A woman walks past a board at the Chinese pavilion of the 69th Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

by Zhu Sheng, Hu Xiaobing

FRANKFURT, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Holger Volland, vice president of the Frankfurt Book Fair, among the world's largest trade fair for book, said the current trend of the industry is publishers tending to develop characters and stories rather than only books.

"Take Harry Potter as an example. It used to be a book, but now it's a film, game, online services and so on," Volland added.

It is becoming more and more important for publishers to get in direct touch with readers through websites or events. Earlier, publishers used to contact a book seller, and the bookseller contacted readers, he said.

Volland also said for many years, the publishing industry feared digitalization, thinking it would kill the book.

"Now we know this is not true. We have digital sources and books; both are very much alive. Also publishing houses are very much alive. Actually we have more publishing houses at the Frankfurt book fair than in the last years. So business is going up again," Volland said.

People read books on the 69th Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

However, he admitted publishing houses are facing many changes and challenges.

"One of the biggest challenges is to find the right people, who know the publishing business as well as the business of the future, who understand digital products as well as print products and who understand to talk with authors and to talk with audience," he said.

More than 7,300 exhibitors from 102 countries and regions as well as around 278,000 visitors are expected at the Frankfurt Book Fair. More than 170 exhibitors from Chinese mainland have taken part.

Volland said Chinese exhibitors are very welcome at the Frankfurt Book Fair."Each year, more Chinese publishing houses are coming to Frankfurt,"he told Xinhua, adding that the Chinese exhibitors are very professional.

Over 4,000 events are going to take place during this year's book fair, which will opens its door to professional visitors from Wednesday to Sunday. On its last two days, anyone interested can visit the book fair.