13th SIBF Publishers Conference Comes With Packed Agenda
Professionals from the global publishing industry will convene at the 13th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) Publishers Conference to be held at Expo Centre Sharjah, beginning tomorrow (29 October, 2023). The three-day conference is hosted annually as a lead-up to the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) and is a key component of the event’s professional programme.
Publishing houses, literary agents, and rights professionals from over 106 countries will be participating in the conference, with 12 countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Czech Republic, DR Congo, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritius, Paraguay, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, making their debut.
The SIBF Publishers Conference has emerged as a robust platform for buying and selling rights, signing book deals, exploring opportunities for translations, serving the commercial interests of the sector, in addition to being an axis in the encouragement of networking and cultural exchange. The conference’s groundbreaking success in 2021 and 2022 has influenced the naming of SIBF as the world’s largest publishing event for two consecutive years in terms of buying and selling copyrights.
The conference will host 42 dynamic and engaging speakers and experts including the likes of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson, Sharjah Book Authority (SBA); Núria Cabutí Brull, CEO Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial; Ian Chapman, Chief Executive and Publisher, Simon & Schuster UK and International; and Cheolho Yoon, Chairman, Korean Publishers Association.
The inaugural day comes with a packed agenda of keynotes and roundtables. Global market updates, accessing markets and the right way to buy and sell books, expansion of technologies in the publishing industry, copyright infringement, artificial intelligence and how publishers are approaching the subject, augmented reality and how it enhances accessibility and book sales, print on demand and global distribution strategies, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and children’s publishing, publishing graphic novels for a global audience, how to pitch books for translations, e-commerce, joint regional publishing, and encouraging female publishing entrepreneurship are some of varied topics that will be discussed.
Winners of the 2nd edition of the eagerly anticipated Sharjah Rights Connection Awards will be announced at the conference. This year, the award has received 58 entries from as many countries, including 42 literary agents and 16 publishers.
The three-day conference will give way to the 42nd edition of SIBF, which will be held from 1-12 November, 2023, at Expo Centre Sharjah. South Korea has been announced as SIBF’s Guest of Honour.
