LiberDigital reinvents business meetings to boost book sales

Liber, in its first digital version as a result of the pandemic, closed yesterday three intense days on the Internet, allowing participating companies and publishers to make contacts with potential customers, recover some optimism regarding the foreign market and reactivate book sales in this final stretch of the year. The LiberDigital platform, which has registered high interactivity among professionals in the sector, will continue open until December 31 to continue spreading its content and boosting networking and business.

The new concept proposed by Liber, organized by Fira de Barcelona and the Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain (FGEE), has had the trust of 187 exhibiting companies from 8 countries that have adapted their fair participation to the digital environment, creating 400 profiles to attend visitors and hold business meetings. In the LiberDigital platform, a total of 2,102 professionals have been accredited both from Spain and from countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and the United States, among which are international buyers, prescribers and librarians who have accepted the invitation of the FGEE to participate in business meetings.

The platform has received more than 34,000 visits and has registered high interactivity, with 17,200 visits to the exhibitors section; 6,500 visits in the professional meetings and 10,800 in the congress area.

The president of the FGEE and the organizing committee of Liber, Miguel Barrero, is satisfied “to have been able to celebrate this edition of Liber in digital format in order to resume commercial contacts to reactivate trade, especially to other countries.” Barrero also highlights “the work done by the organizing team in such a short time and the effort of the exhibitors to adapt their fair participation to the virtual environment, making possible a celebration that we can consider a success, given the circumstances.”

Knowledge to face the short term
As a forum for knowledge, reflection and debate in the publishing sector, Liber has held over thirty conferences, round tables and presentations with the participation of more than 90 speakers. These sessions have been broadcast via streaming from two sets located in Barcelona and Madrid, expanding the audience and geographic reach thanks to technology. All the contents of these Professional Workshops are available on the Liber website (www.liber.es).

As outstanding milestones of this Liber, it is worth noting the announcement by the Spanish Ministry of Culture of the creation of a Book Table, from whose work concrete proposals arise to promote public policies of the book and the presentation by the FGEE of a manifesto to put in I value the benefits and values ​​of reading in society, remembering that “the best way to rebuild the world of books is to read.”

Every year, Liber is the largest professional meeting of the publishing industry in Spain. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, ICEX España, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Barcelona City Council, and the Spanish Center for Reprographic Rights (CEDRO). In this edition organized by Fira de Barcelona, ​​the Gremi d’Editors de Catalunya, Acción Cultural Española (AC / E) and Associació d’Editors en Llengua Catalana have collaborated.

The next edition of Liber will take place in October 2021 in Madrid.

Barcelona, October, 30, 2020