt.
He also warned that the price of books was likely to rise.
The Frankfurt demonstration is the latest example of the return of professional fairs after eighteen months of forced shutdown.
In September, Munich welcomed some 400,000 visitors to the IAA motor show.
But if the control of the pandemic seems on track in Germany, the book fair remains marked by the health crisis: some 1,500 exhibitors from more than seventy countries will be present, much less than the 7,500 exhibitors from more than one hundred countries. came in 2019. And barely two hundred authors will make the trip to Frankfurt.
Canada guest of honor
Uncertainty over travel restrictions and worries about the virus are making many major publishing houses and renowned writers cautious, especially from the United States, Asia and South America.
Several events for publishing professionals, such as the sale of rights or the translation of books, will also be offered online.
Canada will be honored this year with the presence of authors Michel Jean, Michael Crummey or Canadian-Haitian writer Dany Laferrière.
Margaret Atwood, a leading figure in Canadian letters since the worldwide success of the bestseller
The Handmaid's Scarlet
, will participate online in the event.
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