Manila International Book Fair

Was at Manila for the Manila International Book Fair just last week...



Was a very short business trip - 4 days & 3 nights, but it was really one good trip. We managed to meet the bookstores there - and brought along the Singapore's & Malaysia's authors & publishers books we represent.

Plus we managed to meet up with some good publishers from the Philippines who are keen to explore further on exporting their books out of the market. This spells good news for Booqc.com :)

Btw the book fair really impress me. First its held at SMX - where the gigantic Mall Of Asia is. So location is SUPER!

But more so, the fair was very well planned & easy to navigate for visitors.

As me and staff were there on the 1st & 2nd day, the crowd was manageable (we were told that it would be superly packed - back to back, on the weekends!).

The booths may not be as pow wow as say some of the stands at Thailand's or even some in Malaysia's bookfairs, but on the whole, it is much more consistent.

And though the fair may seem small compared to that of Thailand's or Malaysia's but its good enough. There were enough business contacts to make from - bookstores, distributors, publishers and even book representatives.

Oh and did I mention - generally, they are all so friendly... that to me is the plus point too - not just the bookfair, but the city & country as a whole! Talking business was very welcomed and that is a good start to a good biz relationship :)

*Okay, maybe if they want to improve further, there can be more Pinoy publishers represented on their own (and not just via bookstores) - eg for their top authors :)