Are indie book fairs the future?

In a time when access to and funding of the arts are under threat, free independent book fairs are more crucial than ever to British literary culture. London’s Alternative Book Fair is a free event which connects independent publishers with readers and authors, with the mission of cutting through the elitism and inaccessibility of the publishing industry.

Damien Mosley launched London’s inaugural Alternative Book Fair in 2024, the same year in which investment fund Baillie Gifford cut its sponsorship for the country’s largest book fairs including Hay, Cheltenham and Edinburgh. In its second year, on Saturday 8th March, the fair held at Islington Central Library drew in a crowd of around 1,000 attendees and 30 independent adult and children’s publishers.

The Alternative Book Fair does what it says on the tin, providing an alternative offering to larger mainstream events. A fair like Hay can attract crowds of up to 200,000 people and tickets for single events cost around £10 to £15. At these events the experience is shared with a big crowd and attendees rarely get access to authors or publishers.

The Alternative Book Fair has a different offering, as all panel events are free, including this year’s talk on "Lifting the Lid on Literary Prizes" with Neil Griffiths, founder of the Republic of Consciousness Prize; James Tookey, the organiser of The Orwell Prize and Truda Spruyt, publicist for The Booker Prize.

Other events included a Publishing Panel with Gary Budden from Influx; Jack Thompson from Cipher Press and Jess Chandler from Prototype Publishing on what they look for when publishing a novel, as well as author panel events.

The most unique thing about the fair is that it facilitates the direct connection between publishers and readers. Independent publishers have stalls across two floors of the library, operating like booksellers, allowing them to connect with readers and advocate for their authors’ work.

At the fair, Kate Bland, founder of Spiracle Audiobooks, an audiobook platform and winner of the Start-up of the Year at the 2024 Future Book Awards, said: “There’s an energy round here – nobody is getting rich, they’re just getting excited about books.”

Independent publishers have stalls across two floors of the library, operating like booksellers, allowing them to connect with readers and advocate for their authors’ work

For founder Damien Mosley, organising the fair came about organically after recognising a demand for more community group events for aspiring writers which he started running in Islington and Hackney in 2022 as part of Indie Novella, a non-profit publisher he founded committed to making the publishing process accessible to all.

With local engagement in mind, Mosley collaborated with Monica Sever, stock and reader development manager at Islington Library, to create the fair to make the independent publishing industry accessible to a wider audience. As well as serving readers, the fair also gives independent presses — often run on a part-time basis by a single publisher — the opportunity to attend an event outside of the mainstream from which they are often excluded.

Neil Griffiths, publisher at Weatherglass Books and founder of The Republic of Consciousness Prize, said: “I think this fair is the best book event in London because of representation of presses, the panels and, most importantly, the turnout to the panels.”

For Mosley, the future of the fair looks bright, with plans to continue collaborating with Islington Central Library for more frequent events and to expand the fair into regional locations like Brighton, Bristol and Bath.

The Alternative Book Fair is part of a larger ecosystem of independent fairs in the UK, with over 90 regional fairs scheduled for this year, including in Fowey, Wirksworth and Crawley. Similar upcoming events this year include the Northern Publishers Fair in Manchester in April, the City of Literature Publishing Fair in Norwich in May, and the Small Publishers Fair in London in October.

These fairs are a unique and important way for publishers to reach readers, but they will continue to face issues of resourcing and funding. The Alternative Book Fair operated on what Mosley called a “shoe-string budget” of £3,550, supported by Arts Council England funding, volunteer work and the event space and staff provided by the local library.

While putting on an independent book fair is doable and the sense of community and connection they provide is important, the future of these events will remain reliant on funding, free resources and support from attendees.