Below is the press release with complete details about PubMatch:
ReedExpo Adds Book Fair Muscle to PubMatch
Book-Publishing Portal and Rights Database Signs On ReedExpo as Partner
New York, NY – September 20, 2011 – Reed Exhibitions, one of the world’s largest event organizers and organizer of BookExpo America and the London Book Fair, has signed on as an affiliate partner to PubMatch, the book-publishing and rights database founded earlier in 2011 by Publishers Weekly and Combined Book Exhibit. The addition of Reed Exhibitions, a division of London-based Reed Elsevier PLC, adds capability for conference attendees and exhibitors to obtain real-time rights information in several different languages.
Alistair Burtenshaw, director of publishing & books for Reed Exhibitions, says, “Reed Exhibitions have worked with both the Combined Book Exhibit and Publishers Weekly for many years and I can think of no better partnership to launch this innovative new venture. The London Book Fair and BookExpo are delighted to be working with PubMatch and look forward to showcasing the service to our customers.”
“Reed Exhibitions brings to PubMatch the expertise and long experience of managing BookExpo America and the London Book Fair, respectively,” says Publishers Weekly president George Slowik, Jr. “These book fairs are valuable tools in the worldwide rights industry, making them invaluable to the PubMatch community.”
Steve Rosato, event director for BEA, says, “BookExpo America is thrilled to be able to have a formal relationship with PubMatch because we see it as a value add for everyone who participates in BEA. It is a tool that enables our attendees and exhibitors to maximize what they get out of BEA when they are there, allowing for them to interact with more people in advance of the show and continue to transact business after BEA. That will make BEA a more valuable event for everyone involved, and delivering more value is core to the BEA mission.”
According to Jon Malinowski, president of Combined Book Exhibit and PubMatch co-founder, “PubMatch is fast becoming the leading Web site for multilingual rights information around the world. The addition of Reed Exhibitions as an affiliate partner is a huge step forward in realizing the potential of PubMatch.”
PubMatch was conceived at the Beijing Book Fair in 2008 when Malinowski met with a panel of U.S., U.K. and Chinese book publishing luminaries whose goal was to establish better communications. Aside from the initial language barriers, communications about literary rights was an even higher hurdle to surmount. He founded PubMatch as a tool to make book fairs a better experience for attendees and exhibitors alike and to facilitate the rights sales process. In 2010 Publishers Weekly came on as an equal partner in and co-owner of PubMatch.
PubMatch affiliates include Taiwan-based Lee’s Literary Agency and Author Marketing Experts, based in San Diego. The PubMatch Web site is offered in English and simplified Chinese, with traditional (or complex) Chinese currently being programmed and the next language to go live. German is to follow later this fall.
“New programming on PubMatch includes a new and improved catalogue-generation feature and search capabilities,” Malinowski says. A section dedicated to service providers is forthcoming, with areas included for translators, illustrators, editors, trade associations, distributors and wholesalers and more.” He expects this section to be live in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Another new section is to include an employment exchange by country; already the site is streaming in Publishers Weekly’s popular job postings.
Currently the membership of PubMatch is nearly 3,000 and Malinowski and Slowik expect that number to climb to 10,000 or more by the end of 2012. The portal site, partially supported by advertising, faces some competition, but the PubMatch partners and affiliates agree that the PubMatch rights database is a muscular new tool in the international rights arena.
