Publishers take stock following the cancellation of the London Book Fair

The trade has been scrambling to rearrange meetings and find new ways of doing business following the cancellation of the London Book Fair, with fears some publishers could suffer a big financial hit.

Organiser Reed Exhibitions finally axed the event on 4th March with “reluctance” after a rising tide of anger and concern over the coronavirus led to publishers pulling out en masse. Hachette Livre was the first big domino to fall, followed by the rest of the Big Five, a string of indies and agencies such as Curtis Brown.

Amid cancelling orders, parties and travel arrangements this week, agents and publishers were looking at holding cancelled meetings via tools such as Skype instead. Molly Ker Hawn from the Bent Agency said staff would be holding video conference meetings with foreign editors and would still send new projects out on submission. “Our books sell year-round, and we don’t need fairs to make that happen,” she said. However, she warned that the agency would have to wait and see whether its “significant” expenditure on booking tables for the fair would be refunded. So far, Reed has not commented on refunds.

Orenda publisher Karen Sullivan, who had been highly critical of the fair going ahead in its “incubator Olympia venue”, agreed the cancellation would be a setback. She said: “In terms of business, it’s obviously a blow because we rely on these face-to-face meetings with international sales teams, agents, publishers and other contacts to build relationships, make acquisitions and plan together. However, there is no reason why this can’t be done virtually and I’m sure that extends across the whole of the trade. Some risks aren’t worth taking.”

Other firms announced they would still hold meetings elsewhere in the capital, with Oneworld publisher Juliet Mabey saying a small number of agents and publishers unable to secure refunds on hotels and flights were being invited to the firm’s London office. Kevin Duffy from Yorkshire-based Bluemoose Books said he would still be heading to London to see booksellers and chat about his list. He warned the cancelled meetings would cost firms like his “dearly both in time and money”. Meanwhile, the Independent Publishers Group announced it would try to facilitate discussions indies will miss out on this year.

At the bigger firms, Pan Mac m.d. Anthony Forbes Watson said the publisher would be rescheduling as many planned meetings as possible through “a virtual set up” from its Farringdon offices. Hachette revealed a long list of initiatives to try and maintain the “energy and excitement” that comes with the fair. Alongside the Skype calls, rights director Rebecca Folland said there would be extra content promoting key titles put out via Twitter and a “virtual party” in lieu of a physical event.

Despite general disappointment that the fair would not go ahead, there was also a sense of relief. Many people contacted by The Bookseller before the cancellation had been outraged organisers still wanted to press on, with David Headley from DHH agency branding the decision “deeply irresponsible” and Peters Fraser & Dunlop agent Nelle Andrew calling it “madness”.

Like others, Curtis Brown’s chairman, Jonny Geller, said he was “glad” a decision had been taken, saying: “One of the most important functions of the book fair is social—a gathering of agents and publishers to exchange ideas and projects. A cloud of fear hanging over all the international guests would inhibit this function.

“We pulled out earlier this week for the sake of all our staff, but are committed to making up the time lost with a renewed search for new talent, more communication with our international partners over the next few months and being positive.”

International Publishers Association secretary-general José Borghino was also relatively sanguine. He said: “London Book Fair obviously found themselves in a difficult situation with no formal government advice to cancel but an international climate that has seen many other publishing events cancelled or postponed, and many publishers pulling out of London.

“Ultimately, despite all of the frustration, this was probably the right thing to do. We will be back next year.”