Isatis sells rights to two titles, in talks for three more

Montreal’s Éditions de l’Isatis has sold world English rights to Une petite bouteille jaune (A little yellow bottle) to Second Story Press. Mon papa ne pue pas (My dad doesn’t smell) has been translated into Spanish as Mi papá no apesta by Mexico’s Petra Ediciones as part of the Mexican Ministry of Education’s BAULA literacy project. The translation will have a print run of over 80,000 copies. And as a result of the Canadian Book Seminar in Seoul, which Livres Canada Books helps coordinate, Isatis is in talks with a Korean publisher for three more titles.

Nicolas Levesque | 12/06/2011 | Export, Rights, Success Story

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Eighth annual Canadian Book Seminar draws interest from Korean publishers

The eighth annual Canadian Book Seminar was held at the Embassy of Canada in Seoul on September 8, 2011. This year 16 Canadian publishers participated with approximately 280 titles on display, featuring books for pre-schoolers, young readers, ESL materials, and some adult titles. The Seminar started with a presentation which dealt with 2010 award-winning titles, bestselling books, and best writers, including a summary of each title introduced. The seminar received very positive responses from the Korean visitors. They were satisfied with the information provided which introduced them to Canadian books and writers not known in the local market. A reception immediately followed the presentation. Throughout the event, visitors were able to browse through the various Canadian titles on display.

Invitations were extended to Korean publishers, buyers and copyright agencies. Twenty-five Korean contacts attended, representing 13 different publishing companies, including two copyright agencies and one buyer. The total number of Canadian participants and Korean visitors declined compared to last year’s event, likely due to the recent economic recession.

During the event, 14 Canadian publishers received special attention from seven Korean publishing companies. The Embassy facilitated contact between the Korean companies and the Canadian publishers for further direct discussion on potential collaboration.

Through discussions with Korean contacts during the seminar, I obtained a sense of local market trends for both children’s and adult’s books:

Children’s Books

In general, the trends for children’s books in the local market remain unchanged from last year, meaning that children’s books should keep focusing on:

1. Preschool children - Picture books with various coloured illustrations (pastel and oil painting colours with detailed expression)
2. Children (grades 1-6) - Non-fiction titles that reinforce basic concepts that these students would learn in the classroom. The preference is for interesting stories with some cartoons or illustrations rather than textbook style exposition. Recently, series in science, mathematics, history, the human body, jobs, etc., are becoming more popular because the series are very comprehensive and generate interest in the sequels. Single books receive less attention from consumers unless there are promotional notations like “award-winning title,” “bestseller,” etc.
3. Young readers (grades 7-9) - Touching and instructive stories about family, school, self-discovery and overcoming hardships and challenges. Teenage romance is not attractive at all to the readers.
4. ESL Material - New learning methods or different approaches of teaching guidance.

Adult Books

The adult book market is not easy to access because consumers have a wide range of tastes and the general trends are quick to change. This is in stark contrast to the children’s book market where consumer’s preferences are very clear. There are no major changes in the trends for adult books this year:

1. Books on the global economy, management or those that are integrated into other industries such as art management, preferably written by scholars or professors.
2. Books on self-development / self-help based on experiences of professionals such as philosophers, artists, psychologists, or professors. Consumers prefer the easy books in forms of essay written by professionals to those with difficult contents.
3. Books on everyday life including environment, interior design, and health issues (healing properties of various foods/ treatments) are increasingly in demand.
4. Psychological thriller - The current demand is small but they are starting to get readers’ attention since European psychological thrillers have been introduced to the market.

The Embassy would like to thank all Canadian participants, as well as the Livres Canada Books for their support of the seminar.

Hyeshin Kang
Trade Commissioner
Commercial-Economic Section
Embassy of Canada (Seoul)
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Nicolas Levesque | 11/15/2011 | Events, Export, Rights

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Frankfurt Book Fair 2011 wrap-up

The Frankfurt Book Fair reports a slight increase in the number of visitors in 2011, with about one per cent more people coming to Frankfurt than in 2010. In all, the fair attracted 280,194 visitors, and around 7,384 exhibitors from 106 countries were present. The international rights and licenses trade also increased this year, with more visitors claiming that the rights trade was the central purpose of their visit. The Literary Scouts & Agents Centre recorded an increase of 11% in visitor numbers. As ever, attention was mainly focused on titles from the English-speaking countries.

The Canada Stand was slightly smaller this year as several publishers have decided to attend every two years. In all, 44 publishers reserved display and meeting space on the stand and another four chose the pied-à-terre option. Despite the fair’s official numbers, publishers felt attendance was down slightly from previous years. Nonetheless, all reported positive and productive meetings with their foreign counterparts.

Nicolas Levesque | 10/20/2011 | Book Fairs, Export, Rights

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Read the report on the Nordic Countries

The report on this summer’s scouting mission to the Nordic countries is available for download from our website. Simon Payette, Jack David, and Linda Cameron report on a productive series of meetings with publishers, national associations, and booksellers from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The report also includes an overview of the Nordic book market and a lengthy list of contacts. Available as a free PDF.

Nicolas Levesque | 09/21/2011 | Export, Rights

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Canada-UK Symposium adds speakers, door prize

UK literary scout Rosalind Ramsay, McGill-Queen’s executive director Philip Cercone, and ANEL executive director Richard Prieur have joined the list of speakers for Livres Canada Books’ Canada-UK Symposium in Frankfurt. Ramsay - whose roster of clients includes publishers in the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Sweden, Portugal, and Italy - and Cercone will share their experience and insights on rights sales, while Prieur will provide an overview of the market in French Canada.

As a further incentive to attend, global eBook retailer Kobo has generously donated a new Kobo eReader Touch to be drawn among the attendees. Kobo offers a vast selection of over two million books and supports the most popular eBook formats, so you can use the Kobo eReader to read compatible books from your local library and other sources.

The Canada-UK Symposium 2011 takes place on Tuesday afternoon October 11th at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Visit the Symposium website for updates and tickets.

Nicolas Levesque | 07/04/2011 | Digital, Events, Export, Rights

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Canadian Embassy in Seoul hosts 8th Book Seminar

The Canadian Embassy in Seoul, Korea will hold its 8th Canadian Book Seminar on September 7–8, 2011. The seminar is designed to promote Canadian titles and encourage the sale of rights to Korean copyright managers and agencies. Following the event, Korean publishers who have expressed interest in specific titles/publishers will be put directly in touch with their Canadian counterparts to discuss possible collaboration and business opportunities.

This year’s seminar will focus on children’s and young readers titles (preschool through grade 12), English as a Second Language (ESL) materials, and adult nonfiction on the liberal arts, the global economy, management, self-development and self-help, and current social issues, including the environment, poverty, food, and health. See our website for more detailed information.

If you are interested in showcasing your titles to Korean copyright managers and publishing companies, please send a maximum of five titles (one copy each) and any related promotional materials to the LCB offices no later than August 9, 2011.

Nicolas Levesque | 06/28/2011 | Events, Export, Rights

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