Topic

London Book Fair

12 articles tagged with “London Book Fair”

Olympia London exhibition hall packed with publishing professionals, keynote speaker at podium with declining reading time graph — LBF 2026

London Book Fair 2026 Wrap: 'Reading Crisis Is a Greater Threat Than AI,' Says Pan Macmillan CEO

The 2026 London Book Fair concluded with a striking consensus among industry leaders: the global reading crisis — not artificial intelligence — is the defining challenge facing publishing. Pan Macmillan CEO Joanna Prior delivered a keynote arguing that declining literacy and reading habits represent a greater existential threat than AI disruption. PRH UK CEO Tom Weldon called on the industry to be less 'preachy' about reading rates and more focused on making books feel 'as urgent as notifications.' English PEN announced it has awarded over £1 million in translation grants to date, supporting 400 books. The fair drew 33,000 visitors and was characterised by a confident, high-energy atmosphere, with strong activity in graphic storytelling, comics, and international rights.

March 30, 2026Publishers Weekly

London Book Fair LBF 2026 Reading Crisis

London Book Fair 2026 at Kensington Olympia — packed grand hall with international flags and rights deal meetings

Market Growth

LBF 2026 Rights Roundup: 33,000 Visitors, US Publishers Splashing Cash on Solutions Nonfiction

The London Book Fair 2026 closed with 33,000 visitors — its strongest attendance in years — and a market characterised by aggressive US acquisition spending driven by a strengthening dollar. Publishing Perspectives' spring rights roundup finds publishers prioritising 'solutions-based' nonfiction and escapist fiction, while the fair itself made history as the final edition at the Kensington Olympia venue before its 2027 move to ExCeL London.

March 28, 2026Publishing Perspectives

London Book Fair Rights Deals International Publishing

London Book Fair grand hall with international publishers and S&S signage — Greg Greeley CEO strategy interview

Publisher Strategy

S&S CEO Greg Greeley Outlines Global Expansion and AI Strategy at London Book Fair 2026

At the 2026 London Book Fair, Simon & Schuster CEO Greg Greeley — who succeeded Jonathan Karp in March 2026 — outlined a strategy focused on global expansion, AI integration, and strategic acquisitions. Greeley, a former Amazon and Airbnb executive, described operating with a 'founder' mindset backed by KKR's long-term growth commitment rather than a quick exit. He identified AI as a key driver for improving internal workflows and book discovery, confirmed S&S's active M&A appetite with international expansion as a primary objective, and noted that the 'global nature of books' is the company's biggest opportunity. Karp remains with the company, returning to his preferred editorial role. Greeley's initial strategy is to 'listen and learn' from the existing team before refining a collective direction.

March 27, 2026Publishing Perspectives

Simon & Schuster Greg Greeley LBF

Publishing rights licensing panel at the London Book Fair 2026 with speakers discussing AI content licensing

Legal & Policy

LBF 2026: 'Rather Have a Bad License Than No License' — Publishers Urged to Enter AI Licensing Market

A panel at the London Book Fair titled 'Publishing Revenue Diversification Through Rights Licensing,' moderated by Roy Kaufman of the Copyright Clearance Center, urged publishers to actively enter the AI licensing market rather than waiting for litigation to resolve. The Publishers Association's 'Content Superpower' report found that the number of publishers active in the AI licensing market is set to double in 2026, with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) licensing now a meaningful and growing segment.

March 13, 2026Publishing Perspectives

AI Licensing Rights Copyright

Wireless headphones resting on a stack of books beside a smartphone showing Spotify Audiobooks

Audiobooks & Audio

Spotify at LBF: Audiobook Catalog Grows to 700,000 Titles in Two Years

Spotify announced at the London Book Fair that its audiobook catalog has grown from 150,000 titles at launch to more than 700,000 in just two years — a fourfold increase. The company positioned itself as a multi-format reading platform, highlighting features like Page Match and Recaps, and noted that 52% of UK audiobook listeners are under 35.

March 13, 2026Spotify Newsroom

Spotify Audiobooks London Book Fair

International book fair exhibition hall on closing day with diverse publishing professionals and colorful publisher stands

Industry Events

LBF Final Day: Focus on Bibliodiversity and Nurturing New Talent

The final day of LBF 2026 — the last at Olympia before the move to ExCeL in 2027 — centred on bibliodiversity, publishing equity, and next-generation talent. Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch warned against a 'cultural monoculture,' while a British Council panel spotlighted infrastructure gaps for writers from Sudan, South Sudan, and other underserved regions.

March 13, 2026Publishers Weekly

London Book Fair Bibliodiversity Diversity

Aerial view of London Book Fair main hall at Olympia with international flags and publisher stands

Publisher Strategy

PRH UK CEO Warns of 'Race to the Bottom' as European Publishers Acquire English-Language Rights

Tom Weldon, CEO of Penguin Random House UK, drew a firm 'red line' at the London Book Fair against selling English-language rights to European publishers — warning that the practice creates a 'potential race to the bottom' that threatens the entire English-language book ecosystem.

March 12, 2026Publishing Perspectives

Penguin Random House Rights London Book Fair

Child on park bench absorbed in smartphone while book lies forgotten beside them

Publisher Strategy

Pan Macmillan CEO: The Decline of Reading Is a Greater Threat to Publishing Than AI

In a keynote at the London Book Fair, Pan Macmillan CEO Joanna Prior argued that publishers are 'obsessing over the machine's ability to write while ignoring the audience's fading ability to read' — and called for the industry to treat literacy as its primary strategic challenge.

March 12, 2026Publishers Weekly

Pan Macmillan Reading Crisis Literacy

Person working on laptop with search engine visible on screen

Publisher Strategy

Publishers Urged to Adopt 'Generative Engine Optimisation' at London Book Fair

A prominent session at the London Book Fair argued that publishers must urgently develop strategies for 'Generative Engine Optimisation' — ensuring their books and authors are discoverable and accurately represented by AI-powered search and recommendation systems.

March 11, 2026London Book Fair

GEO AI Discovery SEO

World map with glowing connection points showing global expansion

Audiobooks

Audible Expands into 11 New International Markets at London Book Fair

Audible CEO Bob Carrigan announced at the London Book Fair that the platform is expanding into 11 new territories, with localised content strategies and partnerships with regional publishers to accelerate audiobook adoption in markets where the format is still nascent.

March 11, 2026Audible

Audible International Expansion Amazon

International book fair exhibition hall with publishers and visitors

Publisher Strategy

London Book Fair 2026: AI Dominates as Industry Grapples with Rights and Revenue

The London Book Fair opened its 2026 edition with AI at the centre of almost every conversation, from rights negotiations and contract terms to new tools for discovery, translation, and production — reflecting an industry in the midst of profound technological disruption.

March 10, 2026London Book Fair

London Book Fair AI Rights

Stack of blank white books on a wooden table

AI & Publishing

10,000 Authors Publish 'Empty' Book Protesting AI Theft at London Book Fair

More than 10,000 authors coordinated to publish a blank book titled 'Our Words, Our Rights' on the opening day of the London Book Fair, in a symbolic protest against the use of their work to train AI systems without consent or compensation.

March 10, 2026Authors Guild