SHANGHAI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Book lovers will surf in the sea of books during the upcoming Shanghai Book Fair which is scheduled to be held next month from Aug. 14 to 20.

The week-long event has attracted more than 500 publishing houses nationwide and over 160,000 titles, including the voluminous King Gesar.

For the first time since its inception in 2004, this year's book fair will have more than 50 branch venues in cities of the Yangtze River Delta region and other places across the country besides the main session in Shanghai.

A conference on the innovation and development of brick-and-mortar bookstores will also be held during the book fair. Industry insiders will have discussions on the changes in the book publishing industry brought by the internet, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Best known authors from home and abroad have been invited to the 9th Shanghai International Literary Week concurrently held from Aug. 13 to 19.

An exhibition on Victor Hugo will be jointly held by the Pearl Art Museum in Shanghai and the Paris Musees, showcasing more than 200 works of the eminent French writer, including manuscripts, paintings and books.