About The London Book Fair
Taking words further; content across media
The hub of the publishing world
The London Book Fair is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. In 2021 we will celebrate our 50 year anniversary.
Staged annually, we welcome more than 25,000 publishing professionals in London for the week of the Fair to learn, network, and kick off their year of business.
A global marketplace
We want to bring colour to the world with words. Every year we curate a world class fair to give you a multitude of opportunities in London, the global publishing centre of the English language.
Since 2004, our Market Focus initiative has helped create both commercial and cultural partnerships around the world. Each year, we put the spotlight on publishing trade links with the country or region being showcased.
What's more, The Fair sits at the heart of London Book & Screen Week, a celebration of stories that unites readers, writers, gamers and film fans, with hundreds of events taking place across the capital.
This is your opportunity to connect with the best of the industry in one place, as we bring together people from all corners of the globe.
History of The Fair
From very modest beginnings in the Berners Hotel near Oxford Street in 1971 as the Specialist Publishers’ Exhibition for Librarians, The London Book Fair – it took the name in 1977 – has grown to be an essential part of the international book trade calendar.
Today, the entire international publishing industry is represented, from the giant houses with which we are all familiar, to the smallest independent. There are the publishers of blockbuster novels and academic texts, and the producers of children’s books and graphic novels.
To walk its floors is to experience knowledge and story in all its forms. It is impossible not to be fascinated – and inspired.
Visit
If you are involved with the creation, distribution, sale or treatment of content, we want you to walk our floors and meet, talk, observe and discover.
Exhibit
You have the chance to set the tone for the publishing year with us by becoming a part of LBF 2021, a key touchpoint in the publishing calendar.