One-on-one meetings in the rights trading center at the 2022 Professional Days program from the Brazilian Publishers. Image: Brazilian Publishers
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also: In Brazilian Educational Publishing: A Crisis Averted
Professional Days: August 30 and 31
The upcoming 21st edition of the Bienal do Livro in Rio de Janeiro next week will be led by the book fair’s first professional program attached to this international book fair, an event mounted by Brazilian Publishers, an organization familiar to many of our Publishing Perspectives readers. Our readers engaged in rights may want to check the latest catalogues from Brazilian Publishers, available here.
According to the organizers, the 2022 professional program in São Paulo led to more than US$650,000 in a combination of completed deals and agreements both in rights transactions and book sales. Then, as in this year’s program in Rio, the program saw a mix of some 40 Brazilian industry representatives and at least 20 international publishers.
Today (August 25), organizers have provided to us details of what’s on tap at the Rio program on Thursday and Friday (August 30 and 31).
As you’ll remember, Brazilian Publishers is a joint project of the Brazilian Book Chamber (Câmara Brasileira do Livro, CBL) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, called ApexBrasil.
“It’s a great honor to be able to count on the support and partnership of the Rio International Book Fair and SNEL during the fourth edition of the Professional Days.”Sevani Matos, National Union of Book Publishers
And while the professional program on August 30 and 31 will be the fourth “Professional Days” program, last year’s was in São Paulo. The fair is—as its name tells you—a biennial event, which alternates between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. You may recall our reporting on the program last year.
This year’s professional program makes its debut in Rio under the leadership of Rayanna Pereira, international relations coordinator, and Ana Claudia. Publishing Perspectives understands that as many as 60 book professionals from various international markets have been invited, and the rights-trading floor is one of its key assets for those arriving to take part in the program’s discussions and one-on-one meetings.
The Rio fair itself, a public-facing event, runs September 1 to 10, and is celebrating a 40th year of the biennial arrangement between itself and its sister fair in São Paulo.
The show’s programming this year is to feature more than 300 authors’ appearances, and its thematic elements are being described as emphasizing the human over mechanization, particularly in reference to issues around artificial intelligence as the visiting public might perceive it among the exhibitors’ stands.
Organizers of the fair say they’ve scheduled as many as 200 hours of events and will have an exhibition space featuring more than 500 brands.
A key effort of this year’s fair also has to do with several comparatively intimate spaces built into the sprawling event produced by GL Events Exhibitions and the Sindicato Nacional dos Editores de Livros (SNEL). Hence a Café Literário, for example, a “literary café,” will be in place as a point for discussion, while “The Great Reading Adventure” is designated as a space for immersive children’s activities.
‘Professional Days’ Programming
One-on-one meetings in the São Paulo rights trading center at the 2022 Professional Days program from the Brazilian Publishers. Image: Brazilian Publishers
The Brazilian Publishers’ program for publishing specialists opens on Wednesday morning (August 30) with an address from Sevani Matos of the book chamber and Dante Cid, who leads the National Union of Book Publishers.
Sevani Matos
In a statement previewing the event, Matos is quoted, saying, “Being able to find international publishers and negotiate the sale of copyrights directly with them—without having to leave the country—is an excellent opportunity for many Brazilian professionals in the publishing market.
“It’s a great honor to be able to count on the support and partnership of the Rio International Book Fair and SNEL during the fourth edition of the Professional Days.”
Miriam Gabbai
What follows, then, is a round table exchange of viewpoints on challenges and opportunities in the Colombian and Mexican markets.
- From Colombia, Pilar Cuéllar of the nonprofit foundation established in 1990, Fundalectura, affiliated with IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People, and focused on literary culture and its presence throughout diverse demographic elements of the Colombian population. Of interest here is Fundalectura’s goal of being recognized by 2025 as “a leading Ibero-American entity in the training and promotion of literary arts and commerce.
- And joining Cuéllar will be David Acevedo Santiago, Mexico’s secretary of public education.
- Publisher Miriam Gabbai, the founder of Brazil’s Callis Editora, will moderate the discussion, which is expected to include an overview of issues in the Colombian and Mexican markets this season, with emphasis on the main difficulties as well as opportunities that publishers in those Spanish-language countries are encountering.
Following this presentation, the programming then will turn to one-on-one meetings in the trading center.
On the second of the “Professional Days,” August 31, distribution and circulation are in focus, as participants look at issues around how Brazil’s literary output fits into that of the broader Latin American region. Speakers engaged for this sequence of discussion include:
- Ramiro Villalba of Argentina’s AZ Editora
- Laura Gómez of Penguin Random House Colombia
- Marco Luchessi of Brazil’s National Library
Facilitating this discussion will be Sônia Machado Jardim of Grupo Editorial Record.
Publishing Players Represented in the Program
A display in the São Paulo rights trading center at the 2022 Professional Days program from the Brazilian Publishers highlights the SDG Book Club’s Brazilian Portuguese chapter, a program from the United Nations and International Publishers Association. Image: Brazilian Publishers
Brazilian companies participating in the “Professional Days” meetings and discussions are expected to include:
- Ciranda Cultural
- Devir
- Cafezal
- Voz de Mulher
- Ler Editorial
- Caraminhoca
- Blucher
- LCG Editora
- Quase Oito
- CLB Produções
- Eiros
- AllBook
- Charme
- Abroad Books
- Árvore
- BIBLIEx (Biblioteca do Exército)
- Biruta
- CEDIC Internacional
- Bom Bom Books
- Editora do Brasil
- Elementar
- FTD Educação
- Global Editora
- LVM Editora
- Melhoramentos
- Pallas Editora
- Panda Books
- Pingo de Luz
- Prêmio Internacional Destaque Nordeste
- Rua do Sabão
- SESC SP
- Telos Editora
- UNESP
- VR Editoras
And from outside the Brazilian market, visiting pros on hand are to be there, representing:
- Fundalectura (Colombia)
- Penguin Random House Colombia
- Instituto Português (Slovakia)
- Trinta Zero Nove (Mozambique)
- Al Arabi Publishing (Egypt)
- Interzona (Argentina)
- AZ Editora (Argentina)
- Rey Naranjo (Colombia)
- Cinco Books (United States)
- Mexico’s Public Education Secretariat
- Xact Books (India)
- VR Editora (Argentina)
Publishing Perspectives will have more on the upcoming events in Rio next week.
A promotional graphic for Brazil’s 2023 Bienal do Livro, running September 1 to 10. Image: BdL
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Brazilian and Lusophone market is here, more on the world publishing industry’s rights trade is here, more on trade shows and book fairs in the international book publishing industry is here. More on publishing in the Latin American region is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.