How to take advantage of being at the FBF: A Conversation with the Frankfurt team

Armenia, Czechia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine — at first glance, these countries seem to share little in common geographically, culturally or politically. Yet, three years ago, Frankfurter Buchmesse established the “Special Programme for Publishers from Ukraine and Neighboring Countries,” offering intensive training for publishers who are willing to develop their international affairs. From the very first meeting with publishers from these markets, you can see that they are much closer than it may have seemed, facing the same challenges of cultivating market growth, protecting and defining their markets as independent, and overcoming colonial experiences.

Chytomo has been following the Programme from its first iteration, and this year we asked Vladka Kupska — key account at the FBF, who is responsible for the exhibitors and trade visitors from Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia,  — and Niki Théron  — senior project manager in Frankfurt International team who is also coordinating the Special Programme  — to share their insights on working with these markets and to give some hints to those publishers who are planning to start working internationally.

International collaboration

Chytomo: The name of this program is catchy.  Can you tell us how it all started?

Niki: Frankfurter Buchmesse’s international team organizes professional programs abroad involving German experts and German collective stands at international festivals, and I was lucky enough to discover Ukraine through this part of my work in 2016 when we organized our first Summer Academy for Publishers in Kyiv in cooperation with IBAF and Goethe-Institut Ukraine. This publishers training was followed by a German participation in The Book Arsenal with a collective stand and authors programme. Since then, Vladka and I have worked very closely with our partners in Ukraine, creating different formats together to cope with the pandemic situation and then the full scale invasion. Nothing can stop us!

Chytomo: I remember, it was a very anticipated event for the Ukrainian publishers. But how do you choose the markets to focus on?

Niki: Each year our International team of the Frankfurter Buchmesse applies to the German Foreign Office for funding. But firstly, the decision is taken internally by the International team and Vladka’s sales team: we set up a list of projects we want to get funding for. And then we present this list to the Foreign Office that makes the final decision on which countries and projects will be in focus. So, it’s a negotiation, and in the end, together with the Foreign Office, we co-curate the list of these projects.

Chytomo: Does it mean that these chosen countries are part of the foreign policy of the German Government?

Vladka: One of the book fair’s cornerstones is its internationality. The guiding principle behind this is that the fair represents a safe space for authors and publishers from all over the world. The book fair aims to be a place where international dialogue can be established and continue to take place. Frankfurter Buchmesse promotes cultural and intellectual exchange between all countries because this exchange and the personal contacts created support a peaceful co-existence in the long term.

RELATED: The Special Program for Publishers from Ukraine and Neighboring Countries launched in Frankfurt

Tools

Chytomo: Frankfurter Buchmesse has always been strategic in its focus and has offered quite relevant tools. Can you name other projects, platforms or services that can help those who start international relations at their publishing houses?

Vladka: I would start with our networking opportunities. During the year, we have many possibilities to get together online. Like, for example, The HOF format (The Hof | Frankfurter Buchmesse). Everybody who is interested in networking can join for free, and there are topics being discussed which are useful or could be useful for them in their job. Contributors learn a bit more about Frankfurt, and they can also meet and connect with new people.

Our new platform is Frankfurt Connect (Frankfurt Connect. Die digitale Plattform der Frankfurter Buchmesse.). It’s usable the whole year, and everybody can make their own profile there and start networking with the others. And if you cannot come to Frankfurt personally, you have the possibility to create a personal profile free of charge on Frankfurt Connect. You can use it also in the app version.

Chytomo: Does this platform serve as a replacement for the exhibitor’s catalog with an extension?

Vladka: Yes, before we had a very static exhibitor directory, at which you could only view all the exhibitors, and now you can get in touch with them. And you can also book different possibilities and fill in your profile with more attractive information.

Chytomo: Does it mean that the participant who is coming to Frankfurt for the first or the second time can connect with a person who is maybe barely reachable, like the commissioning editor of one of the Big Five publishers?

Vladka: There are definitely many outstanding professionals from all over the world who are already registered, so I encourage everyone to browse through the new platform and make contacts!

The other digital tool is Frankfurt Rights, an attractive platform that you can use to display your titles and sell or buy translation rights.

Niki: I would also like to mention our Newsletter, the Frankfurt Bookmark, where we publish all our international calls for applications and projects in Frankfurt and worldwide.

Selection process

Chytomo: Does it mean that you don’t necessarily have to be an exhibitor to be eligible for this type of programme?

Niki: That’s correct. We are looking for talented publishing professionals from Ukraine, Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia who have a good command of English and are interested in building up their international network. I think half of the participants are coming to the FBF for the first time. And that’s something we benefit from, bringing new potential customers to the event.

We are offering them the possibility to discover the largest book fair in the world in a very comfortable way and to become part of a community. It’s a perfect way to start, and, of course, we hope that all these people find a way to join the fair on their own in the future.

Chytomo: You had more than 100 applicants for the Special Program from 10 countries. How do you select the participants?

Niki: We have a team of four people on the jury: Vladka Kupska, Mariia Shubchyk from Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Yulia Kozlovets from International Book Arsenal Festival, and myself. We’ve been working with each other for years, being on the same wavelength, and we know what we’re looking for. First of all, we’re looking for professionals with at least two years of experience in publishing, good command of English, and who are buying or selling rights. Marketing people are not eligible for this program because our focus is on fostering translations between the countries involved, plus ideally translations from the countries to the world and vice versa. Secondly, we are looking at the quality of the publishing house and also soft skills and motivation. Today, we can check all the digital sources, like websites, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook to see how professional this company is. And last but not the least, we try to have a diverse group in terms of experience so that we always have a few seniors in rights who are more experienced and can share their knowledge with less experienced participants. It’s a mix, but it works super well. 

