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A dozen UK publishers have exhibited at the Taipei International Book Exhibition for the first time this week, battling two major earthquakes in the country.
The Publishers Association returned to the fair for the first time in 18 years this week after members expressed that one of their strategic aims was to focus more on the territory. As a result, the trade body brought along 10 publishers which had never previously attended.
The Taipei International Book Exhibition, which first started in 1987, opened on Tuesday (5th February) focused on the 'Power of Reading', with Israel as the guest of honour. Despite the country facing earthquakes after a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Hualien on Tuesday (7th February), with the tremors felt in Taipei, organisers are expecting around 600,000 visits this year by the time the fair closes, up 3% from 580,000 delegates last year – with the number of publishers boosted by 10% from 621 to 684.
UK representatives to attend the five-day fair in Taiwan’s capital included Scholastic UK, DK, Quarto and Bonnier, as well as Laurence King, which visited for the first time. The Book Depository also debuted at the fair and drew in the crowds after hosting an event with American-born Taiwanese singer and presenter Christine Fan.
Gloria Bailey, manager of overseas trade fairs at the Publishers Association, told The Bookseller that Taipei is being viewed by publishers as the “next step” on from the Beijing Book Fair, with Taiwan another market where rights can be sold in a different language to other surrounding areas.
The PA decided to bring a delegation this year after surveying its members on future strategies, with Taipei coming up as one of the most popular territories to focus on over the next three years. Bailey had originally booked a pavilion for eight publishers but ended up bringing 10.
“The last time the PA brought a group here was in 2000 and we were country of honour,” Bailey said. “When we went before, we had one stand of nine square metres to this [pavilion of 10 publishers]. “It’s definitely a market people are looking at.
“Part of the reason we didn’t come before was that publishers had agents working on their behalf. So that’s why we didn’t come for a long time because we couldn’t get publishers to support us.” However, Bailey believes “things have definitely changed” and that “people are looking at different markets, trying to find new markets, and it just happens that this is one people are looking at”.
She said: “If you’re working with China, there’s complex Chinese and simple Chinese, it’s sold as two different languages and that makes a difference – things publishers have sold in Beijing, they can sell it again here. It’s like having two markets. I know Beijing [Book Fair] has grown quite a lot, we take a big group. Over the last five years the group has grown every year so now we have two complete pavilions there. Now maybe Taipei is the next step."
Rights agent Marco Rodino concurred with Bailey's view after coming for the last quarter of a century. He described the fair as “an absolute must, a great market” with more scheduled meetings this year than any previously.
President Tsai Ing-wen at the fair
The m.d. of the London-based Marco Rodino Agency, who represents a number of publishers at the fair, told The Bookseller: “I've been coming for last twenty-five years. Trade in this area is increasingly important to UK publishers, definitely. I represent a number of publishers and all their revenues for this area have grown, and all my colleagues who represent Asia, all their revenues are growing. It’s a clear target for growth as opposed to a more challenging environment in Europe and the States.”
He added: “Perhaps more publishers who were never looking east before are suddenly aware, you just have to listen the news you see that China, India, Korea – these places are on the map now. They’re not just some far-flung, obscure or distant place where you don’t know how to do business.”
However, he urged UK publishers to commit long-term to the market. He said: “Like markets in any territory, you can’t miss a year… you have to show commitment. It’s a no-brainer. It’s seeing the sort of growth rates we can only dream of in the west… it’s important for the buyer here to know that you’re not just here part-time… that you’re trying to build a long-term partnership. That matters more here than other countries of the world.”
Scholastic’s acting rights manager Tanya Harris-Brown agreed and believes initiating and promoting long-lasting relationships is the key to success in Taiwan.
She said: “[What I have noticed this year is] UK publishers who take the time to travel to any Asian country - be it China, Japan or Taiwan - are hugely appreciated by the local publishers and by investing in forming and building a relationship is invaluable and no currency fluctuation will change that.”
Book Depository's commercial director Javier Rosales meanwhile revealed Taiwan was its “fastest growing” territory in Asia.
Research from HM Revenue and Customs suggests that the market is growing faster than others in Asia. While the value of UK publishers’ physical book export sales to Greater China declined by 3% to £57m in 2016 due to falling sales in mainland China (down 7%) and Hong Kong (which dipped 1%), the physical book exports to Taiwan surged by 9% to £10m.
However, Taiwanese literary agent Gray Tan sounded a note of caution about the Taiwanese market after the country's publishing industry has suffered a “brutal” drop in sales.
The founder of the Taipei-based Grayhawk Agency said: “Sales have been 10% down for each of the last six years, meaning we are now selling half the volume we did in 2010. I do think publishing is taking a really big hit”. As The Bookseller reported at last year's fair, lack of fixed pricing “has been a problem”, according to Tan. “People say it is killing independent bookshops,” he said.
“Publishers are having to scale back a bit in staff but I’m not hearing about any closing down. They just release fewer books."
Along with the earthquakes, Taiwan has also been experiencing unusually icy weather during the course of the fair, its second-longest cold snap in the last 18 years.