Bringing the Growing Mexican Book Market to New York
BookExpo America’s Global Market Forum 2013 Highlights Mexico
Norwalk, CT, April 24, 2013: BEA officials have today announced that BEA’s annual Global Market Forum will focus on Mexico. The Global Market Forum, which honors countries from around the world by providing educational panels and cultural exchange opportunities, has become a cornerstone of BEA’s international outreach. Last year’s initiative, which focused on Russia, included a wide range of activities throughout New York City. BookExpo America is North America’s leading book industry event and will take place in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Center, May 29 – June 1, 2013.
Mexico is a book market worth 10,084 million pesos ($830 million) in 2011, and it has grown 2.7 percent in volume and 13.2 percent in value since 2010. Mexico, the 13th largest economy of the world, with a growth in GDP of 5.5% in 2010, occupies a significant position among today’s emerging economies, and – not the least through the NAFTA agreement – is a privileged trading partner of the USA. 45 million people in the US speak Spanish as their first or second language.
When it comes to books and publishing, however, the picture is more complex.
In Mexico, the government is strongly promoting and fostering educational publishing through ventures such as the 1934 established Fondo de Cultura Económica. Furthermore, a lively scene of local publishing exists in all sectors of books and content, from fiction and nonfiction to children’s books and graphic novels. The highly creative sector has in recent years started to outgrow the past predominance of publishers from Spain, thereby helping to make the book fair in Guadalajara by far the largest book trade show in the Spanish language. In return, US publishers have started to set up local branches, like Thomas Nelson in 2011.
But despite significant efforts and a huge market potential, the day to day exchange of books between Mexico and the US has been limited by a number of factors, including professional contacts that must be further expanded, and more in depth knowledge and experience in how to deal with each other’s respective markets.
The ambition of the BEA Global Market Forum 2013 is to lay out ways to overcome such hurdles, and to bring businesses from both sides together.
In a partnership with the Mexican government’s National Council for Culture and the Arts, Conaculta, as well as with Caniem, the Mexican Chamber of the Publishing Industry, BookExpo America is proud to announce a rich and diverse professional program which will highlight the wide array of topics that are relevant in this regard.
The complete day of Wednesday, May 29, 2013, will highlight Mexican publishing and business opportunities for professionals from both countries. Topics will include an overview of the Mexican publishing and book market, introduce main players as well as new innovative editorial ventures, analyze Mexican government action to foster reading and books, children’s books as well as digital, and explore ways to overcome the current restrictions in the mutual exchange in books.
The BEA Global Market Forum has hosted in recent years notably Russia (2012), Italy (2011) and Spain (2010).
For more information about BEA please visit the website at www.bookexpoamerica.com. You can also connect with BEA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
ABOUT BOOKEXPO AMERICA:
BookExpo America (BEA) is North America’s largest gathering of book trade professionals attracting an international audience. It is organized with the support of association partners including the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the American Booksellers Association (ABA). BEA is recognized for the media attention it brings to upcoming books as well as for the notable authors it attracts to the convention itself.
