Last London Bok Fair at Earls Court hailed a success

11.04.14 | Bookseller news team

This year’s London Book Fair—the last to be held in the Earls Court premises—has been hailed as “buzzing” and “busy”, although also thinner than usual in terms of good books on offer to UK editors. The positive mood among delegates also extended to the move to the smaller Olympia venue (pictured) for 2015, with publishers saying it was “a chance to get back to basics”.

Lisa Milton, m.d. of Orion General, said: “LBF has been really buzzing this year, more than in the past few years. There are lots of international visitors and they want to buy. It’s exciting.” Daniel Downham, export sales manager at Egmont, said the publisher got “a lot more export buyers here at the London Book Fair than at Bologna”, with most of the attention still focused on its “runaway success” Minecraft.

Pan Macmillan digital and marketing director Sara Lloyd said: “It is upbeat and busy, there are lots of new suppliers, retailers and digital initiatives being talked about. It feels to me like it has become a slightly different fair, more of one where publishing service companies come to sell their wares. It feels a bit like the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, settled and calm and digital is not a big deal any more.”

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