By Olivia Snaije PARIS: It should be an occasion for celebration — it’s the 30th anniversary, after all — but Paris’ Salon du Livre opens today in a climate of sniping and mudslinging. It’s “the fair we love to hate,” quipped Nicolas Gary on his literary blog, Actualitté. For years, French publishers have been complaining that the fair is neither …
Against the Odds: Bringing Arabic Kids Books to Life in Beirut
By Olivia Snaije BEIRUT: Dar Onboz is a small, Beirut-based publishing company with big dreams. Founded in the spring of 2006, just before the Israeli summer bombing of Lebanon, Dar Onboz has faced down financial worries, problems with distribution and the general difficulties of running a company in country where the political situation is volatile and corruption is commonplace. The …
Can Books Help Kids Better Cope with Digital Multitasking?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story by Sharon Glassman features an interview with Antonio Faeti of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, who discusses the role kids books have in the digital age. Among his arguments — which include describing kids books as a kind of vitamin 2.0 — Faeti cites a study done at the University of London that prescribes exposing …
Vitamins 2.0: How Children’s Books Can Change the World in the Digital Age
What type of illustrated kids’ books are most valuable? Perhaps those of most importance are the books done with manual, as opposed to digital artistry.
Have Passport, Will Publish: Publishing Expats in Prague and West Australia
By Daniel Kalder In part two of Publishing Perspectives’ series on publishing professionals working abroad, Daniel Kalder, himself a Scot transplanted to Texas via Moscow — talks to two Americans who discuss their experiences working in publishing abroad and how it has enhanced their careers. Walnut Liquor to Warm You Up Erin Ferretti Slattery is managing editor at Channel V …
Obama’s Example Should Inspire US Kids Pubs to Change
By Sharon Glassman Today’s hard times could inspire better book times for US kids’ imprints, says Grazia Gotti, co-founder of the Giannino Stoppani cultural cooperative and children’s bookshop in Bologna and one of the organizers of the Bologna Book Fair. The secret? Arrivaderci isolation and “big marketing.” Buon Giorno dialogue, “long-sellers” and European-style cooperation. In a chat with Publishing Perspectives, Gotti, a self-confessed …
Chew on This: Paris Inaugurates a Book Fair for Foodies
By Olivia Snaije PARIS: It makes perfect sense that the first international cookbook trade fair will be held in Paris — a city that, to many, remains the culinary capitol of the world. The Paris Cookbook Fair runs this week, from February 12-15, and its founder, Edouard Cointreau, hopes to unite the cosmopolitan network of food lovers and professionals he …