Dealing with the older generation who are usually in the managerial positions, is an important issue here. One potential offered by up-and-coming young publishers is that they can cope with the new media as a matter of course. "I think there is an increasing willingness by 'older' publishers to open up a dialogue with the younger publishers, particularly as they grapple with e-books and the marketing power of the internet", says Jon Slack, chair of the Society of Young Publishers (SYB) in the UK. Christine Mikliss, founder of the German young publishers' network "Netzwerk Junger Verlagsmenschen" also believes in dialogue: "It's important to us that we have a good relationship with top management in the publishing companies and can bring about a varied dialogue that is fruitful for both sides."

Mikliss and Slack are not just interested in dialogue with management, but also simply in bringing together young people with similar interests. "The need to talk to the like-minded is very big indeed", says Mikliss who works in the Press and Licences Department at publisher C.H. Beck. It's a need that doesn't seem to stop at national borders. Slack has had a good response to the SYP idea of building up an international network for young publishers - from Iceland to the Arab world.

Exploratory and founding meetings are already definite and are scheduled for the London Book Fair and the Book Expo America. A first event is then to be organised for the Frankfurt Book Fair 2009.

The idea of setting up international networks in the publishing world is not new. As early as the mid-eighties, the Jerusalem Book Fair launched an Editorial Fellowship Programme with the aim of promoting interchange among young people in publishing - a pioneering effort. Since then, it has extended the idea to include an Agents Fellowship Programme.

In 1998, the Frankfurt Book Fair marked the occasion of its 50th anniversary by setting up the Frankfurt Book Fair Fellowship Programme. Since then, just under 200 young publishers from 45 countries have taken part and have developed a close, functioning network within the international publishing industry.

Following on from the actual programme, this interchange often continues online. Countless Fellowship groups have formed on Yahoo and Facebook. As of this year, the Frankfurt Book Fair is starting its own community platform on the internet. It was initially launched by focusing on those who took part in this year's Fellowship programme. "Our aim is to create a wide-ranging contact and business platform for young professionals in the publishing business", explains Marifé Boix-Garcia, vice president of eServices, the Frankfurt Book Fair's online department. "New tools are planned for the beginning of next year, so that our community can grow." But the Frankfurt Fellows from all years not only get together in the virtual world, but in real life too - for example at the Frankfurt Book Fair during the now traditional Frankfurt Book Fair Fellowship Cocktail.

Quite a few book deals have started off at this get-together. "You make professional and private contacts which are very useful, particularly in a working environment in which you always fall back on personal conversation with colleagues you know and trust", is how it was summed up by Nora Mercurio, one of this year's Frankfurt Fellows, from publisher Surhkamp, in an interview with a trade magazine.