Dear CTBF Exhibitors and Partners

Welcome to the first newsletter of the 2010 Cape Town Book Fair (CTBF). Through this newsletter you will be kept up to date with the latest news and developments, deadlines and dates that are vital to the success and smooth running of the fair.

This year we are excited to announce that the first day of the fair, July 30, 2010 will be a trade day. This is a great opportunity to grow the trade aspect of the fair.

The professional day will be open to exhibitors and trade visitors, for example booksellers, librarians, institutional buyers, teachers, school principals among others. The organisers will present on the spot seminars, e.g. on Rights Trading, Publishing in Africa, Digital publishing, a seminar for booksellers and other subjects.

The organisers will also present matchmaking seminars for different target groups, one of them being a buyers/sellers meeting. Exhibitors are invited to stage their own professional programmes on that day as well: making the CTBF a place where publishers, booksellers and other trade exhibitors can send their staff to be trained and gain knowledge for free.

If publishers want to meet potential clients and business partners, they should sign up for the matchmaking sessions - we have had tremendous success with these in the past - and great outcomes for the participants!

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. On top of this the CTBF will present an International Collective, where exhibitors from all over the world can register single titles, shelves or panels in order to test the market.

The CTBF has been embraced by the public, with tens of thousands of visitors streaming through its doors over the past four years to celebrate books and take part in discussions. We are confident that this year, with the added attractions of the trade day, and the strong focus that we placing on the CTBF as the portal to the African publishing market will make it a fitting celebration of the fair's fifth year.

We look forward to welcoming you to Cape Town from 30 July to 2 August, 2010.

Warm regards
Claudia Kaiser
Director Cape Town Book Fair

This year a new forum event has been introduced to allow PASA members and stakeholders in the CTBF to get the latest information about the fair and all its new innovative features. These features have been designed so that you will get the maximum benefit from your participation in the fair. Join the CTBF team for a forum discussion where you can express your expectations with the team.

Date: 12 May 2010
Time: 9am to 2pm, lunch will be served
Venue: Cape Town International Conference Centre
RSVP: To Juliet at info@capetownbookfair.co.za or telephone +27 21 418 5493

The CTBF is the largest book trade event on the African continent which has a market of over 680 million people spread across 47 countries. You can access this market through the first International Collective which will allow you to display your titles, even if you are not at the fair. You will receive:

- Prominent display of your books, magazines and non-print material
- Full company and title listing online for one year at www.pubmatch.org/CTBF
- Distribution of catalogues and brochures
- Staff on hand to collect enquiries on your behalf
- You can tailor make your entry to suit your budget

For more information contact the CTBF on info@capetownbookfair.co.za or visit www.capetownbookfair.com

Space is rapidly being booked out, but there are still some opportunities to book space at the fair.
Go to www.capetownbookfair.co.za/exhibitors/registration

Another innovation will be the, "Book2Look" - a new marketing tool for books. Publishers can register their titles (published 2008 or later) on this special Cape Town Book Fair edition, in Book2Look they can upload reading samples of the titles as well as other information, create links to different book shops where the title can be ordered and bought. Readers can recommend the books and the reading samples through facebook, twitter etc. to their friends. The Book2look programme will be a valuable marketing tool allowing sampling of books and a view of covers and illustrations. It will be launched for exhibitors on May 10, 2010 on the Cape Town Book Fair website.

Independent publishing is a growing trend in the South African market. For many it is seen as a way to get their books published in a relatively small market, but it holds many challenges. For some publishers though these challenges have been overcome in a quite spectacular manner.

Jacana Media, headed up by Bridget Impey, was voted the South African Small Publisher of the Year in 2009. Impey says, "Jacana is an independent publisher who punches well above their weight." An example of this is evidenced by the fact that the biggest chain of bookstores in South Africa had six Jacana titles on their list of 30 books in their Home Bru promotion (Home Bru is a list that focuses on South African writers and their works).

Part of the challenge for Impey in taking on a manuscript lies in "thinking we'll sell more than 1 500 of a title before we'll take it on, we're pleased when we sell more than 3 000 copies of a title". While these numbers may seem small one has to keep in mind that a "bestseller" for a South African book lies somewhere between 3 000 and 7 000.

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