The UK’s first International Comics Rights Market will take place in Cumbria in September 2024, accompanying the long-running Lakes International Comic Art Festival.
Publishers are invited to join the event which will feature opportunities for creators to meet directly with buyers from Europe as well as getting feedback on their work and selling rights.
Funded by Arts Council England and the Adlard Family Foundation, it will bring together British and European graphic novel publishers in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, on 27th and 28th September 2024.
The market will coincide with the Lakes International Comic Art Festival taking place at the same time. Participants can also visit the festival’s public-facing Lakeside Comics Marketplace, which will include a bookshop showcasing British publishers.
Organisers said: “The market will enable new and established British publishers to negotiate graphic novel translation rights with European counterparts in a complementary one-to-one meeting space.
“British professional attendees and exhibitors participating in the sellers’ program will receive free entry, and British authors will have the rare opportunity to engage with European buyers about works in progress.
“Participating publishers will be provided a table for meetings, with a dedicated appointment maker provided by the Lakes International Comic Art Festival.”
Festival director Julie Tait said: “For over a decade our festival has strived to promote the wonderful world of comics – building international partnerships and supporting home-grown talent. It is our hope that the International Comics Rights Market will be our way of supporting the many hardworking publishers and imprints that call the United Kingdom their home.”
The Adlard Family Foundation founder Charlie Adlard said: “This is a hugely exciting development for British comic creators and publishers, and the British comic industry. I’m excited to see what new comic partnerships emerge from this fantastic project.”
The news follows rising sales of comics and graphic novels with The Bookseller adopting a part-comic book format for the first time last September to celebrate the mediums.
