I am looking to get involved in the publishing world through purchasing and selling books. But I am not familiar with the publishing world today, so I thought going to a book trade show would help. Any suggestions on one or more to attend in the UK?

By all means, go to The London Book Fair! Over 23,000 professionals from the publishing industry will be there this year. For three days, you will get to intermingle with:

● Book packagers
● Content providers
● Distributors
● Non-Book Product/Service suppliers for booksellers
● Online Service Providers
● Publishers
● Remainder and promotional dealers
● Service Providers for publishers
● Wholesalers

What better way to become familiar with the industry?

Just go here for updated information about where it is going to be held this year.

It sounds like a big exhibition! I have never been to a book trade show before, so would I just walk around and talk to the vendors?

It can be overwhelming at first to walk into The London Book Fair if you’ve never been to a trade show before. But you will soon feel at home, because, yes, you can walk around and browse vendor’s booths. But there is so much more to the fair than that!

There are countless seminars you can attend on the latest topics. For example, this year you can attend seminars on digital publishing, film & TV, book selling, general publishing, and children’s and young adult publishing. There will also be:

● live interviews with authors
● informative talks for writers
● a demonstration of technology of the future in the Digital Zone
● a Literary Translation Center

Are there any book fairs outside of London? I live outside the city and would like to attend book fairs as often as possible.

Certainly, there are many book fairs outside of London. In fact, there is a whole website dedicated to keeping up with them: The Book Guide. Now, some of these fairs may not be what you are looking for, but they are a good place to start.

Listed on the calendar are dates and locations of secondhand and antiquarian book fairs, ephemera and collectors fairs, charity book sales, and library book sales. These are not necessarily trade shows, as much as they are places to simply sell books.

However, I would not underestimate the advice that you can get from some of the booksellers you will meet at these fairs.