To gear up the Philippines’ participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) in 2016, Filipino publishers, editors, rights and licensing professionals, agents and product managers (print and digital) are encouraged to apply for the Frankfurt Fellowship. The Fellowship was instituted in 1998 and has seen 300 participants from 55 countries in the last 15 years. The Fellowship is a two-week activity in which fellows experience visits to publishing houses and booksellers, see market presentations, and give match-making events and other networking opportunities in the lead-up to and during the book fair. The application for the 2016 fellows will open in March or April of next year.

Small-scale independent publishing companies are also urged to send in their application to participate in next year’s FBF. The Society for the Promotion of Literature from Africa, Asia and Latin America (Litprom) offers this chance to small-scale independent publishers from newly industrialized countries. One of the local publishers, Visprint, was one of the 16 invitees this year under the program. Aplications for 2016 should be submitted by the end of 2016. Further details may be found in the following link: http://buchmesse.de/en/Focus_on/more_topics/exchange/invitationprogramme/