In mapping the Global New Renaissance we need to chart both the export and import potential of any given country, and to do so not just in terms of rights sold but also of direct endeavours by publishers to reach new audiences.
Ukraine’s 10th Kiev Book Book Arsenal has just wound up, and while the official updates have yet to be announced the event looks to have been a success, although almost certainly visitor numbers will be down on the usual 55,000 turnout.
Publishing Perspectives carries a sponsored post which offers more detail, including reference to a translation grant, for those interested.
Publishing Perspectives reminds us of similar endeavours by French and Italian publisher advocates, and of course TNPS has on may occasion covered Brazil’s efforts to reach the international markets.
The sponsored post quotes Oksana Khmeliovska as reporting that research by the Ukrainian Book Institute indicates Ukraine’s export potential to be valued at $80-$100 million.
Explained Khmeliovska:
Last year, thanks to our program, Ukrainian book publishing was able to enter both large traditional markets, such as Canada, USA, France, and new, even somewhat exotic ones: Macedonia, Romania, Mexico, Greece, Finland, Denmark, etc. But we have no intention of stopping there.
Indeed not.
This is the 2020s and the world is publishing’s proverbial oyster.
But in mapping the Global New Renaissance we need to chart both the export and import potential of any given country, and to do so not just in terms of rights sold but also of direct endeavours by publishers to reach new audiences.
Impossible to put a figure on the latter element, but in 2021 any Ukrainian publisher with the wherewithal to translate into text or other formats (such as audio) has the opportunity to go direct to the global markets, not just rely on some foreign publisher to choose a Ukrainian title they think will fit their particular portfolio.
Repeat from any and every country in the world.