RELATED: Publisher from Georgia David Kakabadze: The most important thing is to get rid of Russian influence

Chytomo: I remember in 2022, one country wasn’t on the list of eligible countries, but in the end, you’ve added Kazakhstan.

Niki: Yes, it’s true. It was not on the list. But then I got a call from the publisher from Kazakhstan, Raisa Kader from Steppe & World Publishing, asking me, “But why aren’t we on the list? As a Kazakh publisher, who’s trying to publish books in Kazakh language, I had a similar situation as my Ukrainian colleagues who’ve been trying to publish in Ukrainian in a market that was flooded before the war by Russian-speaking books.”

And that’s the reason why we decided to add them on the list, even if it’s not a “neighboring country.” Because it’s more a community of almost soulmates — post-Soviet destinies of publishers who are trying to make their own language, their own culture visible.

Chytomo: … it’s extremely hard when you need to protect your language because in our industry everything is based on the language. Otherwise, you are serving the industry of another market.

Vladka: And by the way, we are very happy that we have a collective national stand of Kazakhstan this year (hall 4.1, F60). We had Kazakhstan among the national stands but a long time ago, 15 years ago, so we can name it as the first one.

Chytomo: Why do you think it has happened now?

Vladka: We have stayed in touch with our first participant from Kazakhstan, Raisa Kader, and other publishing representatives in the country who lobbied until the Ministry of Culture decided to support a collective stand financially. 

On our end, we are running a publishers workshop in Almaty in November with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office.

Chytomo: It feels like one person changed how things are going for the whole country.

Niki: Sometimes, as you said, one person can make a difference. It’s like a spark. And that’s why, as a book fair, we benefit a lot from our network, because all these people who took part are sparks in their own regions and countries and can ignite new ideas and projects. We see them as ambassadors, and when you see how many fellows we have had since 1998, when the Frankfurt Fellowship was established, if you look at the number of fellowships during 25 years — for every fair in the world, is the best way to expand the international network.

Other programs

Chytomo: How about the Special Program?

Niki: One of them is the Special Programme for Publishers from Ukraine and Neighboring Countries. We launched this program after the Russian full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022because, before, the idea was rather to go to Ukraine, to Georgia or other countries and run international multilateral workshops on-site. And this is still our goal. Every year since the war, we both hope we will be on-site in the following year. The idea is to keep this tradition going.

But because the war is ongoing and we want to keep this relationship and to promote the Ukrainian book and culture, book trade and cultural industry, to put it in the spotlight and allow these professionals to connect with the international publishing community, we decided, together with our partners in Ukraine, to bring the people to Frankfurt.

Chytomo: … and this puts the program in the same row as the Frankfurt Fellowship or Invitation Programs.

Niki: The two other programs were, from the beginning, conceived as Frankfurt-based programs.

The invitation programme is designed for people from, let’s say, emerging markets: from Africa, Latin America, South America, the Arabic world, Asia, and the Caribbean. This idea is more about development, helping publishers from weaker book markets to also connect internationally, to come to the book fair. They couldn’t do that on their own. They have no means to come. And the Foreign Office creates the opportunity for them to come, to be included in the community here. And the third programme is the Frankfurt Fellowship Program, which is an “international young talents” program, where most of the Frankfurt fellows come from stronger book markets like Spain, Italy, UK or the US to connect with the German book publishers. It fosters translations from German into foreign languages.

Chytomo: In many cases, the opportunity of a first visit also depends on national participation and the relationship between publishers and the government. If your government is organizing a national stand, it’s much easier to attend. Many exhibitors I know come to Frankfurter Buchmesse in this format.

Vladka: There are many different formats, and we aren’t putting any boundaries. If publishers want to exhibit in a special subject group, such as “international art books,” they can opt out of the national stand and book a separate stand in a different hall. So, there are always several options available: a company stand, a collective stand, and finally, a national stand.

Chytomo: Are there other options for the publishers?

Vladka: Well, it depends. You can decide for the next year to come as a trade visitor, to make appointments or you could book a stand if you want to present your titles to others. Last but not least, since a few years ago, there has also been the option to book a workstation.
  

Niki: What I love is when you see smaller publishers inventing their own exhibiting concepts. For example, there was a fantastic collective stand before the pandemic with one indie publisher each from France, Spain, Italy, and one from Poland. They shared six or eight square meters, and it was so cool that everyone heard about them and went around and had drinks. There was a little bit of hype around this little stand.

Typically, these publishers would have been co-exhibitors at a big French stand, a big Italian stand, and a big Spanish stand, and would be “a little fish in the ocean.” But they decided to do their own thing, and it was a really interesting concept.

Chytomo: I have a feeling that these countries may now see the Frankfurt Book Fair as a platform for decolonization through business and for becoming more independent.

Niki: I think we would use word empowerment. This concept is really crucial in my work. I use empowerment rather than decolonization even if it can be sometimes linked to each other.The idea in the work we do, internationally is to empower people —  that means to give them the power to make their own business to be more visible, to be more connected, and to tell the stories they want to tell.

The business model of the Frankfurt Book Fair is connected to funding diversity and bibliodiversity, in particular.

Vladka: It’s true. Small stands are basically funded in the price structure of the book fair.The companies with a smaller stand (4, 6, and 8 square meters) benefit from a slightly lower price per square meter. In this way, Frankfurter Buchmesse supports and encourages independent publishers to come to Frankfurt.

Copy editing: Nicole Yurcaba, Jayson MacLean