First impressions of London Book Fair

As a lifelong book lover set on working in the publishing industry, I have wanted to attend the London Book Fair since I stepped on the career ladder. This year I finally had the opportunity to attend – and I hope it’s the first of many visits to come! Being one of the world’s largest and most influential publishing trade events, London Book Fair brings together thousands of professionals and celebrates books across all formats – so I knew it was a place I needed to be.

My initial reaction was one of awe. The moment I walked into the main hall I was greeted by the hustle and bustle of the event. The lively energy was captivating and made me all the more excited to be there. We headed straight upstairs to look down over the room and get the full picture. Admiring the view, I knew I was in the right place. Everywhere I looked there were elaborate stands, huge book displays, active meetings and smiling faces. To be surrounded by people who all share a love of books and care about the future of publishing, in a grand venue with books at its heart, was instantly inspiring. Leading up to this day, I was eager for further exposure of the publishing industry, and I was excited to attend a trade event – and it’s safe to say, there was no better place to start.

Did the event meet my expectations? Absolutely! Although I only went for one day, it was jam-packed and I enjoyed every minute – though, I’m glad I listened to everyone’s top tip to wear comfy shoes. There weren’t many places to sit and take in the event or unwind between talks, which is something I hope will be improved in the future. Walking among all the stands, I was excited to see books I’ve read and huge images on posters of some of my favourite authors – it was a book lover’s dream. I couldn’t stop admiring the displays, like a wooden tree with books hanging from its branches, a huge penguin bookcase (at, of course, Penguin Random House’s stand), and a wall full of Wordsworth’s gorgeous classic editions. There were stands across all genres, countries and publishers – each unique in their offering, but all with a shared passion of books.

With so much happening, I was glad we planned ahead. We scheduled in a few meetings and chose the talks we were interested in seeing in advance. It was great to meet other professionals and, as someone early in their career, it was inspiring to chat with those who had been working in the industry I had aspired to enter for so long. Everyone was so friendly, and it showed me that, although the industry is competitive and hard to get into, the people are lovely and passionate about what they do.

In my excitement, I printed off a map in preparation for the day. I didn’t end up using it though, as the fair was easy to navigate, staff were on hand to point you in the right direction and there was a huge map in the entryway. I also wrote down the talks I had most interest in attending, so I wasn’t overwhelmed on the day and risked missing one I hadn’t known was on. It was a shame, however, that there were often talks happening at the same time – so I had to choose, rather than get the opportunity to see them all. But it’s understandable with so much going on in the space of three days!

How to Survive and Thrive in a Post Search World and How Technology Will Reshape Publishing Over the Next Five Years were both insightful talks and raised interesting questions about AI in publishing. They definitely got me thinking about how no one knows for sure how much impact AI will have and where. It was positive to hear people talking about how AI was mainly there to optimise processes, rather than take away human creativity – which I really hope will be the case. These talks were more relevant to my current role, but as a book lover and writer, I enjoyed seeing the Creative of the Fair, author Alice Oseman, talk about her bestselling graphic novel series Heartstopper, her journey to being published and more. Each talk offered something different – a new perspective, unique idea or conversation starter that I took away for later.

With so much to see and do, I’d love to go for longer in the future. But for a first visit, one day was a great introduction to what’s on offer and what to expect. I really look forward to creating more connections and meeting more professionals in publishing – because the fair helped confirm that this is an industry I want to be a part of for a long time.

Chloe D’Inverno is Marketing Executive at the PTC. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.