The London Book Fair Turkey Market Focus 2013

London, 25 February 2013: The London Book Fair Market Focus Professional Programme, which will showcase the Turkish publishing industry at The London Book Fair in April, has been announced. The educational and informative programme will provide international publishers with a better understanding of the Turkish publishing industry and cover many aspects of working with the industry.

The Market Focus Professional Programme includes six professional seminars run in partnership with the UK Publishers Association (PA), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish National Organizing Committee. 

Jacks Thomas, Senior Exhibition Director at Reed Exhibitions, said:  

“We have worked with representatives of Turkish publishing for many years building up to LBF 2013, and it’s wonderful to be able to announce the carefully curated Market Focus Professional Programme. This seminar series, put together in partnership with the UK Publishers Association and Turkish National Organising Committee, will provide many insights into Turkish publishing. Throughout the Fair, the Turkey Market Focus programme will encourage dialogue and understanding amongst international publishers, in addition to reinforcing old and new trade partnerships.”

Richard Mollet, Chief Executive of The Publishers Association, said:

“With its rapidly growing publishing industry, Turkey is a very important market for UK businesses. The Market Focus Professional Programme, with its six targeted seminars, will provide an excellent opportunity for visitors of the London Book Fair from all over the world to gain a specialised, in-depth knowledge of Turkish publishing industry. British publishers aim to develop positive, reciprocal opportunities with Turkish publishing houses and look forward to making the most of The London Book Fair Turkey Market Focus Professional Programme this April.”

Prof. Dr. Onur Bilge Kula, General Director of Libraries and Publications, states that the Market Focus Professional Programme with its six informative and stimulating seminars will provide a very exclusive opportunity for international publishers seeking for opportunities of new trade partnerships or aiming to reinforce their business in Turkish Market. Ümit Yaşar Gözüm, The Coordinator of the Turkish National Organizing Committee also said: "I hope that the participating audiences to the events of the Market Focus Programme will enjoy the diversity, quality and dynamism of Turkish publishing industry.”

The six Professional Programme seminars will take place in the Wellington Room at Earls Court Exhibition Centre during LBF (15-17 April). Simultaneous translation between Turkish and English will be available in all seminars.  The seminars are:

• Overview of the Turkish Market – featuring  Cortina Butler (BookBrunch), in conversation with Ümit Yaşar Gözüm (Turkish National Organizing Committee), Metin Celal (Turkish Publishers Association) and Münir Üstün (Association of Press and Publishing Turkey), Mehmet Develioğlu (ICC (ITO) Executive Board).

• What’s Selling in Turkey? Trade Trends and Future Forecast – featuring Richard Mollet (UK Publishers Association) in conversation with Emrah Özpirinçci (OUP), Erhan Erken (Istanbul Commercial University), and Aslıhan Dinç (Yapı Kredi Publishing House).

• Translation and Turkey’s TEDA Project – featuring translator Maureen Freely in conversation with Onur Bilge Kula (General Director, Libraries and Publications Department, Ministry of Culture and Tourism), Amy Spangler (Anatolialit Literary Agency), and Oktay Saydam (Libraries and Publications Department, Ministry of Culture and Tourism). 

• New Ideas for Reaching Your Audience: Marketing Trends in Turkey – Social Media, Literary Magazines and Author Events – featuring Alison Flood (Guardian online), in conversation with Tuğrul Paşaoğlu (İletişim Publishing), Bayram Murat (Zambak Publishing), Nazlı Berivan Ak (April Publishing), and Zeynep Yığcı (Caretta Publishing).

• Children’s, Youth and Educational Publishing in Turkey – featuring Caroline Horn (Readingzone.com) in conversation Melike Günyüz (Erdem Publishing), Hasan Hüseyin Doğru (Damla Publishing), and  Mustafa İlkhan (FATIH Project).

• E and P Book Distribution and the Supply Chain in Turkey – featuring Kenan Kocatürk (Punto Distribution) in conversation with İhsan Sönmez (Timaş Publishing), Mehmet İnhan (Idefix), and Muharrem Kaşıtoğlu (Artı Distribution).

The Turkish publishing industry is growing steadily, enjoying a 300% increase in the number of books published in the last decade. Around 42,626 titles were released in 2012, with a sales volume of 2.2 billion dollars; 30-35% of these titles are translations.

The imported books market, worth around $80 million, represents the largest opportunity for foreign publishers. In addition, many international book titles are translated into Turkish, providing royalty payments to publishers. E-books are expected to quickly become an important market segment with an annual growth rate of 120% since their first introduction into Turkey in 2010. This high growth rate is in part due to the FATIH Project, which aims to provide tablet computers to all K-12 students, to install smart boards in every classroom and to digitize every textbook.  The project, with an expected cost of 10 billion dollars, is due for completion by the end of 2015. 

Market Focus Turkey will feature a national stand at LBF run by the National Organizing Committee, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. These stands will house a special section for the TEDA Translation Subvention Programme, a special section for publishers from Turkey, a section on Children’s and Young Adult Literature and a national book exhibition entitled ‘Books from Turkey’. Over 200 Turkish professionals will attend the Fair, where they will hold meetings and promote their new products and publications.

As in past years, in addition to the professional programme, Market Focus will be supported by an exciting cultural programme to showcase the diversity and quality of contemporary writing from Turkey. The cultural programme has been curated for The London Book Fair by the British Council, the UK’s cultural relations organization, in association with the Turkish National Organizing Committee. 

The National Organizing Committee will host panels and exhibitions, which will be jointly carried out with Yunus Emre Institute and which will be staged at the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in London. In addition, Turkey’s national stand will be the venue for various cultural activities organized by the Turkish National Organizing Committee in cooperation with the Turkish Publishers Association and the Association of Press and Publishing Turkey.

For full details of the professional programme, the cultural programme and to see a list of participating companies from Turkey, please visit www.londonbookfair.co.uk/turkey.

The Market Focus seminars are part of LBF’s comprehensive and varied Love Learning seminar programme of over 420 seminars, interviews, workshops taking place over the three days of the book fair, on the issues affecting the publishing industry today.