Official opening of the MIBF International Lounge

A word of welcome from Vladimir Grigoriev, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications

Organised by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, Academia Rossica, AR Media

How to win over the American reader 

READ RUSSIA! and the Global Market Forum: Russia at BookExpo America 2012 

Strategies and opportunities available for promoting Russian authors in the American market as part of the unprecedented READ RUSSIA! campaign. BookExpo America 2012 as a platform for strengthening the place of Russian literature in the American Mar-ket. Grants for Russian publishers to take part in BookExpo America and READ RUSSIA!

St Petersburg International Book Salon & St Petersburg International Writers’ Forum 2012

The St Petersburg Writers’ Forum is an annual cultural and socio-political event in St Petersburg, Russia. It focuses on solving key problems affecting Russia and the global community, regarding the intellectual and cultural development of society. The Forum also works to promote Russian literature and culture abroad.

Translating Russia: 

The new Institute of Translation - a state run programme supporting the translation of Russian literature 

The Russkiy Mir foundation presents its grants programme for translating contemporary Russian books into English. These grants help publishers share the riches of Russia’s contemporary literary scene with an English-speaking audience by removing one of the biggest financial confronting publishers – the cost of translation. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Thursday 8th September - Literature in the world of contemporary media culture / Literature and Film 

Writers wanted! Adaptating contemporary novels for the screen

Literary genres and styles that work well for film adaptations. Strengthening professional links between the film and book industry. The role of an agent and publisher in promoting a book as a potential screenplay. Marketing books which have been made into films. What a successful film adaptation mean for an author and their books?

CINE-IDEAS FAIR

Leading Russian authors present their new and upcoming books in a media focused light

Today we are seeing an increasing number of screen adaptations from contemporary Russian literature in cinemas. The market of screenplays based on the work of contemporary authors has great potential, including for foreign export. 

Dmitry Bykov, The Truth (Docu-mentary thriller)

Sergei Kostin, Afgan Insomnia (Espionage thriller) 

Sergei Kuznetsov, Living and Adults (Sci-fi, young adult) 

Anna Starobinets, The Living (Horror, Sci fi, intellectual dysto-pia) 

Alexander Ilichevsky, Anarchists (Literary fiction) 

Yana Wagner, Vongozero (Road story survival, post-catastrophe) 

Olga Pogodina-Kuzmina, Adam’s Apple (Psychological drama) 

Natalia Milyavskaya, Adrenalin (Psychological thriller) 

Genre – The theory, the practice and the reality of marketing. Is the genre novel literature or popular culture? 

Genre as a marketing tool and way of structuring the book market. Genre in English language markets. Popular and distinctive genres in Russian literature. Genre as a universal tool for positioning a book in Russian and international markets. Genre as a tool for Russian literature to break into English language markets. 

Literature and Film of the Noughties – a view from the future 

Broadening perspectives, comparing problematics and aesthetics in literature and film of the first decade of the 21st Century. 

How will this decade be remembered - by great books or great films? And how will this affect the book and film industry of the subsequent decade? Comparing and contrasting the relationship between literature and film in Russia and America.

Russia and the international e-book market: risks and opportunities 

Ways of increasing the international legal exchange of book content. Negotiating copyright. Russian and international standards for registering rights and content. Selling Russian books - e-rights / e-books and on demand editions abroad. How to get e- and on demand rights for distribution in Russia. Russian books in online global stores and e-libraries. Indexing Russian books for worldwide internet searches

Literary critics, Facebook and Twitter: The media arena around literature Graphic novels, e-formats, apps, cross-genre experiments: evolution or degradation? 

New publishing formats for literature - e-books, apps, “enhanced books”, blogs. What do these new formats and cross-genre titles mean for literature and the art of being a writer - broadening publishing proposals, new opportunities for self-expression or the degradation of language or style and a degenerating taste in literature? Using new media technologies for discussing literature. Social net-works as a platform for professional book reviews? Can social net-works breathe new life into marketing in the world of publishing? 

The role of book fairs in the formation of an international e-book and new media market

BookExpo America and its role in integrating the US publishing business into international channels. International book fairs as platforms for developing the trade of e-rights, as well as forums for discussing key questions regarding the growth of this new sphere of publishing activity. International legal standards of e-rights trade. 

Steven Rosato, Director BookExpo America; Ruediger Wischenbart, In-dependent Expert; George Slowik, President Publishers Weekly; Steve Bercu, Vice President American Book-seller’s Association; Peter Mayer, The Overlook Press Publishers; John Silbersack, Trident Media Group

The US book market — growing trends

How is the US market changing? Major international trends affecting the American world of publishing. The book industry’s reaction to external factors. The future of e-books, global changes in production, legal processes and marketing and the reaction of the international publishing community to innovations and new technology. New pos-sibilities and new risks related to the growth in the e-rights market.

