This year’s London Book Fair was an incredible experience, offering a firsthand look at the versatility of the publishing industry. I did find it appealing that there were numerous top publishing houses, interacting with their readers and some provided open access for book signing. The event also had numerous activities ongoing in different spaces which I accessed as a vital element in today’s society.
The London Book Fair is rated among the top three global Book Fair’s because of the international interest it attracts compared to her counterpart. I played eye witness in seeing the ministries of culture for many countries present at the event. London itself as a city houses major organisations in the literary industry.
Let’s face the fact that London is home to major literary organisations, making it a key economic driver for the UK. And countries like Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Turkey, France, Greece, Italy, Georgia, China, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and even the USA. Recognized it as a key platform to engage with the global publishing industry.
One of the biggest advantage of the fair is the opportunity to engage directly with major stakeholders—publishers, agents, and literary experts—rather than waiting months for email responses. And I must admit that I was impressed with the protocol backed by security presence.
The venue, Olympia, has been a platform for this event with access to information about trends in the publishing industry and created a better experience in the market.
I personally confirmed that over 500 stands were present, packed with attendees. Making it a fascinating experience to see the amount of crowd that can be drawn by just one event.
We sometimes go out for concert and see musicians draw crowds but in a world where reading seems to be revolutionized into digital format. This proved that there is still a large portion of people interested in hard copy which proves the publishing industry is not going to get sidelined anytime soon.
I was also surprised people travelled as far as from Africa, Europe, America, Middle East and Asia for this special event. The hosts of London Book Fair did leave a spectacular impression on money well spent.
Especially for writers like myself who desire to build a network of professionals. As a matter of fact, I have come to know that emailing and messaging doesn’t really do the work. Regardless of how good your writing seems to be; first creating that connection in person, opens the door to more dimensions of the industry. And spotting what the publishers find appealing enough to showcase gives an insight towards what sort of audience they are trying to sell to.
This paints a picture of what resonates with their demographics. As I interacted with many brands as possible and spotted the Who’s who of these traditional publishers. I always thought they seem rigid when it came to unsolicited submissions but I understood why the industry was shaped as this.
Seeing the amount of interests they pulled shows they’ve too many queries with less hand to attend to them. And in writing it’s required someone of esteem has endorsed you, to then be considered as a potential top sales.
This itself is why the industry has layers of height to reach. It’s however true that the black community itself doesn’t really make time for these activities and it’s understandable—why our culture and language are not prioritized when it comes to story telling. In total about 2% of people who attended to my own projection during my stay was black people.
This highlights a critical gap in our community that while other communities actively invest in networking opportunities— Black professionals remain underrepresented. This lack of visibility impacts industry influence and opportunities.
Inorder for our arts to sell, it’s reasonable we invest in ourselves first and build a repertoire that’s impossible to ignore. It’s the secret towards why the other ethnicities own a large share of the publishing industry when it comes to works being accepted.
Attending in person shed light on an important issue like the low presence of Black professionals in these spaces. This absence affects how our stories and cultures are represented in the industry as we do not have stakeholders speaking for us. It highlights how our lack of participation affects our visibility and influence in the industry.
Everyone is more inclined to read a piece from someone they had spoken to than having to address hundreds of emails with uncertainty of the persons credibility or true interest. This places us in tight spaces but regardless I saw this as an opportunity to network.
I also interacted with other attendees. Such as Dr Clementine Collett— who was researching AI’s influence in the publication industry and gathering insights from writers and agents. This survey of hers would facilitate a research project that has capacity to reshape the publishing industry. If writers and agents should be allowed to use AI or utilize AI for our technology and home appliances support only.
Other measures of interaction I facilitated were with Gomer Press who are based in Wales and currently focus on printing/binding— including making edge printing. Their team member was so kind and handed me a notepad.
Some other forms of interaction included Post scripts desiring catalogue from publishers, Bonnier books, Watkins media catalogue, Troubadour publishing, Bristol translate. The global Pequot publishing group, Piemonte agency, Magnum book services, Titan books and even Austin Macauley.
I did stop at the Combined Book Exhibition and find it a remarkable opportunity for publishers to exhibit easily. My collection “The Hymns of a Deepman” was also exhibited. It gave me a sense of recognition as among the thousands of visitors many would flood it to understand what it entails.
Not to forget saying thanks to Publishers Weekly for the free catalogue they provided. And Hannah’s Scudamore of Titan Books for explaining how the comic industry works to me.
I also spotted Spotify among other providers— it proved that audiobooks are starting to gain popularity within the publishing industry.
The London Book Fair reinforced the importance of in-person engagement, not just for discovering trends but for shaping career trajectories. Moving forward, I am committed to attending more industry events, deepening my network, and ensuring that African and Black narratives gain stronger representation.
The publishing world thrives on visibility, and our participation is the key to shifting the narrative. This is an open call to push our agenda.
