[1] The purpose of the FIL is to provide an optimal business environment for the book-industry professionals and exhibitors who attend the fair, and for the reading public eager to meet authors and pick up the latest entries in the market.

FIL is held every year, starting on the last Saturday in November and continuing for nine days, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

The current managing director of the Guadalajara International Book Fair is Marisol Schulz, and its president from its inception until his death in 2023 was Raúl Padilla López.

The book fair won the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in 2020.

[2] As a way of rewarding and honouring literary publishing, the FIL awards the following annual prizes and honours: Since 1993, the FIL has invited a country or region to be the guest of honor, providing each an opportunity to display the best of its cultural and literary heritage, as listed in the following table: