Global turmoil permeated the London Book Fair this week, but was mostly muted by the overall enthusiasm of the crowds thronging packed aisles, panels, and staircases at the London Olympia. "I've run a lot of trade shows in a lot of industries. I have never seen a show fill up so fast in my whole life," Adam Ridgway, director of the London Book Fair, told PW. "The thing that caught me out was that by 9:30 Tuesday morning we were full. It really was like someone hit the accelerator, and it just kept going. I've never seen a show take off like that before."
Ridgway has had no shortage of challenges to contend with in his first year as show director, not the least of which is the relatively limited space offered by the Olympia as it continues to undergo renovations, leading to a number of prosaic concerns. Attendees often joined long lines to enter panels that were themselves often shoehorned into too-small rooms, only to ultimately be refused entry. An overly aggressive air conditioning unit in one part of the International Rights Center sent literary agents running back to their hotel rooms to get their coats. More dramatically, a small portion of the roof collapsed onto an empty chair in the same part of the IRC, surprising the surrounding fairgoers.
"It is a beautiful venue, and we really do the best we can with it," Ridgway said. "We know there are issues, but we are always trying to improve where we can." He noted that this year, the fair opted not to recruit celebrities to present talks at the fair—unlike last year, when Steven Bartlett, the podcaster and author of The Diary of a CEO, drew legions of fans and members of the public to his talk in lieu of the hoped-for industry professionals. "We're always striving to make the event more accessible to those who want to come," Ridgway explained, "but the focus is always on those in the industry."
While official attendance numbers will not be available for some days, Ridgway shared that fair organizers were "delighted with the event that we've seen so far," suggesting that numbers would be in line with previous years, which hovered around 30,000 attendees in all. "I can tell you that the number of American publishers is up by 5% this year compared to last year," Ridgway said—marking the second year running with a more pronounced American presence at the fair. "When you remember the show isn't really much bigger—we haven't got much more space—we are getting more American attendance now than we've seen for a while."
Among the new American publishers at the fair was Greg Shaw, founding editor of 8080 Books, an imprint of Microsoft, who found the opportunity for in-person connection invaluable. "It is a very fragmented industry, and it's hard to understand how the different pieces and parts add up, who does what, and where the handoffs are," he said. "I've ended up learning a lot: there's so much I didn't know that I didn't know. I also love the passion I see here—though there isn't always a lot of profit, there is a lot of passion."
Veteran fairgoers also noted a robust American presence and a strong market for book deals. "There were a lot of Americans, which felt so fresh," said Elyse Cheney, of the eponymous literary agency. She added that she was encouraged by "how dynamic the U.K. publishing programs are for serious nonfiction" and that "at least one very large corporate publisher is committed to supporting work by investigative reporters" in a time otherwise characterized by some in the industry as dominated by self-help books.
"There seems to be a real appetite for sophisticated books on sociology, on politics, on current affairs, with widespread interest and an orientation toward risk," Cheney said. Acknowledging the previously reported softness in the nonfiction market, she added: "I was hearing from the top executives that they're really encouraging people to keep feeling positively about nonfiction, because these trends are always cyclical."
David Steinberger, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media, said that "the level of activity here is tremendous. It feels busier than ever to me—and for us." Pointing to Open Road’s Ignition program, which creates marketing campaigns for backlist e-books, he added: "Publishers from all over the world are seeing the benefit of having backlist and world recognition, and they're excited about doing more with us."
Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK CEO David Shelley, one of the fair’s keynote speakers, also pointed to an increase in business at the fair. "Our rights teams are really busy, our export sales teams are really busy," he said. "Lots of deals done in the run up to the fair. Lots of deals being done at the fair. Although I don't think any market is standing out, I do think it's a pretty solid time for all international markets."
Despite existential anxiety over the state of the world, publishers of all stripes were pleased with the overall buzz at the fair. "There's been really good energy," said Rachel Goldstein, EVP of Penguin Random House Publisher Services. Her colleague, PRH executive director of business development Scott Gould, added: "Everyone's keeping busy. When the world's on fire, all we can do is focus on making good books."
Dan Simon, publisher of Seven Stories Press, concurred. "In the years after Covid, it felt like people came to the fair but were kind faking it," he said. "Though there hasn't been any really big news this year, it feels like people are actually back, that they are fully present. And it's times like these when publishers play their most important role in society: educating people and providing them with truth. In times like these, publishing and reading can truly be revolutionary acts."
Trump Puts Many On Edge
The second ascendency of President Donald Trump to the White House has left many in the publishing business uncertain about how to proceed with plans they may have for the U.S. market. "Many of our members are focused on what Trump is doing and are waiting to see what comes next," said James Taylor, director of communications and the freedom to publish for the International Publishers Association.
One constituency that is particularly frustrated with the actions of the Trump administration is the group of Canadian publishers exhibiting at this year's fair. Livres Canada Books—the Ottawa-based organization that promotes exports of Canadian titles, produces a foreign rights guide, and manages the stands at various book fairs—has stopped advertising in American publications and promoting Canadian books in the U.S. Canadian publishers were sensitive to tasteless jokes from some Americans at the fair referring to the Trump's characterization of America's northern neighbor as "the 51st state," and there has been chatter among some publishers about developing a campaign to "buy Canadian" and advocating for a boycott of American books.
Another boycott impacting this year’s fair may have been invisible to many visitors. The national stand of Georgia was noticeably different this year; the country has been grappling with political instability for several years, and the recent election of a right-wing, Russia-leaning government has led to months of nightly protests. In response, the majority of the Georgian literary community boycotted the national stand, which is sponsored by the Writers House of Georgia, an organization aligned with the Georgian ministry of culture. As a result, the stand at this year's LBF displayed few contemporary titles by living authors published by Georgian presses, instead offering little more than classics.
Gvantsa Jobava, international relations manager for Intelekti Publishing in Tbilisi and current president of the International Publishers Association, was keen to point out to international colleagues that the boycott was part of an ongoing protest publishers are holding against the Georgian government—one that has been building for years. "Every day you have to prove to your people that you are keeping strong," Jobava said. "People don't follow those who are weak or wishy-washy. You have to lose so much. You can lose all you have built for many years—your freedom, your life, your character." The message, she added, felt especially appropriate to share with Americans this year.
Geopolitical Turmoil Looms Large
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East was also a prominent topic at the fair. English PEN was instrumental in bringing Palestinian bookseller Mahmoud Muna, co-owner of Jerusalem’s Educational Bookshop and the Bookshop at the American Colony Hotel, to the fair to talk about the February 9 raid on his store by Israeli police, which resulted in the confiscation of more than 250 books and his arrest for “violating public order.” He was released after two days and kept under house arrest for another week.
Muna, who spoke on a panel called "Publishing Responsibly in Times of Conflict," nearly missed the fair after the Israeli police raided his store a second time and detained his brother on March 11—the same day he was flying to the U.K. Olivia Snaije, a journalist who interviewed Muna in a public program offsite on Wednesday night, criticized what she felt was a clear attempt to interfere with Muna’s appearance in London.
"The first raid was foolish because they didn't quite know how central to the cultural life of the city it was. As a result, Muna got incredible international support," Snaije told PW. "It's a place where diplomats, journalists, students, and Jewish Israelis all go. It's a meeting point. The second raid was even more ridiculous. All the books that are sold at the store come through Israeli ports and are already vetted by Israeli customs officials."
Another conflict that has been front and center at the London Book Fair in the past two years is Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion—but this year, discussion of the topic was more subdued, although several exhibitors and participants from Ukraine attended this year's fair.
One Ukrainian publisher, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she felt some discomfort at the fair because she "wasn't used to being around so many men," since most of the men at home were conscripted in the fight against Russia. Several of her colleagues at her publishing house, she noted, had gone off to fight in the war: "When they come home, I am so happy to see them, but I see how the war has warped their minds." She added: "I haven't had a good night's sleep in three years."
Most prominently, HarperCollins hosted a small celebration to mark the publication of Looking at Women Looking at War by the late journalist Victoria Amelina, who participated in the 2023 edition of the fair just a few months before she was killed in a rocket attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
Olha Mukha, a reporter for Ukrainian publishing news service Chytomo and a friend of Amelina’s, attended the celebration. Pointing to the recent public spat between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump, as well as the latter's apparent disregard for the sovereignty of Ukraine, Mukha said: "We have fought off invaders for hundreds of years. What is happening is not right, but it is also not new. We are professional survivors." After a beat, she added: "Isn't that a perfect phrase for what those of us in publishing really are? Professional survivors?"
This article has been updated for clarity.
