LBF ramps up consumer side at FBF

At today’s Frankfurt Book Fair the London Book Fair will launch an events programme and website aimed at promoting consumer-facing events being held throughout the capital in conjunction with the fair.

The site for London Book & Screen Week goes live on 8th October, and will act as a hub for the programme, which includes author signings, panel debates, workshops, readings, creative writing classes and screenings.

Partners sponsoring events during the week include the British Council, the Booksellers Association, Foyles and English PEN. LBF is in talks to try to secure a headline media partner for LBSW.

LBSW was soft launched at the 2014 fair with a limited series of events, which were “enthusiastically embraced” by fairgoers and consumers alike, said LBF director Jacks Thomas. Thomas said: “First and foremost LBF is, and will remain, mainly a business-to-business event. But we have a lot of requests from the wider media and the public who want to engage with the issues and authors at the fair.  
“But, also, we are listening to exhibitors, many of whom want to experience a wider literary London.”  

Events will include a series of BA-sponsored “Bookshop Crawls”, with free tours of independent and chain bookshops made available to LBF exhibitors.

Thomas added: “Book fairs can only be reflective of what is going on in the industry. And the LBSW programme relates to how publishers are building closer ties directly with their readers.”