With the growing use of social media the book industry is aiming at young adults and to win them back to real books.
At the Frankfurt Bookfair a special section covering some 8.000 m² is aiming at “new adults”.
Recently a new trend on social media has more and more influencers presenting books. “For the whole industry it is a very good sign that young people are getting interested in a real book,” says Bookfair director Juergen Boos, adding that “Maybe the content is escapist but still it is an argument with the written word, that’s a great sign for us.”
Italy is the guest of honor at this year’s Frankfurt Bookfair and is presenting itself in a pavilion created like an Italian piazza. It is dominated by a gigantic golden hand sculpture. Prior to the fair there have been controversies about the Italian contribution. Italy is bringing 90 authors to Frankfurt. Not everyone is part of the official delegation: some - like the writer Roberto Saviano, who was persecuted by the mafia - come at the invitation of their publisher. Others are part of the curated program at the joint stand of the Italian Publishers Association. There had previously been an open dispute between Italian authors and representatives of the right-wing government in Rome. The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was accused of excluding disagreeable and government-critical voices from the book fair and of increasingly interfering in the cultural sector.
The traditional Frankfurt Book Fair is opened in Frankfurt tonight. Over 1,000 authors and speakers at 650 events on 15 stages await visitors to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Around 4.000 exhibitors from 95 countries will present their productions until Sunday, October 20. The fair is expecting more than 200.000 visitors and is still regarded the largest book fair in the world.
SHOTLIST
- VS of books
- Influencer presenting books on Tik-Tok
- SOUNDBITE (German) Juergen Boos, Frankfurt Bookfair director: “For the whole industry it is a very good sign that young people are interesting in a real book. Maybe the content is escapistic but still it is an argument with the written word, that’s a great sign for us.”
- VS of Italian pavilion
- SOUNDBITE (German) Lucia de Luca, Guest of Honor Italy project director: “The main thing here are the books and that is what is important for us today and at the bookfair.” – “The politics? They went somewhere, but we are here to talk about the books, and we have more than 90 writers who came from Italy.”
