With sensible, rational thinking like that, it’s no wonder the Foire du Livre de Bruxelles gets so little attention in the English-speaking world, where “the sky is falling” is always the name of the game. You could be forgiven for not realising the Brussels Book Fair kicks off tomorrow in Belgium. This event rarely attracts the trade media attention it deserves.

You could be forgiven for not realising the Brussels Book Fair kicks off tomorrow in Belgium. This event rarely attracts the trade media attention it deserves.

But the above headline from La Libre via Jaun deserves some thought, coming as it does from the head of the Belgian Publishers Association, Benoit Dubois

The translation on Jaun leaves something to be desired and the OP on La Libre is behind paywall, but here are some highlights:

Dubois: “It is useless to fight stubbornly against the digital transformation. You have to learn to tame this wild beast that appeared in the editorial horizon.”

Dubois acknowledges the audio sector boom but notes getting a piece of this action “requires colossal investments for publishers if they want to have quality products. You have to be sure to have a large enough market to be able to amortize them”.

Overall. digital represents only 5% of the Belgian book industry, but Dubois notes that rises to 25% in the education sector.

Dubois sees hope in POD, where three years ago, this system was only profitable for print runs of less than 250 copies, compared to 1,200 today.

Online sales also gets the thumbs up from Dubois. “The sites allow even the smallest players to have access to the market. In Belgium, there many small publishers who make a living from it, and sometimes very well, instead of remaining in the shadow of the big French publishers.”

On AI, Dubois says, “ChatGPT can bring relief and efficiency to small publishers struggling to write their press release, back cover, or own catalog. You have to learn to live with it rather than pretending it doesn’t exist.”

With sensible, rational thinking like that, it’s no wonder the Foire du Livre de Bruxelles gets so little attention in the English-speaking world, where “the sky is falling” is always the name of the game.

#Belgiumbookmarket #Belgiumpublishing #BrusselsBookFair2023 #FoiredulivredeBruxelles2023

Jaun (in English) – 

La Libre OP (in French, behind paywall) –