Olga Slavnikova, Anton Chizh “The Aroma of Blood” Elena Eltang - “Other Drums” Zakhar Prilepin, Tatiana Ustinova “From Heaven to Earth”, “Uncut Pages” Marina Trubetskaya “Ida Verda is no more” Marina Stepnova “Women of Lazarus” Olga Lukas and Andrei Stepanov Evgeny Klyuev “Translit”

The journey of the book to the reader.

What is the role of a tradi-tional bookseller as new channels and social media offer new pro-motional opportunities for literature The change in marketing strat-egy in view of the new possibilities offered by social media and other channels for promoting content in the US and in Russia. 

Steve Bercu, Vice President American Bookseller’s Association; Ruediger Wischenbart, Independent Expert; Peter Mayer, The Overlook Press Publishers; John Silbersack, Trident Media Group

READ RUSSIA! New marketing technology in media projects and publishing

Alex Kroll, Siegel & Gale; Peter Kaufman, President Intelligent Television

Russian and American links in the world of books — from the 18th to 21st Century

Edward Kasinec, Research Scholar at Harriman Instiute, Columbia University; Antonina Bouis, translator; Ekaterina Genieva, All-Russian Library of Foreign Literature 

The role of literary agents in forming the market and cross-cultural links. Legal aspects of copyright in the age of the internet.

The role of literary agents in forming domestic markets and international links. The evolution of copyright, the change in legal apparatus in the age of the internet, new media and e-books. The evolution of agent’s role in managing an author’s career.

George Slowik, President Publishers Weekly; Peter Mayer, The Overlook Press Publishers; John Silbersack, Tri-dent Media Group; Julia Goumen, Goumen & Smirnova; Dmitry Bak, The Russian State University of Humani-ties; Maria Mitropolskaya, Academia Rossica

Conference: The role of the editor in the digital age 

Presentation of the “Editing and Editors” anthology (compiled by A. E Milchin) and the editorium.ru website.

Roundtable "The role of the editor in contemporary society: Russia and the USA"

As times change, so do ways of supplying information. The number of editors are ever growing but their role is not widely discussed. What is happening to editing and to those in charge of it? Will the traditional editing process remain in demand or will modern tech-nology change our perception of its essential nature?

The conference is timed to coincide with the release of the “Editing and Editors” anthology, compiled by the great theorist and practic-ing editor Arkady E. Milchin, and with the presentation of the web-site editorium.ru, an electronic, extended version of the anthology, which presents the history of editing in quotations and memoirs. 

Anna Krasnikova, editor, NLO publishers; Ekaterina Andreeva, chief editor, Art. Lebedev Studio; Sergei Petrov, editor, Alpina Business Books, Michael Barron, editor, New Directions; Mark Krotov, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 

Open Meeting of the Steering Committee for Read Russia! and BookExpo America Global Market Forum: Russia

Russian publishers and authors join the Read Russia steering com-mittee to offer their input on the programme and how it can be de-veloped so as to best support and further their aims. Participants: members of American and Russian Steering Committees of the READ RUSSIA project and Russian publishers and authors. By accreditation only

Chaired by Vladimir Grigoriev, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications 

Battle of Book Trailers from the world’s leading publishers

On Saturday and Sunday, the Theatre at the International Lounge will be home to the Battle of Book Trailers from the world’s leading publishers. 

In this age of media technology and fluid genre boundaries, book marketing is taking on new formats. Video clips for individual books and authors’ works are becoming increasingly popular amongst publishers and readers. What can you say to the reader about a new book in 30 seconds? 

A series of videos which reflect the content of tomorrow’s bestsellers from mass market offerings to the latest highbrow titles - this is a new genre which calls for unconventional answers from directors and designers. From animation and drama to 3D videos and music clips - different genres, styles and content all focus on making the reader remember and then recognise the book on the store book-shelf or online.

The Best in Russian Enhanced Books 

On Saturday and Sunday the International Lounge will present the best in Russian enhanced books.

Audio and video clips, supplementary text, moving illustrations, games and alternative plots are winning more and more admirers of all ages. Are these enhancements suitable for all genres? Are we wit-nesses to a new phase of evolution in books or the death of tradi-tional literature? Find out about the latest multimedia projects and make up your own minds. 

The most original Russian apps will be presented with commentaries from Russian and foreign top industry figures at the International Lounge on 10 and 11 September.