Frankfurt Book Fair organizers have canceled plans for a slimmed-down exhibition because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fair announced yesterday. With the prospect of few attendees from outside Europe, the Fair had already scaled back its physical presence and begun adding a large virtual component, which will continue. But even many European publishers were wary of attending in person. So except for some live events around Frankfurt and in the Festhalle at the fairgrounds, the exhibition plans have been scrapped. The Fair cited "current travel restrictions [that] would prevent numerous country stands from being realized as planned. In addition, the quarantine requirements that will be enforced on 1 October 2020 make it nearly impossible for European exhibitors and trade visitors to participate."
Noting that the annual fair "thrives on international exchange," Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, said, "We would like to thank all exhibitors for their confidence and willingness to help realize a physical version of Frankfurter Buchmesse 2020. Now the focus will be on our digital offerings. We have expanded our numerous existing services in recent months into a detailed offer of digital services and online events. That means international publishing professionals will be able to use known and new digital venues to drive their business forward, even in times of corona. And the reading public will have the opportunity to express its enthusiasm for books in two ways: online and at events in Frankfurt."
Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, chairwoman of the Börsenverein, the German book industry association, commented: "Frankfurter Buchmesse is not only the world's largest book fair, it is also a constantly evolving enterprise. Lively, agile and adaptable. Given the current situation, this means a fair without an on-site exhibition in 2020 because of the more stringent corona restrictions being imposed once again. However, events in Frankfurt am Main and other cities will allow people to experience the thrill books can provide--live in Frankfurt, as well as through live streams and recordings accessible at the viewer's convenience."
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Brian Webber, co-owner of Fireside Books, Parksville, B.C., was the latest bookseller to be interviewed for BookNet Canada's "Weathering the Covid-19 storm" series. Among our favorite exchanges in the q&a:
How have you adapted your business in response to Covid-19? Are there particular initiatives that you'd like to share?
At the start of the pandemic, we initially shortened our hours and days of operation and unfortunately had to lay off our employees (this was the hardest part). Shortly after as more information and restrictions came out, we shut down briefly and started doing orders by phone and on Facebook messenger. While we had a website, it was strictly an information page, not set up for shopping. Within a few days, we came up with an idea that would work within our local/provincial guidelines/regulations. We started booking private half-hour appointments for our customers. We pushed heavily through social media to get the word out. This allowed our customers to still access our store, but in a manner that was safe for them and for us. We also offered free delivery and pay & pick up options. This kept us busy enough to pay the bills and keep the lights on. Mid May we were able to start bringing our staff back. When our Province (BC) entered into Phase 3, we were able to switch from private appointments to being open to walk-in traffic. As our store has many twists and turns we made wearing a mask mandatory and limited to six customers in the store at a time. We equipped ourselves and our staff with face shields, installed plexiglass at the register, and of course maintained all the cleaning procedures. During these last few months, we took the opportunity to renovate inside the store and we started up with Bookmanager and are currently scanning and labeling our estimated 100,000 books into the Bookmanager system. We're just a week or two away from launching our new, shoppable website. Exciting times!
What is your biggest takeaway from working as a bookseller while physical-distancing measures have been in place?
You need to be nimble and adaptable to stay in business. Always keep your customers informed of what you're doing. Don't compromise safety for sales. Make a safe environment and your customers will support you.
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Priyanka Mehan chronicled the challenges faced this year by Indian booksellers Ritu Vaishnav and Amit Sarin, co-founders of Kool Skool, "a highly curated bookstore for children" in Gurgaon, Haryana.
"Towards the end of 2019, when my youngest child turned three, I found myself with some time on my hands," Mehan wrote. "On one of our visits, Amit and Ritu shared their plans for the expansion of the store. They wanted to double the space with a mezzanine to boot. As a parent and a voracious reader, the possibility of a large children's bookstore with a healthy event calendar seemed very exciting. I began suggesting ideas on different aspects of the store and, soon, we were discussing how I could be a more active part of this project.
"It took months of hard work to finalize the new layout and the accompanying details of the store. We decided how the new space would look, the primary colors, designed a new logo and all the little collaterals. We had hoped the expansion would give us the space to showcase more books.... The new layout and wider area would also allow us to host more events and workshops for children.
"We were about to hand over the project to the contractor when the pandemic struck. Everything came to a grinding halt. Conversations about books and store design turned into discussions on new kinds of fear. Fear of the contagion. Fear of stepping out of the home. Fear of touching any surface. Fear of how the virus could wreak havoc on our lives and livelihoods."
This year has turned out to be an entirely different experience than any of them could have envisioned, but Mehan observed: "Although the Covid-19 pandemic shook our roots, it also brought with it opportunities to look beyond the 'normal.' And so, we march on knowing that our books, our skills of curation, and our services are appreciated across the country, giving us hope that we will be able to survive the pandemic." --Robert Gray