Last year’s New Title Showcase at the Sharjah World Book Fair was a great starting point for publishers from the US, UK and Canada to get their books seen in the Arab World—likely for the first time.  This time, the Sharjah government, whose Department of Culture and Information manages the fair, wants to take the burden off of you the publisher, and to do so they’ve enlisted The London Book Fair and The Combined Book Exhibit to help (like you’re surprised…).

This year’s exhibit in Sharjah will be an all-new venture, and certainly the first of its kind in the Arab World.  Called the “Winners and Bestsellers” exhibit, it hopes to feature hundreds of award-winning and best-selling titles from the US and UK.  While last year’s New Title Showcase was a great jumping off point for introducing new books to the region, The Sharjah World Book Fair itself sees this new exhibit as a way to not only better expose publishers to the region—by allowing them to put their best foot forward—but also as an even better way to allow the region to explore what are considered some of the best contemporary titles which they would not see otherwise from the two largest English-language publishing regions in the world.

How does this take the burden off of the publisher?  Participation in the exhibit is 100% free (except for the one display copy).  Much like any New Title Showcase, the Winners and Bestsellers Exhibit is an official exhibit of the fair, located in a prime exhibiting location and featuring an exclusive online, searchable database (www.BookWinnersAndBestsellers.com --coming soon). 

The Sharjah World Book Fair offers all the benefits of any other international book fair, such as opportunities for book sales, distribution rights sales, library acquisition sales, and translation rights sales.  However in Sharjah, there are two groups specifically searching for translation rights into Arabic:  The Kalima Foundation and the Al Maktoum Foundation (click on either to learn more).  Both will be on hand specifically checking out the Winners and Bestsellers Exhibit in the hopes of finding titles for which they will purchase the translation rights.

Because this is a free exhibit for publishers, we unfortunately have to limit the influx of titles.  If you’ve published a book that has received a reputable award, or been named to any high-caliber bestseller lists, and you wish to participate in the exhibit, please contact us. 

There’s a perfect storm of events happening in the publishing industry that’s allowing for great change:  technology is improving how fast a book can be printed, the Internet is giving new writers an audience, the “Green” movement is calling for less wasted resources, and (perhaps this isn’t so perfect) many mainstream publishers are taking less risks on new authors.  But new authors with a dream and a manuscript no longer need to depend on getting their manuscript found in the “slush pile;” they can now take control of their emerging publishing empire with the help of any number of print-on-demand publishers.  And while competition within this sect of publishing is fierce, Trafford Publishing—the first of them all—is still on the cutting edge of helping to make it happen for these authors.

Jose Albis, Trafford’s Sales and Marketing Manager was able to give us a bit more insight into Trafford as a company:  Their place in the industry, how they’re unique, and certainly what they can do for authors to get their books seen by readers.  Whether it’s your first book, or your next book, Trafford offers an array of services to help you make it available for the masses.  You can learn more about Trafford from their website, or, to be kept on the loop of the best publishing service, request a FREE Publishing Guide at www.trafford.com/10212 but for now, I’ll let Jose take it from here:  

What is Trafford’s place in the publishing industry?

Trafford was the world's first print-on-demand publishing service but we didn't stop there.  We continue to drive change and evolution in the publishing industry.

How does Trafford differ from other similar publishers?

The most significant difference that we hear about most often is that we care about our authors and their success.  Every initiative that we have or even investigate is done so with our authors and future authors in mind.  People who write books want their publishers to care about their books even half as much as they do.

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While we’re celebrating the summer, and relaxing during some down time, a truly good use of our time would be in planning for the upcoming fall show season.  To help you do just that, I offer the following few paragraphs.

Go International This Fall:  Starting in early September with The Beijing International Book Fair, and coming to the grandest of climaxes in October with The Frankfurt International Book Fair, the changing of the leaves brings with them opportunities to spread your books’ messages—and sales—to a worldwide audience. 

…Or Just Stay Local:  This fall, Ohio, Illinois, the New England region, New York, Pennsylvania and California are all holding their local library trade shows.  Not only are these some of the largest and wealthiest regions for libraries per capita, but as is the case with most local shows, each receives higher attendance per institution.  What this means for your titles is the chance to be seen by more of the people who make decisions.  Most libraries can’t afford to send all of their decision makers to a large show like ALA Annual, but they can send them down the road.

2008 may be more than half over, but there’s still a great few months ahead.  To register for any of these shows (except Beijing who’s deadline will have passed by press time), click here to get started.