São Paulo – One of the events in parallel with the 40th Rio de Janeiro International Book Biennial was the 4th Professional Days organized by the Brazilian Publishers sector project, a partnership between the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) to promote the Brazilian publishing market abroad. As part of the event, B2Bs were held on Wednesday (30) and Thursday (31) (pictured above) with Brazilian publishers and foreign buyers invited by the project. One of the buyers was Egyptian publisher Al Arabi Publishing, on its second visit to Brazil.
In addition to the B2Bs, the 4th Professional Days includes the lectures “Bids in the Colombian and Mexican Market: Challenges and Opportunities” and “Challenges and Opportunities of the Circulation of Latin American Literature,” participation in the opening of the Biennial, which opens this Friday (1) and ends on September 10, and visits to the exhibitors’ stands.
According to the International Relations coordinator of CBL and Brazilian Publishers, Rayanna Pereira, the Professional Days and its schedule showcase Brazilian publishing production abroad to companies seeking to expand their operations beyond the local market. “Internationalization is a slow and costly process. The event is vital for Brazilian companies with a smaller budget to reach international parties. It could be the moment for the Brazilian company to have a first personal contact with the international buyer,” said Pereira.
The companies that participated in this edition of the Professional Days, which had the support of the Rio de Janeiro Book Biennial and the National Union of Book Editors (SNEL), were selected by the Brazilian Publishers project management committee based on the target markets defined by the project and the interest of publishers to participate in the meeting. There were 11 small, medium, and large companies from Colombia, Slovakia, Argentina, Mozambique, the United States, Mexico, and India. Even though Egypt is not a target country for the sector project, according to Pereira, the commitment of Al Arabi Publishing and the work the company has done in the Arab region led the Brazilian Publishers project to invite it to this edition after the one at the São Paulo Book Biennial in 2022.
“It [the Egyptian publisher] has done an outstanding work with Brazilian books. We brought it back so they could continue to be interested in our publishing market,” said Pereira. Among the authors published by Al Arabi in Egypt are Ana Maria Machado and Raphael Montes. “The Arab market has a big cultural difference to the Brazilian. Events like this [Professional Days], the Student Fellowship Program [in Istanbul, Turkey], and the Sharjah International Book Fair [in the United Arab Emirates] are essential to bridge the distance and promote contact. They are interested in expanding [purchasing Brazilian books],” said Pereira.
Generally, in B2Bs, copyrights for publication in other countries or the book itself are negotiated, which has consolidated market niches in some countries. Demand is for works of all genres, with a greater emphasis on children’s literature. The 2022 B2B was held at the 26th São Paulo International Book Biennial. It generated USD 650,000 in business for the 12 months following the meeting.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
