The myths of London Book Fair...

An honest look at the reality behind the noise!

Hello everyone,

If you’re at all interested in the publishing industry, you won’t have missed the fact that last week was the London Book Fair. This happens every year, and is basically a three-day trade fair, at which international editors, agents, and scouts gather in the event space Olympia to talk about books. The basic aim is buying and selling rights, but there are also interesting panel talks and speeches from industry professionals, often debating the key issues of the day such as AI, English language rights, audio growth and more.

It’s not really a place for writers (NB please see additional note at the end about this for a new point of view!). There are ‘authors of the fair’ (this year one of ours, the brilliant AF Steadman, was present on the Tuesday) and those authors are invited to meet their translation publishers or to give talks, but it’s not a place for unpublished writers or even for most published writers - it’s more for those working in the industry on the publishing side. If you are an aspiring writer there is no need to go - it’s not where you would find an agent or a publisher and it’s expensive! I’m only saying this as I think sometimes authors feel confused and worry they should attend so I’m telling you honestly, you don’t need to!

The other reason I wanted to write this post is to help dispel the sense of anxiety, failure and fear of missing out that can descend (on both writers and editors) around LBF. It is so, so easy to read the Bookseller or go on social media and see endless six-figure whirlwind announcements and feel bad about yourself because you’re not one of them (either as an author or as a publisher/agent). HOWEVER, and I cannot stress this enough, when these announcements go out they are only one small piece of the picture, and a pretty small piece at that…

Here are some myths dispelled!

1. Deals are done in a whirlwind at the book fair itself and announced immediately. No! Most of the deals you see were done months ago and the announcements are saved until the book fair week, so that the publisher can gain more attention from the industry and from foreign publishers. Yes, sometimes they do happen in that week and the press releases are pulled together overnight but this is the exception.

2. Every book that is announced at LBF goes on to sell really well and take the world by storm. Er, no. Sometimes, publishers over-pay for books and the books do not perform. This, sadly, happens quite a lot. There is no guarantee that because a book is announced at the fair it will sell more than another book. Yes, we often announce higher profile authors or higher money deals around the fair, because they are more newsworthy and the Bookseller (our industry magazine) is more likely to run them, but sometimes you can pay a lot for a novel or spend a lot on its marketing campaign and it STILL doesn’t connect with readers, for a variety of reasons.

3. If your book isn’t being sold at LBF, you’re not important to the industry. NO! This is so untrue. Some of the bestselling books I have published were not deals done or announced at LBF. Some of them were books with advances under £10,000. Some of them were one-book deals. Some of them were completely unknown authors. All of them were important to me and to readers, and therefore, important to the industry ecosystem.

4. All the books announced at LBF are sold for lots of money. Again no! Some of the deals are just for average amounts of advance money - not six-figure deals. And some of those launch the careers of authors who go on to sell consistently, year on year, building up advances or royalty payments as they go.

5. You have to have a platform or be a celebrity to be a successful writer now. NO!!! The vast majority of books on the fiction list where I work are from ‘regular’ people - yes we do have a couple of writers who have bigger platforms but it is the exception still and we would not take on just anyone. If you are someone who enjoys using social media and can use it to your advantage then yes it absolutely can help you reach readers, but it is not a pre-requisite to getting a book deal.

6. Only the ‘top’ editors or agents have books announced at LBF. No! There are so many amazing and hard-working editors and agents at varying stages of their careers who are looking for brilliant books all year round, and who might not have big splashy deals announced but who are creating bestsellers all the time. Some years the timing doesn’t link up. Some years there’s just no need for a big announcement because we don’t hold the translation rights so there is less incentive to have an announcement (our foreign rights teams can use an announcement as a reason to talk more about a book on the stand).

7. Foreign editors buy books on the spot at LBF. Not very often! Most likely, the rights person will pitch them a book and follow up with it later, when the manuscript is ready. A lot of the book fair is about building or cementing relationships, finding out what other editors or agents are looking for with the aim of discovering aligning tastes, talking generally about trends and patterns in different markets, and gossiping (!).

8. There are lots of glamorous parties. OK yes, this one is true. I had to have one true one in there just to keep you on your toes! I love the parties and the social side of the fair BUT in all honesty, this year I felt so exhausted and ill on Thursday that I skipped the parties and went home to have a bath. Which was less glamorous, but better for my mental health. It did not warrant an Instagram post but there you go - social media does not give the full story! Also, I’ve added the parties one because the relationship part of the industry is genuinely one of the reasons why I love being part of it - most book people are kind, funny, smart and caring and we want your books to succeed. So keep the faith! (And if you are reading this as an industry person and feeling left out of parties - direct message me and I’ll tell you how to get involved!)

I hope this post is useful! Remember, EVERYONE feels left out, jealous, uncertain or anxious at certain times when it comes to this industry, and it is so important to remember that your journey is your own, and that social media / the Bookseller does not always tell the full story. Everyone’s career has ups and downs (as so many people have kindly written about in this Substack - go read their interviews if you need a pick-me-up!) and, if you are an author reading this, the only thing you can really control is writing the best book you can. So go for it!

Happy writing,

Phoebe x

P.S. If this post resonated with you, I would so appreciate you sharing it with your networks! You can also subscribe below (free or paid) if you appreciate what this Substack is doing and want to help me keep it going.

P.P.S. Adding a very helpful comment from a reader of this newsletter who has a useful and different take from a recent book fair - it has probably changed a bit over recent years and I do still maintain that the primary aim of the fair is not for writers BUT this view is very interesting and it’s great to see that more has been added, I just didn’t see any of this as I was in meetings! I decided to write back after reading the latest newsletter to say that London Book Fair actually has a pretty huge offering for writers now – trad-published and indie. I started going a few years ago to see what it was all about and attended the add-on Writers’ Summit (held on the Monday) as well as the Fair itself. The Summit provided loads of useful information about the industry, as well as networking opportunities, and during the following three days at the Fair I spent most of my time absorbed in talks at Author HQ or chatting with people in the Author Lounge (and grabbing freebies from other stalls!). Over the last three years I’ve met some great people and learnt loads about the industry in general from both trad- and self-publishing perspectives. This year ALLi, who always have a presence at the Fair, held their first ever Indie Author Lab event on the Wednesday of the Fair, so the offering for writers is steadily growing. I’m due to self-pub my novel this year, and the information I’ve gleaned from attendance at the Fair has definitely helped me to decide whether this is the right path for me. Members of ALLi and the Society of Authors (SoA reps are a lovely bunch and provide chats and sweets in the Author Lounge) also get a discount on LBF tickets. I hope it’s helpful to hear about the Fair from someone outside of the industry, as my experience of it as an unagented and non-trad-published author has been very positive.