The 59th edition of the Fira del Llibre de València, which closes this Sunday, has grown in visits and will be very close to one million euros in turnover, according to the organization, which points out that these are still provisional data.
In the absence of counting the data this Sunday, the director of the Fair, Manolo Gil, points out that sales have risen by around 5 or 10%, while the level of acceptance by people, participants and readers has doubled, as estimated by the president of the Fira del Llibre Foundation, María Bravo.
The general good weather, except for some isolated rain, has favored the massive influx of tens of thousands of people not only to the booths, but also to the multiple planned activities, says the Gremi de Llibrers.
“We made the prediction that it was going to be a Fair of records and not only were we not wrong, but it has become the Fair of the queues,” says Gil, who highlights that the fans of the writer Inma Rubiales exceeded on Friday the 700 people.
The 83 exhibitors distributed in 120 booths and the more than 1,500 activities have translated into a very important turnover, which will approach one million euros, which was the challenge of this edition, assures the director of the Fair.
It has been stated that the computer system of the booths prevents a more precise count, but they already know that there are booksellers who have doubled their sales on some days compared to last year, which can translate into “an increase in sales of around 5 or 10%, with historical records in some cases,” he advances.
The president of the Fundació Fira del Llibre has been cautious but clear: “It is the last day, we still do not have the definitive data, but we suspect that the turnover is indeed higher than the previous edition and that the level of acceptance of the people, of participants and readers we think it has doubled.”
In terms of data, Bravo believes that we can talk about “between 20 and 30% more billing in some cases”, but insists that it is “an approximate figure”.
What is confirmed data, according to Bravo, are “the good atmosphere” and “the diversity in terms of gender, but also in terms of language, which is also important,” and highlights the success of the tribute to Estellés, which has noted in terms of sales of the Valencian author and, in general, in the Valencian language.
Although it is difficult to say what the best-selling books have been, the Fira management is quite clear about a winner: “El Abismo del Olvido”, by the Valencian graphic novelist Paco Roca and the journalist Rodrigo Terrasa, who has also been awarded this year. with the Fira Lifetime Achievement Award in Spanish.
The presence of Paco Roca has caused some of the longest queues of this edition and the volumes of his comics have not stopped selling during these ten days, they say.
In Valencian, the best-selling book is the anthology by Vicent Andrés Estellés, "Una Tendresa Culta, Poemes Escollits", although his "Book of Wonders" is also sold out.
Other notable phenomena have been, according to the organization, that Ramon Gener’s books were sold out; the sales of Maximus Garden, Sara Torres, Cesar Perez Gellida and Carme Chaparro; Anna Kadabra as a child; the specialized literature of Lucía Mi Pediatra, and in youth literature, Inma Rubiales, Alina Not, Maria Martinez and Cherry Chic.
