When the chilly winds of autumn start to blow, publishers and authors know it’s time for the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the largest book fair in the world. This year was extra special for indie publishers from the Philippines who finally gained a foothold in the industry’s biggest gathering, bringing fresh ideas and diverse experiences to a global stage.
It’s a long way from the musty libraries of the Immaculate Conception College (now a university) in Davao City, where I spent the first nine years of my student life imagining the world outside my rural confines through countless books. I’ve wandered into more cavernous rooms since those childhood years, from the UP library in Diliman to the Bodleian at Oxford and, most recently, the New York Public Library. No amount of traipsing all over those cavernous spaces could have prepared me for the massive halls of the messe (trade fair) in Frankfurt, however, where miles and miles of booths displayed a dizzying array of publications from all corners of the world.
For five days, from Oct. 16 to 20, I was in book heaven, admiring exquisitely bound tomes and scanning those ubiquitous QR codes for catalogues and checking out new titles from various countries (mostly industrialized, unfortunately) across the globe. It would have been great to simply indulge in nerdy stuff, but the Frankfurt Buchmesse is all about the business of books, and so there was more talking about how to get our titles translated into foreign languages or sold in countries abroad rather than the real pleasures of reading. There were meetings with German publishers interested in Philippine titles, as well as inquiries in national stands that offered translation grants.
As the founder of Pawikan Press, a homegrown publishing house in Davao City, I took part in panel discussions at the Asia Stage along with a few delegates affiliated with The Indie Publishers Collab PH that received a grant from the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair. Rex Publishing co-sponsored the Asia Stage with Frankfurt Buchmesse.
Together with Sarge Lacuesta of Good Intentions Publishing, I joined A Conversation: Young and Indie Publishers in Asia where I shared the success story of our first title, The Battle of Marawi by award-winning author Criselda Yabes, and how small presses can compete in mainstream publishing by producing high-quality books that become bestsellers.
Xi Zuq from Aklat Alamid, based in General Santos City, gave a different perspective in Writers on the Rise where he talked about how they sought ideas from local communities for their children’s books instead of following market forces. Davao fictionist Jade Mark Capiñanes teamed up with Sarge in exploring humor and satire in the aptly titled It’s More Funny in the Philippines forum.
At the International Stage, journalist Patricia Evangelista read excerpts from her widely acclaimed Some People Need Killing to an attentive audience. Popular historian Ambeth Ocampo and novelist Butch Dalisay discussed the influence of national hero Jose Rizal on Philippine literature and delighted the crowd with little-known anecdotes about his work.
To help prepare the publishers and authors who were attending the book fair for the first time, NBDB organized a training series in the run-up to the event on how to review publishing contracts, pitch books to foreign publishers for translation, and sell publication rights in other territories. Resource persons from Germany as well as Philippine publishers that have successfully marketed books abroad provided tips and useful templates to participants.
The seminars proved invaluable as some of the more enterprising indie publishers and authors snagged contracts in Frankfurt.
But what does being indie mean exactly? The question was one of the hotly debated topics in a panel discussion on the State of Independent Publishing, where the speakers said small presses can vary in size from five to more than 100 titles per year. Porter Anderson, editor-in-chief of Publishing Perspectives who led the discussion about small publishers in world markets, noted a growing trend in the acquisition of indie publishers by major companies. This means that big publishers are closely observing what small ones are doing, and indeed, there are initiatives such as those of Authors Equity that are worth watching: instead of conventional contracts, the publisher enters into partnerships with writers and illustrators so that all parties can benefit from building a business together.
As a hybrid publisher combining grants with capital in financing book production, I absorbed all the new information while getting awestruck at the enormous stands of the Big 5 in the publishing industry — Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and HarperCollins — at the book fair.
All day long, literary agents negotiated with authors and presumably smaller publishers aiming for a shot at the big time, the piles of books on their tables getting higher by the hour. Of course, there was also a huge scattering of smaller publishing groups where plenty of brave souls seemed to be cold-pitching their titles to a variety of entrepreneurs. Academic presses from the US and the UK showcased their impressive work and offered inspiration for putting out creatively produced books from often boring research studies.
My limited social skills were vastly unprepared for this marketplace of books, but the experience became a vital scoping exercise that would enable first-timers like me to prepare better next year.
This year’s sizable delegation, after all, was a prelude to a much bigger presence for the Philippines as the country Guest of Honor in 2025 at the Frankfurt book fair. Veteran publisher Karina Africa Bolasco is the guiding spirit for this undertaking, with much-needed support from the Office of Senator Loren Legarda as well as the NCCA and NBDB.
This year’s Italian pavilion is a tough act to follow, with exhibits ranging from Machiavelli’s 16th-century classic The Prince to 3D printed AirTag cases. While browsing the selection displayed by Italy, this year’s Guest of Honor, I could already picture next year’s readers marveling at some of our sumptuously published titles such as Tubbataha: A National Treasure or any of Gilda Cordero Fernando’s books.
If the video animation shown during the handover ceremony on the last day of the book fair lives up to its promise, the Philippines should be able to shine next year, with its evocative images of our literary traditions and soaring aspirations. Performances from the Madrigal Singers and our very own Waway Saway from Mindanao offered a glimpse of the diverse talent that the country has to offer, and by then, indie publishers will be ready to hold their own beside the giants of the Philippine book industry.
***
The author has written, edited, and published more than 25 books on culture and environment topics. Comments and inquiries may be emailed to pawikan.house@gmail.com