WOW. What a phenomenal week in Frankfurt?! It was my first time to the Frankfurt book fair, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was there from Oct 14 to Oct 18 and was fortunate enough to meet many publishers from all over the world.
In the US, after our curricular series got adopted by 7 different states, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Idaho, North Carolina, and Utah, we thought it will be great to see what's the CFL market like in Europe and other parts of the world. Being adopted by these states not only confirmed the quality and appropriateness of our curricular products (see www.BetterChinese.com for more) but it showed there are real interests in these adoption states to implement Chinese programs.
We are looking for strategic publishing/distribution partners for markets outside of the US. The book fair was a perfect place to do so. It was also a place to reconnect with old friends and making new friends.
10 years ago, I had spent some time in Frankfurt wokring as a consultant to a large aluminum producer. 10 years later, I work among educators and publishers. Big change. However, what hasn't changed is how I enjoy working with different people from different countries, backgrounds, and cultures.
It's really amazing to see books from countries like France, Germany, Taiwan, Italy, China, Spain, US, and Korea to be very different from each other. It's hard to explain. The differences are really in the details... bookbinding, presentation, layout, content, drawing, fonts...
I hope we have a chance to work with people all over the world, and I hope the book fair was just a start. Please contact me if you're interested in working with Better Chinese, or you have ideas about various markets. I look forward to hearing from you.
It's so good to be home in Palo Alto.
-James
0 comments