Più libri più liberi 2027: B2B kits for independent publishers, booksellers, authors and rights scouts

B2B merchandising for the Più libri più liberi fair

Dates

First week of December, four–five days of programming published by AIE before the event

Venue

La Nuvola — Roma Convention Center, Viale Asia 40, EUR district, Rome

Organiser

Associazione Italiana Editori (AIE), with the support of Roma Capitale, Regione Lazio and book-sector partners

Più libri più liberi — the national Italian small and medium publishing trade fair promoted by the Associazione Italiana Editori (AIE) with the support of Roma Capitale, Regione Lazio and a wide network of book-sector operators — is the early–December fixture that brings to La Nuvola EUR hundreds of independent publishers, chain and neighbourhood booksellers, emerging authors, librarians, distributors, translation rights scouts and a public of passionate readers. The edition runs over four–five days with catalogue stands, signed copies, writing workshops, author talks, professional panels, bibliophile presentations and translation rights appointments. For the small and medium publishers joining with their stand the calendar is packed and the recipients are heterogeneous: readers moving between stands, booksellers reordering titles, librarians selecting acquisitions, authors signing copies, foreign rights scouts assessing the catalogue, sponsors running collateral events.

Five audience tiers, five distinct kits

The reader attending author talks and signed copies wants a coordinated fair memento: quality cartotec bookmark, canvas shopper, branded agenda, coordinated pen that can be used long after the fair. The chain or neighbourhood bookseller reordering titles at the fair needs professional materials: sewn-bound catalogue, folders for collecting title sheets, bilingual title cards (Italian and English at minimum), branded agendas. The librarian selecting acquisitions for their institution requires an orderly programme: document folder, agenda, technical sheets, publisher catalogues. The emerging author signing copies and joining workshops needs materials coordinated with their book: shopper, bookmark with title and ISBN, folder for signed copies. The foreign rights scout (German, French, Spanish, English, Russian literature) following the professional appointments needs bilingual and, where possible, multilingual materials: bilingual catalogue folders, folders for rights paperwork, technical sheets for catalogue works, bilingual agendas.

Production on Italian paper supply chains

For a merch programme around Più libri più liberi, our operational hub manages the full chain. We receive the publisher’s master artwork files (AI, EPS, PDF/X-4 with CMYK images at 300 dpi, FOGRA39 colour profile) and adapt them to the different customisation techniques: water-based screen printing on GOTS-certified organic cotton for tote bags, hot foil stamping on FSC-certified paper for bookmarks and catalogue booklets, laser engraving on Scandicci small leather goods for publisher and scout document folders, sewn binding for publisher catalogues, laser marking on Maniago stainless steel for small counter accessories. The pre-production physical sample with Pantone colour map and technical sheet travels on Italian supply chains (Fabriano paper for art prints, Capannori cartotech for cases, Scandicci leather for folders, Maniago steel for keyrings) and the delivery reaches a consolidation warehouse in the EUR area, the publisher’s Rome office or a delegation’s reference hotel, on slots agreed with the publisher’s contact.

Why the Rome hub matters

Most publishers and booksellers running a programme around Più libri più liberi coordinate their Italian operations from Rome, Milan, Turin or Padua. The Rome hub — with consolidation warehouses in EUR, San Lorenzo and Ostiense — lets us receive graphic files with the publisher’s team, route the pre-production sample through Italian supply chains and dispatch the batch to La Nuvola or the delegation’s hotel on a very short window, twenty-four hours from Lazio. For programmes that bring together an Italian publisher and a European co–publisher we handle bilingual materials (Italian and English at minimum) and, on request, full multilingual release with translations aligned to ISO 17100. For programmes that pair Più libri più liberi with the Frankfurt Buchmesse, the Turin Book Fair or the Barcelona Fira del Llibre we replicate the logistics across the two dates with a single operational contact.

Production, logistics and invoicing towards Rome EUR

Before starting production we close master artwork files, quantities per publisher and per recipient, packaging and named receiving point. The final delivery address is locked against the editorial office’s or the publisher’s logistics contact’s calendar: La Nuvola EUR, a consolidation warehouse in the EUR area, the publisher’s Rome office or a Rome hotel. The EUR district access constraints and Rome’s traffic patterns condition the loading slots, which is why most teams opt for early-morning or after-20:00 deliveries, when commercial vehicles are again admitted into the central areas.

For an Italian programme routed through Lazio deliveries are consolidated at the hub and shipped to La Nuvola or the delegation’s hotel with 24-hour windows via BRT, SDA, GLS or DHL Express Italia, by appointment for venues that require telephone notice. For programmes above 1,000 pieces we offer appointment delivery with telephone notice and, on request, on-site set-up by our staff at the publisher’s reception area or the information point. For materials requiring controlled environmental conditions (FSC-certified paper, catalogues, small leather goods) we coordinate temperature-controlled transport with specialised partners. For kits destined for international delegations we handle multilingual labelling (Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic) and tamper-evident bag packaging with bilingual packing list addressed to the recipient. For clients subject to CSRD reporting (Italian Legislative Decree 125/2024, transposing EU Directive 2022/2464) we attach a per-order sustainability sheet with Scope 3 CO₂e estimate under the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain for the Lombardy–Lazio route.

All Italian B2B orders are invoiced in EUR at the standard 22% VAT rate (with reduced rates of 4%, 5% and 10% applied when the product category allows it: publishing, art objects, designation-of-origin products) and routed through the Italian Revenue Agency’s Exchange System (SdI) to the recipient code or to the buyer’s certified email (PEC) address. Corp-Merch.IT is an Italian VAT-registered entity, listed in VIES for intra–EU transactions, and handles reverse charge, split payment and self-invoicing for public administration in line with current Italian legislation.

Frequently asked questions