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The Paris Book Fair closed its doors last night (31st March) with both good and bad news to report. Visitor numbers declined by about 7% from last year to an estimated 190,000 from 204,000, but some publishers reported heatlhy increases in sales, perhaps benefitting from the absence of Hachette Livre and other houses.
Debates and author readings were well attended, more than 700 meetings were held to negotiate the sale of audiovisual rights, and all stands and events related to digitisation played to a full audience. The French Publishers Association’s conference on digitisation attracted some 600 people.
The possibility of taking the Salon du Livre back to the Grand Palais in central Paris had been raised in recent months, but next year’s fair will again be held at the Porte de Versailles, from 18th to 23rd March. Guests of honour will be the five Nordic countries—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.