I choose at the fair, I buy in the bookshop!

There's no need to go Fieri.

After a year of STOP, the most discussed and least loved fair by Roman booksellers (and booksellers ;) resumes

A fair that affects the work and budgets of the activities that are most heavily affected by the advent of the large "online commercial players" and which, in a city, constitute the most economically healthy and necessary part. The one that promotes free thought, the exchange of opinions, access to discussion and cultural growth: bookstores.

No other city in Italy allows a MARKET FAIR to be held at Christmas, no city would want to damage its cultural and creative fabric with a commercial event that thus discredits the work of those who, throughout the year, put passion and finances into promotion of good literature: the independent bookstores, the neighborhood ones, those that during the lockdown worked hard despite the situation to get the books into the homes of those who found themselves in that absurd situation.

Only our city, our politics, allows it. Only Rome.

This fair is the only major "cultural" event in the capital (and this could lead to a debate on the lack of a cultural program in a city with more than 5 million inhabitants) you PAY a ticket to enter, you receive regional aid, ministerial, private and promotes direct sales to the public by publishers (first small and medium-sized... now practically everyone)
It is a COMMERCIAL event first of all and then also a cultural one and the publishers' revenue numbers during the days of the event are proof of this.

Bookshop customers, readers, who rightly don't have the obligation to know everything about the publishing chain, go there with great enthusiasm. A fantastic place to buy Christmas presents, on the first weekend dedicated to shopping. They often return to the bookshop to tell what a great experience it was and how many books they bought.

Damage and insult!

Unfortunately, only booksellers remain unheard, although several alternatives have been proposed including:
- “Changing the date? the November 2nd long weekend would have been perfect.
- Also bring in bookshops to demonstrate the difference between selling what you produce and selling what you select, but changing the dates.
- put a sales tax that goes back to bookstores, in some form

No one even agreed to start a conversation with the bookstores.

For this reason we ask anyone who cares about the cultural fabric of Rome, the survival of bookshops in the area, the possibility of having a varied cultural program available for free and locally (proposed by all the activities that bookshops put in place) to BOYCOTT the fair! Which doesn't mean not going or not taking advantage of the program and meetings, but NOT BUYING: go to the fair, meet your favorite authors, talk to and get to know all the publishers and their work, bring a pencil and the notebook that we will give you in the bookstore and note down the best titles.
Take the list to the bookstore, the bookseller will do his job, order the books from the publisher and have them delivered to your doorstep, wrapped and ready. If you have made any mistakes it will also help you spend your money better.

The publishers will still earn from the sale of the book, there will be no damage to their income and tomorrow, under your house, you will still have an open bookshop instead of a bar or a restaurant or a sandwich shop.


Think about it.