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Publishers and agents have said they are expecting to have an “incredibly busy” London Book Fair with no notable absences and schedules already jam-packed.
Jason Bartholomew, rights director at Headline, Hodder and John Murray, said more Americans are coming than went to last year’s Frankfurt. “I think there is a general buzz that we’re through [the recession] hopefully and people are excited to just buy some books.”
Brian Davies, Random House Group head of operations (UK and overseas), said: “We’re expecting the fair to feel cautiously optimistic. The recession hasn’t disappeared yet, but the fair should provide a welcome focus point for business in the year ahead and we are hearing from our export sales, rights and editorial teams that they all have a full calendar of appointments.”
Andrea Joyce, associate rights director at Canongate, said: “It is incredibly busy, we have been booked up for several weeks . . . it possibly does feel slightly busier than Frankfurt, there are lots of people.” Suzanne Baboneau, publishing director of Simon & Schuster, said after cutting back on Frankfurt “it’s a huge opportunity to see people again and renew contacts”.
Alistair Burtenshaw, group exhibition director of LBF, could not provide exact exhibitor numbers but said: “We are tracking really well against expectations and meeting our objectives, in spite of the challenging economic factors that face us all.”
Art publisher Taschen is not exhibiting at the fair but will be using its London shop as a base. Roy Enticott, sales director at Taschen, said “the economic climate has meant we have reassessed our operations”.