2023-05-15 09:07:30
With 1,245,000 visitors, the 47th Buenos Aires International Book Fair, which closes its doors today, once again demonstrated its convening power and its centrality as a cultural landmark that brings together diverse audiences ranging from established writers and revelations arising from the Wattpad quarry -such as the Spanish Joana Marcús or the Venezuelan Ariana Godoy- to political and entertainment figures who became authors, such as the Chilean Benjamín Vicuña, who made his writing debut with a text dedicated to his deceased daughter that became one of the works best sellers of this edition.
Due to a difference of 79,000 attendees, this version of the Fair failed to exceed the 1,324,500 visitors received by the previous edition, which up to now remains the most successful in its entire history, probably due to the expectation generated after two years of absence. because of the pandemic and for the additional boost represented by phenomena such as the youth scene, which queued up endlessly to buy and listen to their favorite authors and booktubers.
According to data from the organization, during its 19 days open to the public, 1,245,000 visitors toured the 41,590 m2 exhibition area of the Fair, which had 486 exhibitors, 1,483 publishing labels, 2,137 cultural activities and visits from more than 200 international authors. In addition, more than 1,000 popular libraries from all over Argentina participated in a new edition of Conabip’s Book Program%, and during the Professional Conferences, more than 12,000 representatives of the book industry attended.
Although this time the record in terms of attendees was not exceeded, The Fair is nearing the close of this edition with expectations of equalizing sales in relation to last year and with a coincident balance among those who were at the stands these weeks: the Professional Conferences prior to the opening to the general public were a success and although this year there were fewer visitors, a higher volume of sales was recorded.
Although publishers and booksellers offered different perspectives on the development of these days, there is a consensus that sales had a decisive boost with sales to professionals in the days prior to the official opening and that they were taken over by representatives of the publishing world of Chile, Peru, Brazil and Uruguay.
The best sellers and the most attractive of the Book Fair
For Planeta, not counting the last weekend, sales are 3% up compared to 2022. His best-selling books are “Apia de Roma”, by Viviana Rivero; “La Tercera”, by Alejandro Wall and Gastón Edul; “La Gioconda and Leonardo”, by Daniel López Rossetti; “Where Everything Shines” by Alice Kellen; “The knot”, by Carlos Pagni; and “Blanca, the girl who wanted to fly”, by Benjamín Vicuña. The Chilean actor’s book on the death of his daughter had a massive presentation on the last Saturday of the Fair and a line overflowed for the signing of copies. For the publisher, it may be the second most read of this edition.
When it comes to massive presentations and readers avid for signatures and photos, the panorama was quite varied: from the Spanish Joana Marcús, a 22-year-old girl, who developed her relationship with reading and writing as a treatment for dyslexia, and with his romantic trilogy he became a publishing success, until the presence of another Spaniard, Javier Santaolalla, a physicist who discovered the Higgs boson, one of the most important milestones in the history of physics, and left people speechless. to be able to enter the interview that Diego Golombek did with him.
Also among the most popular presentations were those of the Venezuelan writer Ariana Godoy, the Spaniards Irene Vallejo and Arturo Pérez Reverte, the Peruvian Jaime Bayly and the Argentines Eduardo Sacheri, Daniel Balmaceda, Charlie López and Darío Sztajnszrajber, Daniel López, Claudia Piñeiro, Dolores Reyes, Viviana Rivero, Pamela Stupía, Chanti, Carlos Pagni and Victoria Resco.
“Sales are in line with last year, which was a very good year in terms of calls and results. This Fair was populated by young people as usual but also by a large adult audience, entire families strolling and enjoying books. The fever for taking the book signed by its author continues to be a point highly valued by Argentines,” said Valeria Fernández Naya, director of Marketing and Communication of the publishing conglomerate Penguin Random House.
In the professional conferences, some 30,842 kilograms of books were dispatched to bookstores in the country, while international logistics estimated 12,000 kilograms in 400 shipments to bookstores around the world, the main destinations being Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay. .
With Santiago de Chile as the guest of honor, the 47th Buenos Aires International Book Fair is drawing to a close with the certainty that it will continue to be a massive event for a varied audience and is preparing for a next edition with Lisbon as the central city.
As the writer Martín Kohan made explicit in his opening speech, the Fair offers different tickets. «On Avenida Sarmiento (the one I feel is the official entrance), on Cerviño street (the one I feel, although elegant, as the back door or service entrance), on Juncal street (a special, discreet or secret entrance, that of the pass and password, the stealth one), by Plaza Italia (the most urban, the bustling, the one used by those who come by bus, the one used by those who emerge from the subway). We must add another access alternative, access from below, from the parking lot, after a feeling of crowding that soon resolves itself in height and breadth”.
These entries also imply various itineraries, searches and challenges that make up various fairs but come together in a scene in which the publishing industry has the opportunity to generate a meeting with its colleagues and also with its reading community.
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