Book Expo officials are moving to get in front of community concerns about COVID-19, following the London Book Fair’s reluctant cancellation of their show. (Both shows are part of Reed Exhibitions.) Event director Jenny Martin writes in a statement, “The effect of the COVID-19 virus on the publishing business and our people is significant and difficult to navigate. Many industry events outside of the United States, have had to make difficult decisions about proceeding with their events. We understand the impact that has on the publishing industry and we want to be proactive and transparent about BookExpo.” For now: “BookExpo […]
Book Fairs
The Fair Is Cancelled But Pre-London Dealmaking Has Been Steady, If Modest In Investment
As regular readers know, we chart the domestic dealmaking data ahead of both the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs. Ordinarily we would provide a first look this Friday and then follow up next Wednesday, but with the cancellation of LBF, we wanted to see how the dealmaking trends have been lining up. The good news is that deal volumes are looking strong overall, only 5.5 percent below last year’s final pre-London total, so likely to finish well ahead of last year. Fiction deals have already rebounded, running 8.6 percent ahead of last year’s final total. And debut fiction deals are […]
Reed Is Holding the London Book Fair, Dubbed “The Nightmare of Epidemiologists,” without All of You
The UK government is not ready to ban public events of scale yet, and Reed Exhibitions is apparently not ready to face the costs of a voluntary cancellation and continues to vow that the London Book Fair will proceed next week. The show is an increasing outlier, with the big Leipzig Book Fair canceling next week’s show. More companies have announced that they will skip the fair and protect their employees, now including a number of UK-based companies and divisions. Penguin Random House, which officially had only made the show optional for US employees — most of whom opted out […]
Italy’s GeMS Also Cancels London Book Fair Plans, Calls Right Centers “The Nightmare of Epidemiologists”
Italy’s large trade publisher Gruppo Mauri Spagnol announced that it “will give up coming to the London Book Fair” this year, even though all of their employees remain healthy. “A sacrifice that we have been asked by the government to contain the phenomenon, the fruits of which should be seen within a few weeks. Fairs are one of the occasions to be avoided par excellence. All the more, work at the rights center. Hundreds of people from all over the world who each have 40 appointments in three days vis a vis are by definition the nightmare of epidemiologists.” They […]
Hachette Book Group and HarperCollins Also Withdraw From London Book Fair, As Paris Book Fair Is Cancelled
Hachette Book Group US has joined other large publishers in deciding not to attend this year’s London Book Fair. On Sunday the company told PL their rights team had withdrawn while other groups were “still considering,” but on Monday the company updated us: “In a spirit of caution and protecting the health of our colleagues, Hachette Book Group will not be sending any employees to the London Book Fair.” HarperCollins announced Sunday afternoon that they will not send any divisions from outside of the UK to the fair. The company said it “can confirm that staff from its international and […]
Macmillan Joins Ingram Content Group In Deciding Not to Attend London Book Fair
On Friday afternoon, Macmillan decided that their US trade division will not attend the London Book Fair either. Spokesperson Erin Coffey confirmed the publisher “will not be participating in the London Book Fair, out of concern for the health and safety of our employees.” Earlier on Friday, another large exhibitor, Ingram Content Group, told PL the company will not attend LBF after informing staff on Friday morning. MThe announcements follow Simon & Schuster’s Friday morning decision to skip the event, and individual withdrawals by employees and teams at other houses that have made attendance optional. Hachette Book Group’s rights team […]