Move Over,
Moscow
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (SEPTEMBER 2002)
Look
out, Moscow: there’s a new book fair on the block. That’s
the word on the street, anyway, as this month’s 15th
Moscow International Book Fair hits the town
from September 4-9. The venerable Russian institution,
expanded this year with a rights center and expected
to grab record attendance atop the most recent wave
of globalization, has nonetheless found itself with
a rival. Enter the upstart Non/fiction Book Fair,
billed as the “4th International Book Fair of high-quality
fiction and nonfiction,” slated to run November 27 to
December 2.
Why the new fair? “To embrace the wide diversity of
the new-wave book world, to provide an alternative to
mass-market culture, and to acquaint the public with
the broad range of intellectual achievements of the
last decade,” says Luda Frost, Project Manager
for fair producer ExpoPark Exhibition Projects.
An “expert council” of publishers selects the exhibitors,
who are encouraged to proffer things like “conceptual
book projects” and “book-actions.” Previous fairs have
attracted over 30,000 visitors, and 150 exhibitors are
on tap for this year’s show, more than 20% of which
are foreign. The special theme is “The Literary Critics,”
and heavy hitters from France, the UK, and the Ukraine
have been invited for roundtables and seminars.
The fair responds to a nascent shift in Russian publishing
away from imported bestsellers and toward more literary
fare, says Yulia Borodyanskaya, Subsidiary Rights
Manager for Newmarket Publishing. Authors such
as Nikolay Gumilev, Umberto Eco, and even
Sartre are said to be selling, and contemporary
writers include Boris Akunin (he’s been snapped
up by Random’s Modern Library) and Ludmila
Ulitskaya, whose novel The Funeral Party was
published in the US last year by Schocken. There
may even be hope for sales of Russian fiction abroad.
“Russian fiction was not at all in demand until the
last few years,” says Natalia Matveyeva, Rights
Manager for Moscow’s Text Publishers. “Only in
recent months have we felt an interest waking up. But
everybody prefers something with a scandalous flavor,
and not too much detail about Russian life.”
Still, traditional business is perking along, and even
English titles have shown promise. “English-language
book exports have grown steadily,” says Sandy Friedman,
Random House’s Senior VP for International Sales. Mariann
Kenedi, who manages Random’s English sales in Russia,
adds that “English-language education has been getting
very important,” and says that as American fiction is
widely translated, Russians want to read their Grisham
in the original. Unfortunately, wild currency wobbles
have brought a five-fold price hike for imported goods,
and a 20% VAT on book imports hasn’t helped matters.
“The potential is there, but it’s a long-term seeding
process,” Friedman says.
The faltering economy has given some exhibitors at the
bigger Moscow fair pause. “Sales for the last few months
have slumped badly,” says Bob Michel, VP and
Director of International Sales for the AOL Time
Warner Book Group. “It didn’t make sense for us
to go this year.” But he hasn’t given up all hope. Michel
says his bestsellers in Russia are mass-market paperbacks,
but that — regardless of the trend toward literature
— Bulfinch titles sell well, too. “A lot of wealthier
Russians will think nothing of spending $100 on Ansel
Adams,” he says. “Bulfinch is coming out with 100
Years of Harley Davidson, with a rubberized cover.
I think we’ll get some nice orders on that from Russia.”
We
thank Olga Borodyanskaya, literary agent and publishing
consultant in St. Petersburg, for her contribution to
this article.
©2002
Publishing Trends
