It's time for the Fellowship Program

Più libri più liberi, the small and medium publishers' national fair, also this year propose on December 6th and 7th the Fellowship Program for foreign operators interested in exploring new relation and market opportunities.
The point of strength will be, as always, the proposal of publishers that will offer a wide picture of the best small and medium independent publishers can offer to those looking for Italian authors and books to translate and publish abroad. An important premise to allow the fair promoted by the Italian Publishers Association to have an increasingly international profile, with the aim to become an ideal place to boost focused meetings between Italian and foreign publishers, as reported by some of the professionals who took part in the previous editions like Paula Canal (Editorial Anagrama) or Sonia Draga, Sonia Draga Ltd (Poland).

How would you describe the production of the medium - small Italian publishers joining Più libri più liberi?
The production of medium and small Italian publishers is impressive. I was nicely surprised to see as many of them as the big hall could fit them in, exhibiting. And what is more important to know, it happens in a country where there are big media groups, like Mondadori, D’Agostini and a few others. 

Why, in your opinion, could it be of any interest for the foreign publishers?
The number of small and medium Italian publishers is inspiring for any other country, especially Poland. For a small publisher from our country it’s easier and gives more flexibility to work with an Italian publisher of similar size.

Which are the most interesting segments of Italian production for your national market? 
Among books published in Italy these that are most interesting for Polish readers are children books (but I don’t publish this genre), literary (I publish Margaret Mazzantini, Davide Enia and some others), historical thrillers (I publish Carlo M. Martigli, Simoni Marcello and others) and non-fiction (like Roberto Saviano, who is among my authors as well).

Which, in your opinion, are the main features of the Italian production?
It’s difficult for me to say about the main features of Italian production – what I can say is that our cultures are not too far from each other and Italian books can be easily comprehensible for Polish readers. And that coexistence of several big media groups with so many small and medium publishers is quite unique in the world, I think.