Through a specialized program that included 13 events to strengthen the publishing industry in all its sectors, in this new version of the Bogota International Book Fair, a leading role has been given to the exchange of knowledge and updating for book professionals in the publishing sector, who have been able to benefit, in addition to the traditional Business Hall, with illustration meetings and various academic activities.

Featured Events

As part of the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Fair, the organization presented the Children's and Youth Literature Congress: LIJ in Colombia and the International Booksellers Meeting, key activities for closing publishing business during the first semester of the year.

These events aimed at specialized audiences were added to a series of talks by authors and academic guests, as well as book signings that preceded the publishing launches of the year.

Emiro Aristizábal, executive president of the Colombian Book Chamber, noted:

We seek to open meeting spaces and business opportunities between national and international actors in the book sector, and offer training activities that meet their needs.

Business Lounge

Waiting for the confirmation of the closure of several deals, a new edition of the International Business Show was held.

This is considered the most important editorial agreement event in Colombia, where the purchase and sale of copyright, printing and translation rights are finalized, as well as the opening of new markets for authors and publishers, such as digital platforms for audiovisual content.

Among the international figures who were present, the following stood out:

• Juan Casamayor, founder of the Spanish publishing house Páginas de Espuma, recognized for the dissemination of short stories
• Andrea Montejo, leader of the literary agency IdentLiterary Agency, an authority on the Latino literary market in the United States
• Sander Schwartz, founder of the American production company Sandman Television and Film Co.

Encuentro de Libreros #FILBo35Años
"Homenaje a libreros”,un espacio para recordar a los grandes libreros que nos dejaron recientemente Salomón Lerner, Hugo González @Libreria_LERNER y Mauricio Lleras @PrologoLibros

Modera: María Osorio @babel_libros @mincultura @librerosacli pic.twitter.com/Ph516VBTB2

— FeriadelLibroBogotá (@FILBogota) April 26, 2023

New opportunities

As part of the Professional Conferences, the first version of the Children's and Youth Literature Congress was presented: LIJ in Colombia, which brought together authors, illustrators, publishers and other industry players around their experiences, the analysis of the processes of editorial professionalization and the work of their international peers.

With the aim of drawing up action plans in the short and medium term, as well as training and strengthening new, traditional and regional bookstores, the first International Booksellers Meeting was also held, in which representatives from Colombia and other countries exchanged experiences.

Other events developed within the framework of Filbo 2023 were:

• The Editorial Translation Forum
• The National Meeting of Style Editors
• The International Copyright Seminar
• International Festival of Illustration, Illustration
• FILBo Illustrates
• The Book Forums, conversations for training and professional updating that talked about the publishing chain as a living ecosystem
• The Meeting of University Editors of Mexico and Colombia, in which editorial trends were analyzed and experiences on the publication of academic work in Latin America were shared
• Fundalectura allowed mediators, teachers, librarians and trainers from different countries to talk about the role of reading in society and how written culture is a free access heritage for everyone
• Leo Independiente (available until April 29) are a series of meetings, free admission, organized by independent publishers to exhibit their catalogs of works and authors among those attending the fair.