Frankfurt Book Fair to feature Argentina, exhibitor numbers fall

Sep 9, 2010, 16:14 GMT

Frankfurt - This year's Frankfurt Book Fair, set to feature Argentina as guest of honour, has suffered a fall in exhibitor numbers, it said Thursday.

So far, just under 7,000 exhibitors have booked booth space, a decline of 5 per cent.

Organizers said 783 British publishers and 607 from the United States - the main players in the international book trade - had booked so far to attend the annual event, the same level as last year.

Juergen Boos, director of what is the world's biggest book fair, blamed some of the fallback on the economic slump in eastern Europe which has hit publishing there.

Chinese participation with 207 publishers was also well off the level of 2009, when China was guest of honour, he said.

Space sales so far of 171,790 square metres were the same as last year with less than four weeks to go. A book fair spokeswoman forecast that the organizing company's revenues would be steady.

The fair is a major opportunity for publishers to buy the rights to translate or republish books from the world's leading publishing companies. Rights vendors often introduce authors to potential buyers to help clinch sales.

Among authors who will be attending the event and also meeting with the public are Jonathan Franzen, Bret Easton Ellis and Ken Follett.

In German retail bookselling, the Fair ushers in the pre-Christmas season of gift book sales.

Guests of honour receive special attention from German book reviewers and stage concerts and shows in German cities. Some 200 Argentine books have appeared in German this year to mark the occasion.

This year's fair will also have a special programme code-named Sparks which will demonstrate how internet writing and digital technology have been shaking up the staid world of books.