You couldn’t make it up. The world’s biggest book fair is in a part of the world where, so conventional wisdom has it, nobody reads. Egypt’s Cairo International Book Fair will celebrate its 50th edition in January, with the Arab League as guest of honour for this special event, and literally millions of visitors will Read More …
Al Ain is not the biggest book fair in Abu Dhabi – that won’t be until April 2019 when the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair kicks off – but Al Ain, running September 23 through October 2, is one of countless book fairs I’ll be reporting on across the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region Read More …
Most non-South Africans, asked what are the main languages of that country, would likely respond English and Afrikaans. Amazon seems to think so too, as only these two, of South Africa’s eleven official languages, are supported by KDP. In fact, while English is widely spoken there are eleven official languages – Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Read More …
So many stories slide across my desk that I’ve commented on briefly elsewhere, usually with the self-publishing audience in mind, but that haven’t warranted full TNPS posts. Here’s a selection. + + + If its September it must be time for the Pakistan book fair season. It kicks off with Paramount’s 30th annual ten-day book Read More …
Here’s a summary of TNPS posts from the past seven days. Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista bookstore closes – Fnac Brazil now has just one bookstore standing Setswana? Indonesian? Can you tell the difference? Nor can Microsoft A mermaid wearing a bra among the books banned in Kuwait, but protests are gathering momentum Big Bad Wolf Read More …
With imported paper costs rising, and book piracy rife, Pakistan’s Government is being urged to set up a committee to oversee book prices. Bigger publishers, especially, are having to hike list prices of their books to cover the cost and taxes on quality imported paper. Bizarrely, in a country where there are so few ebook Read More …
I usually tend to shy clear of US and Uk book festivals, which get plenty enough coverage elsewhere, but make an exception for those that drive home a key theme of TNPS – that we are witnessing a digitally driven Global New Renaissance quite unparalleled in human history, and that, far from books being the Read More …
It was back in February that TNPS broke the news that the world’s biggest book sale would be heading for Dubai this year. World’s biggest book sale heading to Bangladesh, Dubai, Korea and Taiwan this year Now it’s official. Malaysia-based Big Bad Wolf, the World’s biggest book sale, will debut in Arabic-speaking Dubai, part of Read More …
As we come up to our first anniversary here at TNPS (September 25), one of the recurring themes has been the rise and rise of the international book sale phenomenon known as Big Bad Wolf. In the west it can sometimes seems like the only show in town is Amazon, and no question Amazon is Read More …
Oops! Twitter uses Microsoft for its translations. But Microsoft can’t tell the difference between Indonesian, widely spoken in Indonesia, SE Asia, and Sesotho, widely spoken in southern Africa, 6,000 miles away. Thankfully the Gaborone Book Festival in Botswana is also in English. That’s September 21-22. Follow the Gaborone Book Festival on twitter: @Gabsbookfest #GBF18 Follow Read More …
