Optimistic mood at Olympia
Bloomsbury’s Nigel
Newton said the publisher
was “on a roll”; Head of
Zeus’ Amanda Ridout said
the fair was “buzzier, and it
feels like there are more
people here”; Jane Harris at
Bonnier said: “Our stand
was rammed yesterday and
it is again today.”
Will Atkinson (Atlantic
Books) said: “It seems
busier than last year. I think
it’s a case of hands across
the ocean, there are bad
things happening on both
sides—it’s a group hug.” But
advances, he added, were
“out of control”.
Anthony Forbes Watson
(Pan Macmillan) said that
flatlining digital was
stoking print demand. “The
mix shift towards print is
pushing up prices on new
A mood of optimism has
gripped the London Book
Fair, driven by surging
visitor numbers and a
weaker pound.
Publishers and agents
reported brisk business,
while the fair felt busier
than last year. Jacks
Thomas, director of LBF,
confirmed that the
important lead indicator of
pre-registered visitors was
up by a double-digit
percentage on 2016.
Caroline Michel, ceo of
PFD, said that on day one of
the fair she had received
two firm offers for books:
“Publishers are being much
less cautious this year… the
digital market is starting to
really work in Europe, and
the Americans have money
to spend.”
Brexit bonus: “The industry
is feeding off the chaos in
the world outside, rather
than being depressed by it.”
It was a trend confirmed by
Duncan Heath at Icon
Books: “Books are a solid
thing in a changing world.”
Luigi Bonomi at LBA
described the fair as “very
buzzy, with a lot of money
around”, and he was seeing
heightened demand for
escapist and uplifting fiction
and non-fiction. Michel said
book to film and TV was
booming.
Lei Ren of China National
Publications Import and
Export Corporation,
Germany, said: “As a first-
timer, I like it. The natural
light and the layout make it
feel busy.”
At the Museum of
Modern Art, Charles Kim
said: “The fair has been our
busiest in three or four
years, thanks in large part
to great interest
internationally for our
children’s book line. The
Centre Pompidou and we
negotiated a multi-book
deal to develop activity and
picture books together.”
INSIDE:
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FAIR DEALS
3
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See us at Booth 3B41 at the London Book Fair.
PW Bologna Show Daily
Publishers Weekly is teaming with the Bologna Children’s
Book Fair to publish an official show daily which will be
available on the first day of the fair, which runs from April
3-6. The print publication, which will also be available
online, will cover fair highlights as well as looking at
issues surrounding the children’s international book
publishing market. “We’re excited to be working with
Bologna fair officials to publish the first PW Bologna
Show Daily,” said Joe Murray, PW associate publisher
and publisher of all of the company’s show dailies. For
more information about the magazine contact Murray at
jmurray@publishersweekly.com.
