And finally, in the hot Italian March of 2023, a large number of Russian specialists again arrived in Bologna – publishers, editors, translators, agents. Books in Russian were presented at separate stands of three independent Russian publishing houses: Scooter, Walk into History and Phoenix Premier. Interestingly, some Italian publishing houses also exhibited Russian books – that is, editions of their books sent to them from Russia, as well as Spanish, German, Chinese, etc. . How is it going from a commercial point of view? The heads of Russian publishing houses of different sizes told.
A comment
For objective reasons, there were no Russian publishers in Bologna for three years. How has the fair itself changed over these three years and how has the attitude towards Russian participants changed?
Evgeny Kapiev, CEO of Eksmo publishing house:
– Nothing has changed much. The exhibition is almost back to the same level it was. The only thing, according to the analyses, is that before foreigners represented 50%, now it is around 35-40%. But still, the exhibition is very rich. Everyone is ready to work with us. There are of course exceptions, some publishing houses have not yet reestablished relations. But small and medium-sized publishers are happy to discuss books. We found a lot of interesting new projects that I’m sure we’ll post. Lots of innovative ideas. It can be seen that children’s literature is actively developing. The publishing market is booming. Now, manga and comics are experiencing a phenomenal rise. And there are plenty of them here and there. Moreover, Italy is famous for the fact that it has a very large segment of literature for children under the age of seven. If you look at the segments, there is a wide variety of toy books and picture books.
Boris Kuznetsov, director of the Rosmen publishing house:
– After a long break, all exhibits feel like a vacation. Everything is perceived fresher and brighter, as if the concentration of thoughts and ideas has increased. It is noticed that a children’s book is changing to “useful” formats, more and more publications that help mothers in one way or another – teaching a child to use a potty, refusing a pacifier, going in kindergarten with fun, managing emotions and loving dad. Less technology and more meaning. The Asian influence is very noticeable and it is increasingly difficult to register for meetings with Koreans and Japanese. But, on the other hand, the exhibition shrinks and shrinks. For me, it’s already the 20th exhibition in Bologna, and I understand that it has shrunk by a third. For us, for Russian publishers, it’s an exhibition in a new reality, when you make appointments not with those who are really needed, but with those who continue to work with Russia. You feel strange when you deliberately ignore major book releases just because they are not available for Russia. But compared to the Frankfurt show, there is little progress, some European and American partners are gradually beginning to restore relations and contracts.
Photo: Mikhail Wiesel
Ekaterina Kashirskaya, director of the publishing house “Walk into history”:
It must be admitted that the publishing houses which, last spring, decided to suspend their work with Russia, for the most part large English-speaking, American or English publishing houses, have remained on this break. In this sense, nothing has changed. Publishers that have continued their cooperation continue to do so. For example, we work with Italian, French, German publishers, with all Asian publishers: China, Korea, etc.
There was no difficulty in renting a stand. We are an independent private publishing house, I think that’s the point. All the difficulties of work are related to the level of interstate interaction. And there are no restrictions for private companies.
