Around 7,300 exhibitors from 100 countries are expected to attend this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. The leading international trade fair for books, media and digital content reveals an industry that is redefining itself in the midst of the most comprehensive paradigm shift since the introduction of the printing press. “New players are joining our industry every day and completely new relationships, product ideas and business models are emerging. We might very well refer to this development as the publishing industry’s ‘Big Bang’ moment”, said Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, at the Opening Press Conference on 9 October 2012. “This year we’ve analysed where the change is most apparent. We’ve attempted to identify patterns and, in so doing, developed a ‘Roadmap to Publishing Trends’ that shows where new business models are starting to appear, what new cultural patterns are emerging, and what skills will be important in the future”, added Juergen Boos. This “roadmap” is available online starting today at www.book-fair.com/blog – and is meant to encourage discussion. “The changes are most apparent in the field of children’s and YA media”, said Boos. That’s why there will be a special focus on this topic at this year’s Book Fair, with around 1,500 exhibitors and 340 events.