Frankfurt Book Fair blogger/journalist Ms. Magali Tardivel and Mr. Jeremie, both from France came to have an exclusive interview with MABOPA and we invited them to lunch for the interview with Mr. Law King Hui, Mr. Arief, Mr. Raymond Liu and myself at Madam Kwan in KLCC on the 3rd June 2010. Both of them had been on the round-the-world trip since 7 months ago and still have 7 more months to complete their journey. They write and post articles in French and English on www.book-fair.com/magali. During each country visit they would meet and interview selected people who work with books, publishers, booksellers, writers and other related bodies in the industry. In Malaysia they would meet and interview MABOPA, an independent writer, a bookseller and a children book publisher.
It was a rare and good opportunity to be able to brief them about the role, aims and objectives of MABOPA in the development of the publishing industry in Malaysia. Having said so, we believe that more MABOPA members would continue to attend, participate and continue to support the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest book fair in the world. This year’s Frankfurt Book Fair runs from 6-10 October and the guest of honour is Argentina. More info about the fair visit: www.book-fair.com.
A quick look at last year’s 2009 facts and figures:
Total visitors: 290,469 (down 2.9% comparison to 2008)
Trade visitors: 181,000
Journalists: 10,000
Literary Agencies: 279
Publications: 401,932 thereof 123,823 are new titles
Over 7,300 exhibitors from 100 countries
Germany: 3,312 and International: 4,002.