Vom 4. bis 19. Oktober 2008 besuchen 16 Fellows auf Einladung der Frankfurter Buchmesse die Verlagsbranche in Frankfurt, München und Berlin. buchmarkt.de stellt Ihnen täglich einen der Teilnehmer vor.
Bernat Fiol gründete im vergangenen Jahr die Agentur SalmaiaLit in Barcelona www.salmaialit.com. Zu den auch in Spanien viel diskutierten Gefahren für das gedruckte Buch durch elektronische Medien sagt er:
“Ich stimme nicht mit denen überein, die sagen, dass Internet und neue Technologien die Literatur und das Buch bedrohen. Die Sprache ist heutzutage immer noch die Basis für fast alles, und nun kommen endlos viele Möglichkeiten für Autoren hinzu, um ihre Sprache in der ganzen Welt zu verbreiten. Und für Leser, um sie zu finden.”
buchmarkt.de: Bitte beschreiben Sie SalmaiaLit …
SalmaiaLit is a very young agency of copyright representation based in Barcelona. I launched it last April, during the London Book Fair, after 7 years of experience working as a literary agent. Now we represent World rights of more than 20 writers – mostly from Spanish speaking countries but also a few Portuguese authors, and even a Turkish one. We also represent some foreign agencies and publishers for Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese language markets (from USA, UK, Italy, Greece, France, Sweden…).
Salmaia is an ancient Catalan word for the mingling of salt and fresh water. The kind of water that you would find when rivers merge into seas. I chose Salmaia because it is a word from my native island of Mallorca and also because I think it gives the idea of gathering things together, of a meeting point.
I liked translating this idea to books, as I think nowadays the main role of an agency of copyright representation is to act as a meeting point between authors and publishers, between writers and readers. And I put a lot of emphasis on translations because I believe that good books will find good readers in every corner of the World and in every language.
Even if at this moment SalmaiaLit is mainly focused on books I’d love to build up a ‘content agency’, capable of boosting and promoting the intellectual habilities of our clients not only to write novels or essays but also to produce scripts for tv, cinema, attend lectures on specific topics, write articles for the media, participate in debate forums, etc… If a writer spends a couple of years of his or her life doing research about a specific topic for his/her new book it is obvious that he/she can then share all the knowledge that has been accumulated …
Wo sehen Sie die größten Herausforderungen im spanischen Buchmarkt?
First of all let me say that I believe that book markets are getting more and more globalised year after year and that we can find similar problems and challenges in every market. In Spain everybody is now debating about the future of the book as an object in opposition to the new electronic reading devices.
I disagree with those who say that Internet and new technologies pose a threat to literature and books. The Word is still nowadays the basis for almost everything, and now there are almost endless possibilities for writers to spread their words all over the world. And for readers to find them.
I’m confident that books will still be published in the future, but readers will be able to choose even another format to read – just as they can also choose audio-books nowadays. My only concern in respect to this issue has to do with authors’ rights, the possibility of illegal copying of their texts, and the way in which benefits from their Works will revert to them.
Another difficulty that can be found almost everywhere has to do with the amazing quantity of books published every year. If on the one hand it is good for the industry and for the authors who see their works published, I understand that on the other hand readers really feel lost when they have to choose what to read. Specially if they do not have much time and want to read the best books.
In this sense I believe that it is on the readers hands to organise themselves in reading clubs, internet forums, blogs, websites (such as www.goodreads.com) or any other way to exchange their impressions on books and to recommend titles among themselves.
On a more local basis, and as an anecdote, I come from a place in which almost everyone can read in Spanish and in Catalan. I’ve found that many visitors to Barcelona find it odd and striking to find editions of the same books in Spanish and in Catalan and believe that this co-existence can damage sales of a book. Well, both languages have loyal readers and both markets are pretty healthy so, at the end, the possibility of reading your W. G. Sebald translated into Catalan or Spanish becomes a sign of freedom. And, at a global level, books published in both languages ultimately reach more readers.
Was sind Ihre Erwartungen an das Fellowship-Programm und an die Frankfurter Buchmesse 2008?
As for the Fellowship Programme, I really look forward to interact with my fellows and to learn as much as posible from them discussing some of the topics I talked about above. I think it is an excellent opportunity to expand our network and to get interesting insights into different markets. Of course, the opportunity of visiting so many German publishers, booksellers and distributors is a unique one to go back to Barcelona with a new and improved knowledge of your market.
And I must admit I’m also very much looking forward for our free day in Berlin, a city I’ve never had the chance to visit even if it has been on my ‘musts’ list for years!
As for the Book Fair, I’ve attended it for some years now and as every year I’m looking forward to meet many of my contacts from foreign countries, to talk about books and authors with them and, of course, to make business and try to convince them to translate the books written by my clients!
But apart from a five-days-non-stop-work-meeting, Frankfurt Book Fair is also an event in itself and every year you see friends from other years and you meet new people. I’m also looking forward to the nights and the cocktails, where sometimes you make better deals and contacts than during day-time…
And just to finish let me thank the Frankfurt Book Fair and its wonderful team for having invited me to participate in its famous Fellowship Programme. And also congratulations for the 60th anniversary!
Das Fellowship Programm wurde anlässlich des 50. Jubiläums der Frankfurter Buchmesse 1998 ins Leben gerufen. In den vergangenen zehn Jahren hat sich ein enges Netz innerhalb der internationalen Verlagsbranche gebildet. Über 165 Teilnehmer aus 45 Ländern konnten bereits von diesem Programm profitieren. In diesem Jahr wird es von Martina Stemann von der Frankfurter Buchmesse organisiert und vom ehemaligen Fellow Laurenz Bolliger vom Berlin Verlag begleitet.
