A Fair Fair: #fbm24
We hadn’t been to the Frankfurt book fair the past couple of years. Some things have changed. For example, to get in, you now go through this salubrious hall.
Apparently, last year hall 3.0, one in which the usual traditional publishers such as Hanser or Rowohlt have their stands, was completely overfilled with young book lovers. The aisles were so packed with young people shuffling to get to their new adult romance or fantasy label stands that the old-school publishers complained to the fair organisers.
So this year, the fair opened a new hall, hall 1.2, for „New Adult“. This is now home to the young indy publishers, for example of fantasy and romance titles.
Not so many years ago, the entire publishing industry in Germany was lamenting that people don’t read anymore. There were all sorts of helpless attempts to get young people to read because the old people thought the next generation didn’t like books. How wrong they were!
Now the young readers are flocking to the book fair. 
And instead of being happy about it, the industry segregates this new generation that spends a fortune on books into a separate hall to keep them apart from the traditional old publishers in their ivory halls.
Anyway, we enjoyed great conversations with authors, agents, publishers, and publishing service providers – and showing certain individuals what we are currently working on. To be revealed! Watch this space.
So #fbm, although we don’t entirely agree with hall 1, it was good to be back.
What’s your book?
