From Norway, Germany, USA, Iceland, Finland, Spain, and Poland, here are writings to watch for on the run-up to Frankfurter Buchmesse.
Coronavirus Impact: Amid Losses, Poland Stages Its First Digital Book Fair
Trends reported by Polish publishers show downturns in sales of as much as 70 percent during the spring, and the cancellation of the Warsaw Book Fair has seen the market stage a digital effort, BookTarg.
Coronavirus Worklife: Poland’s Wydawnictwo Literackie’s Mission Stays on Track
While the COVID-19 has sent the publisher’s staffers to their home offices, Olga Tokarczuk’s Nobel win still pushes the team to introduce emerging voices.
Polish Sport Book Awards Dominated by Female and Male Mountaineers
Italian football, Formula One, and heroes and heroines of mountaineering catastrophes are the subject of the 2020 Polish Sport Book Awards, just released.
Polish Publishers Launch an Online Bookstore, Inverso
Citing heavy competition in online retail, two major book publishers in Poland have created an online bookstore of their own called Inverso.
Ethiopian Author Befeqadu Hailu Named as PEN Writer of Courage 2019
Lemn Sissay has named Ethiopia’s Befeqadu Hailu to English PEN’s Honor. And PEN America’s Jennifer Egan blasts the Nobel’s choice of Peter Handke.
Industry Notes: Poland’s Ameet Partners on LEGO Books; AAP Opens PROSE Awards
Poland’s Ameet, based in Łódź, has a new licensing venture with Lego Publishing, and in the States, the AAP opens its annual PROSE Awards competition.
Poland Approves Reduction of Ebook VAT from 23 to 5 Percent
Warsaw’s cut in VAT rates on digital books takes effect November 1, a long-called-for equalization in taxation on print and ebooks, now allowed by Brussels.
Russian Ebook and Audiobook Player LitRes Opens Sales in Poland
Seeing its audiobook unit sales double year-over-year, Russia’s digital retailer now has a new presence in the Polish market.
Poland’s ‘Fashionable’ Book Fairs: ‘Building Book Readership’
Warsaw Book Fair and other literature festivals in Poland enjoy fashionable appeal among the 40% of Poles that surveys indicate are regularly reading.