Dear CTBF Exhibitors and Partners

Plans are gathering momentum for the 5^th annual Cape Town Book Fair.

On 12 May 2010 we held a briefing for stakeholders and exhibitors to brief them on developments around the CTBF and to hear what people’s expectations were. Brian Wafawarowa, Executive Director of the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA) and the Chairman of the CTBF reiterated PASA’s commitment to the fair, and said that the trade focus and the development of the fair as the Pan African fair were both necessary and good initiatives that were progressing well. 12 African publishers will be exhibiting at the CTBF 2010. This exciting initiative, funded by the Goethe Institut will open trade opportunities between international publishers and the African publishing industry.

The media briefing held on 13 May 2010 was well attended. We were delighted to announce that two Nobel Laureates, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (peace) and Professor Wole Soyinka (literature) would be our honoured quests at the fair this year. They will both deliver addresses at the official opening of the fair on 30th July 2010.

The Cape Town Book Fair staff attended the Franschhoek Literary Festival on 13th and 14th July. We congratulate the organisers of the FLF on a very successful event. We were able to meet authors and publishers and attend a few talks/discussions and hand out some Cape Town Book Fair promotional material.

We look forward to welcoming you to Cape Town from 30 July to 2 August, 2010. We are sure that the event will be a success for both the trade and the public who have embraced it with such enthusiasm.

Warm regards
Claudia Kaiser
Director Cape Town Book Fair

The Trade Day of the CTBF will be open to exhibitors, trade visitors, librarians, institutional buyers, and teachers among others. There will be a host of activities including matchmaking seminars for different target groups, buyers/sellers seminar, & professional workshops focusing many different aspects of publishing. Publishers can meet potential clients and business partners by signing up for matchmaking sessions. Other highlights for trade visitors will be the Rights and Business Lounge where participants will be able to conduct meetings in a business-like environment and in privacy. New to the Cape Town Book Fair is our International Collective , where exhibitors from all over the world can register single titles, shelves or panels in order to showcase their publications in the South African Market. Exhibitors are invited to stage their own professional programmes for trade day. Check our website for registration details.

Make sure you don’t miss out on these two excellent sessions.

A Google update: Recent developments in the Google Settlement
The Google Settlement and its implications for publishers, Google Books and Google Editions, and Google devices: these are issues that keep the publishing business in a state of permanent alert. What do publishers most need to know about Google's growing impact on their businesses? Bertus Preller, attorney and founder of SmartSurv Wireless, DigiWords, and CellBook, will give an update on the latest developments around Google, discuss their legal implications, and answer questions from the audience.

The session will be hosted by Arthur Attwell, co-founder and CEO of Electric Book Works, a digital-publishing and consulting company based in Cape Town.

Friday, 30 July 2010
Cape Town International Convention Centre
14.30 – 15.00
Venue to be announced

Going digital in publishing: Opportunities for publishers and lessons learned

Publishing worldwide has seen rapid and radical change in recent years. While content is still at its core, ways to provide this content to consumers are increasingly digital and dynamic. As book production becomes less print-based and more like software development, publishers need new business models, new workflows and systems, and new kinds of relationships with retailers and consumers.

Terry Morris, Managing Director of Pan Macmillan South Africa, Mark Seabrook, Digital Director at New Holland Publishers South Africa, and Carsten Schwab, Head of Digital Production at S. Fischer Publishers in Germany, will share their experiences managing these changes, and lessons learned from them.

The session will be hosted by Arthur Attwell, co-founder and CEO of Electric Book Works, a digital-publishing and consulting company based in Cape Town.

Friday, 30 July 2010
Cape Town International Convention Centre
15.00 – 16.00
Venue to be announced

We are thrilled to announce yet another first for the CTBF as it celebrates its 5^th anniversary. There will be a demo kitchen, sponsored by Pick n Pay, and fitted with appliances by Smeg. So you’ll be able to have your cookery book writers at the fair doing their thing for the public. Contact Sadika Ahmed on +27 21 4185493 to make sure that your authors have a slot in this exciting venue.

Project Literacy funds the Run Home to Read project which encourages literacy and reading in disadvantaged communities. Run Home to Read encourages parents and caregivers to read to children at home, and provides books for them to take home, to develop the early literacy skills that have been identified as essential to successful education. The project also assists adults to improve and practice their literacy skills.

For the past two years, the Cape Town Book Fair has teamed up with Project Literacy to host a benefit banquet in aid of the Run Home to Read Project. The benefit banquet forms part of the Cape Town Book Fair Official and will be held at the Westin Grand Hotel on 30 July 2010. Professor Wole Soyinke will deliver the keynote address.

For more information on Project Literacy/Run Home to Read Click Here

Go to 2010 Exhibitors to check out which titles exhibitors have posted, and make sure that you list your titles published from 2008 onwards. This is a valuable new tool for trade, librarians, and the public who want to know what is new and available in the industry.

The Facebook Cape Town Book Fair Group is growing we have over 400 members already from around the world. There is an exciting competition where fans can post a picture of themselves with their favourite author’s books and win coffee date with popular South African author Chris van Wyk and a hamper of his new books. This is also a valuable forum for discussion on the book fair. Join up and watch the excitement grow.

Local is great, as far as bestselling books in South Africa are concerned these days.

But ever better is a thriller with a wild-cannon character or two, like the sexy teenage vampires in L.J. Smith and Stephenie Meyer’s novels and genius heroine Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.

Click here to read more