More than 450 companies, 152 activities and 650 international guests and speakers make LIBER 2017 the biggest event for Spanish-language books.

Madrid is once again hosting the biggest international Spanish-language book event with the 35 Anniversary of LIBER, the International Book Fair, organised by IFEMA and promoted by the FGEE (Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain)–.  It will take place from 4 to 6 October. This special edition features Argentina as Honorary Guest Country and will coincide with FIE 2.0, the 2nd International Spanish Language –Forum.

With 452 companies taking part from 11 countries—Argentina, Belgium, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the USA— this event will offer a broad overview of publishing production today. It will also host an interesting programme of professional parallel activities. More than 150 presentations and round tables featuring 300 speakers will complete the Fair's offerings, with the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences on highly topical subjects.

Now established as the largest showcase for Spanish-language books and as the main centre for business and professional exchange for this industry, it is open to all book-related sectors, with special emphasis on digital content, new publishers, self-publishing and literary agents.

For three intense days, LIBER will bring together publishers, authors, literary agents, booksellers, distributors and other industry professionals. More than 10,000 professionals from all over the world and 2,180 pre-registered visitors will attend this event, which generates many business agreements and exchanges each year.

More than 600 guest professionals

The FGEE has set up two programmes aimed at prominent foreign professionals in order to foster commercial relationships with participating publishing companies and promote knowledge of the resources presented at the fair. The Buyers Programme, in collaboration with the Spanish Offices for Economic and Commercial Affairs and ICEX Spain Trade and Investment, will bring 328 booksellers, distributors and librarians who buy rights for Spanish books to Madrid.

It has also launched its Priority Opinion Leaders Programme for librarians, publishing agents, academics, editors, journalists and  public bodies. An initiative developed in collaboration with Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and its Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE) in the Visitors category, it will welcome 22 opinion-leading book professionals from 10 different countries. 

Over the three days the fair is held, and in one dedicated space, they will all get the chance to discover the rich offerings of the Spanish publishing industry and make sales contacts (rights buying), purchases (libraries and public bodies) and/or lead opinions on Spanish books (academics and journalists). 

What's more, LIBER will host an interesting programme of professional and cultural activities which will bring together 300 well known figures in the publishing sector and will offer the chance to analyse the future of the book industry.

In this edition, the Fair will feature 152 workshops and round tables, 88 por ciento more than the last edition held in Madrid in 2015. As well as the Professional Programme sessions, which have grown 52 por ciento, will be the workshops held at FIE 2.0, the Digital Area and the Author Area. (Programme and more information at www.liber.es)

Argentina, Honorary Guest Country

Argentina will be one of the main protagonists at this edition of LIBER. The country's presence aims to publicise Argentinian publishing in Spain and promote its authors and publishers. Argentina's presence at LIBER is spearheaded by the Argentinian Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship and the Argentina Investment and Trade Promotion Agency.

As well as the country's large exhibition space at the fair, with hundreds of books and sales catalogues, there will be Argentinian authors and publishers like Ariana Harwicz, Andrés Neuman, Pablo de Santis, Damián Tabarovsky, Diego Sasturain, Marcelo Carnero, Cecilia Szperling, Patricio Pron, Hugo Mujica, Andrés Di Tella and Martha Alles. Guests from the Spanish publishing industry include professor Eduardo Becerra, writer Clara Obligado and cultural critic Constantino Bertolo.

What's more, there will be a cultural programme taking place at various locations in the city including the National Library, Círculo de Bellas Artes and different bookshops where there will be activities related to Argentinian literature, discussion among authors, round tables on the outlook for the industry in both countries, and audiovisual exhibitions.

Author Area

The growing consolidation of self-publishing has led LIBER to continue to reinforce the Author Area, a space which allows independent authors to increase their knowledge of the possibilities self-publishing brings and the services and tools available to them.

As well as an exhibition space, the Author Area  will offer various activities which will help you learn more about the different opportunities that self-publishing offers. These activities are organised by the Spanish Centre for Reprographic Rights (CEDRO), Bubok, ediciones ende, Libros.com, Triunfacontulibro.com, FGEE, Amazon and AMA (Madrid Audiovisual Association). 

Digital Area

Digital trends and the most innovative products and services will feature at the LIBER Digital Area. On this occasion, 11 companies will take part to present the latest developments in publishing: metadata management software, publishing management software, e-book and audio book distributors, on-line stores, audio book streaming services, on-demand distribution and printing, reading social networks, solutions for adding speech to websites, books or educational material, e-learning companies, and other services aimed at satisfying publishers' digital  needs.

This area will be complemented with a programme of presentations of industry technology tools, innovative products, and the most groundbreaking digital trends. These presentations will cover topics like key points to increase on-line book sales, something which is becoming increasingly important; the importance of metadata in managing book sales, providing solutions to increase the visibility of books in online stores, discussion on the profile of digital readers, and on-demand printing (ODP).  We will also touch on the latest trends in e-learning and discover the latest innovations in publishing management software or text-to-speech solutions for websites.  

LIBER Awards

The Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain granted its 2017 LIBER Awards to people and institutions linked to the world of books.

The Board of Directors of the FGEE gave the Award for Promotion of Reading in the Media to the newspaper "La Nueva España" for its "Cultura" supplement. The 2017 LIBER Award for Best Audiovisual Adaptation went to director Juan Antonio Bayona for is film "A Monster Calls", produced by Apaches Entertainment, Telecinco Cinema, Participant Media, RiverRoad Entertainment and Películas La Trini.

The Award for Promotion of Reading in Public Libraries will go to Sistema de Bibliotecas Públicas Municipais del Concello de Oleiros [Municipal Public Library System of Oleiros Council]. The bookshop Lé received the Boixareu Ginesta Award for Bookseller of the Year. The LIBER 2017 Award for Most Prominent Hispano-American Author went to writer and academic Javier Marías. Finally,  publisher Emiliano Martínez will receive the Honorary Prize.

The publishing industry grew in 2016 for the third year in a row

According to FGEE data, in 2016 the Spanish publishing sector continued the growth it began in 2015 following a tentative recovery in 2014. Turnover by Spanish publishers grew 2.7 por ciento, similar to the figure for 2015 (2.8 por ciento), which amounts to 2.32 billion euros. 

This increase was underpinned by more balanced growth in sales in all genres, especially both adults' and children's literary genres, as well as text books, following a change in Spanish secondary school curricula. 

157.23 million copies were sold, 1.2 por ciento more than in 2015, and 81,496 new titles and reprints were published, an increase of 1.6 por ciento. Average circulation was 2,749 copies per title, 2.1 por ciento less than 2015. The average price per copy was 14.74 euros, 22 cents more than the previous financial year. However, the average price of literature titles decreased.

Also, exports in the Spanish book industry continued to grow in 2016, reaching a figure of 571.77 million euros, 3.5 por ciento more than in 2015.

LIBER 2017, organised by IFEMA and the FGEE, will take place from 4 to 6 October in Madrid. It is sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Reading Promotion Plan, the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness; ICEX, the Community of Madrid, Madrid City Council and CEDRO, with the collaboration of the Asociación de Editores de Madrid [Madrid Publishers Association] and AC/E –Acción Cultural Española.