Dubai Book Fair writes new chapter in publishing rights

Dubai will soon have an international rights trading centre, which will serve as a dedicated trading platform to buy and sell publishing rights in the Arab World.

This is one of the prime objectives of the upcoming Dubai International Children's Book Fair, said the event organisers.

The establishment of the International Rights Trading Centre will further consolidate the long-term growth of the Arab World's publishing industry, they said.

Dubai International Children's Book Fair, which will be held from February 3 to 10 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, has been preparing to host the pioneering International Rights Trading Centre.

The centre will be open to all trade visitors without additional fee. A dedicated team will be deployed by the organisers to operate the centre and help participants facilitate partnerships and set up meetings to negotiate and finalise bulk deals.

At present, the main venues for trading publishing rights are Frankfurt Book Fair, London Book Fair, Bologna Children's Book Fair and BookExpo America, all of which have limited trade tools that cater to Arab literature and the distinct requirements of Arab markets.

To efficiently create and operate a dedicated rights trading centre in the region, it is necessary to promote awareness about international rights markets and principal market players, which include authors, illustrators, agents, original publishers, scouts, acquiring publishers and distributors.

Accordingly, Dubai International Children's Book Fair has been organising various awareness campaigns targeting local and regional industry players. These campaigns include a workshop which was conducted at Sharjah International Book Fair last week. Jamal Al Shehhi, CEO of Dubai International Children's Book Fair, was the keynote speaker of the workshop.

The key areas covered by the workshop included translation rights, co-editions, imports and exports, best practices in working with international authors, illustrators and their representatives, professional project management and communication across cultural borders.

The workshop also highlighted the strategic advantage of establishing a dedicated rights trading centre in the region through the Dubai International Children's Book Fair.

The advantages are particularly in terms of addressing the specific needs of niche markets in the Arab World, bridging the gap between Arabs and other cultures, promoting educational programmes, direct match-making between Arab and international publishers and agents and identifying key issues related to copyright, distribution and best practices.

Workshop participants also learned more about techniques on how to present their company and catalogue and their list of titles, and how to better communicate the right message to the right audiences.

Dubai International Children's Book Fair is also providing prospective clients of the rights trading centre with advice on developing a successful professional project management plan. Besides the rights trading centre, several other specialised initiatives and activities have been integrated into the Dubai International Children's Book Fair to facilitate business-to-business activities.

There will be a reader development conference, which will focus on sharing best international practices in promoting reading; a creativity centre, which will feature educational and entertainment programmes for the children and their families; and the children's bookshop, an ideal set-up for a children's bookstore and the only selling venue at the fair.

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