The annual London Book Fair concluded on Thursday, marking the end of three days in which 33,000 people related to the book industry (agents, editors, authors, among others) gathered in Olympia to close deals and discuss the state of the publishing world and its future. Here’s our roundup of the biggest deals, trends and takeaways from the show.
The week’s top book offering was a new thriller series co-authored with Idris Elbawhich features an MI6 field agent who is sent to Mauritius to investigate an assassination attempt. Elsewhere, rights were obtained to Alex FergusonThe first autobiography of 13 years old, speaker. Mishal HusainThe first children’s book by and the designer’s story. Paul Smithlife.
It was a strong week for fancy and romantic comedywith acquisitions including journalist Moya Lothian-McLean’s “sexy, sharp romantic comedy” Matchmakers and two adult fantasy books by Shannon Chakraborty, snapped up for a seven-figure sum. Topics that drive nonfiction offerings included GLP-1 (The Appetite Reboot, by Federica Amati), sober curiosity (Hangxiety by Millie Gooch) and assisted death (Fight to the death by Paul Brand).
the government National Reading Year was a major topic of conversation at the fair’s dozens of talks and panels. Dan Conway of the Publishers Association shared its origins: In late 2024, he was sitting in a windowless room in the House of Lords with Penguin President Gail Rebuck when she suggested the idea. Campaign manager David Hayman gave an update on progress: So far they have recruited 16,000 of the planned 100,000 volunteers. Rebuck encouraged the international publishers present to launch similar campaigns in their own countries using the UK “playbook”. However, Rosemary Thomas of the National Literacy Trust struck a note of realism: “Behavioral change does not happen in a year,” framing the campaign as a “launch pad” rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.
Some of the thorniest and most pressing issues facing contemporary publishing were debated at the English PEN literary salon, and one of those panels explored whether US-style book censorship is spreading to the UK. While there is anecdotal evidence of librarians facing increasing requests for removal, particularly of LGBTQ+ titles, a lack of data makes it difficult to assess the magnitude of the problem. In the UK, it tends to be individuals – parents, carers and “increasingly” headteachers – who raise challenges to book bans, “rather than organized groups like in the US, such as Moms for Liberty”, Alison Hicks told the audience. The UCL associate professor of library and information studies conducted a small qualitative study into book banning in the UK.
Louis Coiffait-Gunn, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, stressed the need for better evidence. There is a sense of “growing censorship as the UK catches a cold from America’s current ailments. But we still rely too much on some deeply worrying anecdotes.” He spoke alongside Juno Dawson, author of This Book Is Gay, one of the most banned titles in America, and Faber associate editor Louisa Joyner.
Another PEN talk focused on setbacks in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion in the publication. Selina Brown, who started the Black British Book festival in 2021, said she sees fewer books by black authors being presented at pitch meetings with publishers each year. “Some of the biggest publishers have even said, ‘We don’t have any books for you this year.’ They would never turn around and say, ‘We don’t have any white papers.’ That would be crazy.” Brown spoke of “deeply ingrained” stereotypes in the industry, that “certain communities are hard to reach; I’ve been told indirectly that ‘black people don’t read.’”
Author Nikesh Shukla said many books published in the wake of the 2020 murder of African-American George Floyd were rushed out “without much editorial work” or support for writers. Some authors who write about racism “maybe felt like they had to move on to writing a book, and they ran into a moment where maybe they just wanted to write a science fiction book, or a picture book about friendship, or whatever.”
He impact of authoritarianism The editorial issue was also a central issue for the English PEN. Arabella Pike, editorial director of William Collins, said that “books are the complete opposite” of authoritarianism. He has defended books such as Putin’s People by Catherine Belton and Kleptopia by Tom Burgis from bullying SLAPP actions.
Pike has also published Looking at Women Watching War, by Victoria Amelina, who was killed by a Russian missile in 2023 in Ukraine. He told the audience that after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, HarperCollins decided to continue selling books in Russia, unlike other major publishers, on the basis that it was “incredibly important” that the Russian people had access to verified books that were not “distorted by censorship.” He also spoke of abuses of the English legal system by oligarchs with “very deep pockets” and said libel laws “are in dire need of reform.”
Kit Fan, an author who renounced his Chinese citizenship, said that authoritarian leaders “are afraid of those things called books.” The “first” thing totalitarian governments do is “burn all records.” Dictators are “afraid of these things, because they know that no matter how many books they burn, no matter how many people they try to process, these words, these stories, these poems are transmitted from one person to another.”
