The London Book Fair, the largest English-language publishing trade show in the world, returns to Olympia London March 11–13 with a heightened focus on artificial intelligence and youth reading initiatives. The fair expects to host more than 30,000 attendees and 845 exhibitors, numbers not seen since before the pandemic, according to Adam Ridgway, who took over as LBF director in April 2024.

“The publishing industry has got a much greater impact from AI than anything else that I’ve seen,” Ridgway says. “Most industries are going to be using AI for many functions within their business, whether that’s finance or marketing or research, but the publishing industry has this concern around the production of copy and content.”

The main stage will feature sessions addressing AI and copyright policy developments in both the U.K. and U.S. Speakers include Maria Pallante, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, and Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association in the U.K., both of whom are in dialogue with their respective governments on AI regulation. On the creative end of the business, Helena Gustafsson, chief content officer of Storytel (which just published a book written by an AI “author”) will hold a fireside chat with Ana Maria Allessi, president and publisher of Hachette Audio, on the changes AI is bringing to the audiobook landscape.

The continued global boom in the audiobook segment prompted the fair to expand last year’s “audio alley” into an enlarged “audio village.” The International Rights Center has also seen significant expansion, with just under 550 tables—an approximate 10% increase from 2024. “In both instances,” Ridgway says, “we have more demand than we can possibly fulfill.”

Another theme emerging before this year’s fair is the industry’s focus on seeking out and encouraging young readers in an era of waning literacy. “Young people, particularly in places like the U.K., are not reading as much as they used to,” Ridgway says. “They are absorbing content, but they’re not absorbing as much content from books. It’s a question of how you pivot.”

Accordingly, the LBF has dedicated a new programming block to addressing this challenge, including the main stage session “Cultivating the Next Generation of Readers,” featuring authors Will Rayfet Hunter and Taylor-Dior Rumble.

Another addition is the LBF’s first-ever three-day academic and professional publishing conference, which will run concurrently with the main fair. The program will address various sustainability challenges, business model evolution, and the impact of AI on the sector.

“The academic publishing market has changed quite a lot in recent years,” Ridgway says. “Many academic publishers are under financial strain because of changes in how things are going. The program is going to help and inspire people in that section of the publishing industry.”

LBF continues to draw strong international participation, with high attendance expected from the United States, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Turkey, among others. Notably, a large Chinese contingent will participate this year, exhibiting in a dedicated pavilion featuring 19 businesses. Chinese author Liu Zhenyun, best known for his novel Someone to Talk To and his screenplay for the film I Am Not Madame Bovary, will speak at the Literary Translation Center.

The fair has secured an impressive roster of speakers, including Hachette CEO David Shelley and Barnes & Noble and Waterstones CEO James Daunt, who will discuss, in a keynote, how they manage businesses on both sides of the Atlantic simultaneously. Author of the Day participants include Monica Ali, chair of judges for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction; Argentine novelist Claudia Piñeiro; and Waterstones children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

For the first time, the LBF has named a Creative of the Fair, giving the inaugural honor to comics artist and British Book Awards winner Jamie Smart, who plans to conduct a live drawing demonstration during his session. Honors presented during the fair will include the Trailblazers Awards, the Selfies Book Awards, and the fair’s annual Lifetime Achievement Award, which is being given to Gloria Bailey, associate director for export services at the Publishers Association.

Once again, the LBF will run within the constraints of Olympia London’s ongoing renovation project. The venue is expected to return to full capacity in 2027, at which point the fair plans to reinstate its currently shelved market focus country program. “We don’t own it,” Ridgway says. “We’re just tenants. They are refurbishing it and keep throwing curveballs, and we just have to react as best we can.”

That said, fair organizers have enhanced catering facilities in response to complaints, and expanded areas for seating and meetings to hopefully negate the need for attendees to meet on the only unoccupied space that was often available at last year’s show: the floor.

At the end of the day, the LBF is all about facilitating business. “It’s an opportunity for publishers to have those conversations about selling the licenses and the rights around the world,” Ridgway says. “It’s about doing the deals for content they have, whatever form it takes. That we have so much demand for space is a good sign for the industry and a good problem to have.”

If you’re at the London Book Fair, visit PW at booth 6B51.

Read more from our London Book Fair 2025 Show Guide

London Book Fair 2025: Stage Rights
Feel-good fiction and self-help nonfiction remain center stage going into the first major rights fair of the year.

London Book Fair 2025 Show Guide: Programming Highlights for Tuesday, March 11

London Book Fair 2025 Show Guide: Programming Highlights Wednesday, March 12

London Book Fair 2025 Show Guide: Programming Highlights for Thursday, March 13