Reading, considered from several perspectives, such as national and European surveys, new generations’ habits, social media and digital formats, is the main protagonist of the ALDUS UP programme at Più libri più liberi, the Rome book fair. Più libri più Liberi continues its collaboration with the EU network of book fairs. In addition to the calendar of events addressed to the professional audience, the collaboration includes the development of fair’s spaces specifically devoted to the internationalization of book publishing and professional training, such as the Rights Centre, this year hosting around 45 foreign operators from European and non-European countries, the Business Centre, hosting the professional programme, meetings and networking, and the Fellowship Program, realised in cooperation with AIE, Bologna Children’s Book Fair and Bologna Book Plus.

All the events are in Italian, unless differently specified.

7 December

Aldus Focus on… Italy. The Italian market illustrated to foreign guests

09.00 AUDITORIUM

A meeting reserved to foreign publishers participating in the Rights Centre of PLPL 2022, featuring a presentation of the Italian book market

Speakers: AIE, Regione Lazio/Lazio Innova, ICE Agenzia, Bologna Children’s Bookfair/Bologna Book Plus

Organised by AIE in collaboration with ALDUS UP

Event in English

 

Reading in the dark

13.00, SALA MARTE

On 7 December, to fully appreciate the inclusive value of accessible reading, Fondazione LIA organises, with the collaboration of the Department for Sport within the Più Libri Più Sport project, on 7 December a “Reading in the dark®” where the absence of light will reveal the potential of e-books accessible to blind and visually impaired people.

Organised by Fondazione LIA in collaboration with the Department for Sport and ALDUS UP

 

8 December

I social che stanno cambiando il mercato (Social media that are changing the market)

11.30, SALA ALDUS (+ streaming via PLPL website)

If e-books didn’t confirm expectations and didn’t change books, the digital ecosystem – starting with social media, Wattpad, etc. – is changing supply chain and readers’ behaviour. The latest data from the AIE Observatory 2022 on reading habits will be the starting point for reflecting, not only on the changes happened and that still have to come, but on what they mean for publishers’ work and business.

Speakers: Lisa Ceccarelli (Hoepli), Modestina Cedola (Minimum Fax), Cristina Mussinelli (Ufficio studi AIE)

Moderator: Riccardo De Palo (Il Messaggero)

Organised by AIE in collaboration with ALDUS UP

 

Da Parigi a Francoforte (From Paris to Frankfurt)

12.30 SALA ALDUS (+ streaming)

Over the next two years, Italy will be the Guest of Honour at the fairs representing two of the most important publishing industries in Europe. The meeting is a first step towards a better understanding of the respective markets and to learn about the opportunities offered to Italian publishers.

Speakers: Juergen Boos (President and CEO of Frankfurt Book Fair), Ricardo Franco Levi (President AIE), Jean-Baptiste Passè (Director Festival du livre de Paris)

Moderator: Paolo Conti (Corriere della Sera)

Organised by AIE, Frankfurter Buchmesse, Festival du Livre de Paris in collaboration with ALDUS UP

Event in English with simultaneous translation

 

Verso un’Europa dei lettori (Towards a Europe of readers)

18.00 SALA ALDUS (+ streaming)

Each European country collects data on reading differently, and some have no data at all. Thus, there is no homogeneous data on reading in Europe yet. Within Aldus Up, three countries (Italy, Norway and Spain) are piloting a survey with a standardised questionnaire. This an important first step in the direction of greater uniformity at European level regarding reading data rather than a mere methodological issue.

Speakers: Piero Attanasio (AIE), Luis González (Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez), Massimo Pronio (European Commission Representation in Italy), Enrico Turrin (FEP)

Organised by AIE and ALDUS UP

 

9 December

Gli altri modi di leggere (The other ways of reading)

11.30 SALA ALDUS (+ streaming)

Reading books, e-books and – recently – listening to audio books are different ways of reading. But there are many more, driven by different forms of ‘editorial contents” in the digital environment, such as professional and non-professional newsletters, fanfictions, self-published narratives, reading of documents on websites. Between 2017 and 2019, the share of these forms of reading was growing. What is the current relationship between these forms of reading and book reading emerging from the 2022 edition of the AIE Observatory? And what questions do they pose to those involved in the promotion of reading and libraries?

Speakers: Angelo Piero Cappello (Centro per il libro e la lettura), Giovanni Peresson (AIE Studies Office), Elisa Salamini (Mamamò)

Moderator: Cristina Mussinelli (AIE Studies Office)

Organised by AIE in collaboration with ALDUS UP

 

I comportamenti d’acquisto e la lettura che verrà (Purchase behaviour and the distribution to come)

12.30 SALA ALDUS

The changes in purchasing behaviour and in distribution channels have been much more impressive and articulated than the trade data show. To look at the market shares of bookshops compared to online stores is not enough to catch the challenges that physical channels and bookshops will face in the coming years to react to changes in readers’ purchasing behaviour.

Speakers: Federica Formiga (University of Verona), Giovanni Peresson (AIE Studies Office)

Moderator: Bruno Giancarli (AIE Studies Office)

Organised by AIE in collaboration with Nielsen BookScan and ALDUS UP

 

Come stanno leggendo oggi i lettori di domani (How tomorrow’s readers are reading today)

17.00 SALA ALDUS

Books and comics, but also webnovel, webtoon and social media. How do the new generations read and how will they read tomorrow? And what products will publishers have to offer to capture their attention? An in-depth look at the new ways of reading between paper and screens, in a landscape that sees the growth of visual codes, new business models and new narrative media.

Speakers: Roberta Franceschetti (Mamamò), Bruno Giancarli (AIE Studies Office), Andrea Nardi (author of Il lettore distratto. Leggere e comprendere nell’epoca degli schermi digitali)

Organised by AIE in collaboration with Mamamò and ALDUS UP

 

10 December

16.30 SALA ALDUS

I mestieri del fumetto: lo scouting (The comics professions: scouting)

The event is part of a project of the AIE group of comics publishers presenting how traditional professional profiles change when applied to the comics sector. After the editorial profiles examined last year, it is the turn of scouting, i.e., the search for new authors, characters, narratives both in Italy and potentially in major international events.

Speakers: Caterina Marietti (Bao Publishing), Nicola Pesce (Edizioni NPE), Alberto Rigoni (Lucca Crea)

Moderator: Luca Valtorta (La Repubblica)

Organised by AIE Commission of Comics and Graphic Novels publishers, in collaboration with ALDUS UP