London Book Fair 2015
gears up for a wonderful show! Consumer engagement takes centre stage as Publishing for Digital Minds names 2015 conference chairs – Unbound co-founder and QI creator John Mitchinson and HarperCollins’ head of events Sam Missingham. The 44th London Book Fair, will take place from Tuesday (14) to Thursday (16) April 2015, at Olympia London. The London Book Fair, in association with The Publishers’ Association, revealed that consumer engagement will be at the top of the agenda for the seventh edition of the Publishing Digital Minds Conference as it announced the chair and deputy chair for 2015.
John Mitchinson, the writer, publisher, TV producer and co-founder of the UK’s first crowd-funded publishing house Unbound, will chair Publishing for Digital Minds in 2015. Also at hand to steer the conference through the increasingly direct to consumer focused waters of the global publishing industry will be deputy chair, Sam Missingham, who is HarperCollins’ head of events and a co-founder of FutureBook.
The seventh edition of Publishing for Digital Minds will take place on April 13, 2015 at the Conference Centre in Olympia. It will set the scene for the opening of The London Book Fair on April 14. It will also inaugurate the second London Book & Screen Week a week-long, city-wide celebration of London’s contribution to the global creative and content industries.
As well as Mitchinson and Missingham, representatives from Blackwell Retail, Copyright Clearance Center, Profile Books , Penguin Random House, Sophie Hicks Agency, Faber and Faber, Bloomsbury, Egmont, EDItEUR, The Publishers Association, Hachette and Publishers Weekly make up the PDMC (Publishing for Digital Minds Conference) steering committee.
As in previous years, Publishing for Digital Minds will bring together an inspirational line-up of speakers drawn from the international trade and academic publishing industry, digital disruptors, prominent thinkers and best-selling authors. With Mitchinson and Missingham at the helm in 2015, the conference will also take a closer look at how publishers and content creators can engage with consumers and thrive in a world where disintermediation is the order of the day.
Commenting on his vision for the conference, John Mitchinson, said, “I’m delighted to have been asked to chair this year’s Publishing for Digital Minds Conference. As digital publishing decreases the distance between the creator and the consumer, publishers have a huge opportunity to rethink their role and the value they provide to authors and readers. I’m looking forward to working with The London Book Fair to field a line-up of speakers whose expertise demonstrates how the industry is progressing in this digital future.”
While, Sam Missingham added, “For me, the digital innovation that matters is all about helping publishers achieve a simple aim: getting more books into more hands. What creators and companies are doing to achieve this in different markets and countries across the world is a fascinating topic and one I’ll be very excited to explore at Publishing for Digital Minds.”
Mitchinson and Missingham will shape the programming of a conference that is acclaimed as the European digital publishing event with the greatest international reach. In 2014, Publishing for Digital Minds attracted more than 400 delegates from over 25 countries in 2014. It also continued its tradition of setting the tone of the event with an address from a leading author with Anthony Horowitz.
2015’s day-long conference will remain a highly interactive blend of keynote speeches, panel discussions and the highly popular ‘Join the Conversation’ interactive round tables will be joined by the return of Publishers’ Question Time. In this session, members of the audience will get the chance to quiz publishing industry leaders about topical issues.
Orna O’Brien, conference manager, The London Book Fair, concluded, “As it heads into its seventh year, Publishing for Digital Minds has become one of very few digitally-driven events that takes a global look at the excellence and innovation in the publishing industry. It’s been such a privilege to watch it grow into a forum where we can explore the trends and ideas that are changing the whole industry, not just its digital segment. We’re thrilled that John Mitchinson and Sam Missingham are on board and looking forward to announcing the first of our exciting speakers very soon.”
About the London Book Fair…
The London Book Fair (LBF) is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. LBF’s London Book and Screen Week will run for the second year, with the book fair as the pivotal three day event within a five day programme. London Book and Screen Week will open with LBF’s Publishing for Digital Minds Conference on Monday April 13, the day before LBF opens. Mexico is market focus country in 2015, following Korea in 2014.
Rights trading opportunities for Arab publishers
In an exclusive partnership for the Arab Publishing Industry, Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) has announced matchmaking and networking opportunities for their exhibitors at The London Book Fair: ‘Arab Publishing; Showing, Telling, Buying and Selling’.
In this business development package, all SIBF and LBF Arab World Exhibitors will be offered a bespoke introduction, education and information service at The London Book Fair 2015. This service is designed to open doors and help facilitate new relationships between the Western and Arab publishing industries to mutual benefit. This will be supported by the SIBF Translation Grant which was launched at SIBF in 2011 and has, since then, enabled hundreds of translations globally. LBF representatives have attended the SIBF Professional Programme since its launch four years ago and last year LBF exhibited at SIBF for the ?rst time, hosting a reception for Jeffrey Archer.
Commenting on this exciting new development, director of the Sharjah International Book Fair, Ahmed Alameri said, “SIBF continues to support our exhibitors in doing business across the world and in showcasing both the rich heritage and contemporary landscape of Arab publishing. I am delighted to be working closely with The London Book Fair to extend the value we offer to our Arab exhibitors to another point during the book industry calendar.”
While, Jacks Thomas, director, The London Book Fair added, ‘The Arab World as Market Focus at The London Book Fair in 2008 created a fantastic platform for doing business with this broad and significant market that values books, education and the written word very highly. It is with great pride that we enter into this new partnership with SIBF and look forward to extending our matchmaking service to deliver return on investment for our exhibitors.’
Submissions open for the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2015
The London Book Fair (LBF), in association with The UK Publishers Association (The PA), has announced that submissions are now open for the LBF International Excellence Awards 2015. Entries for the awards need to be registered online via the LBF website by January 9, 2015.
After a huge successful launch in 2014, with winners from as far afield as Malaysia (Fixi), Denmark (Anneli Hoier), Australia (Penguin) and the US (Skybound), the LBF International Excellence Awards are back for the second year. Two awards were conferred on Indian publishers as well – The International Trade Children’s and Young Adult Publisher Award was bagged by Tara Books, India while the Market Focus Achievement Award went to Motilal Books of India.
Jacks Thmas, director of The London Book Fair said, “We were really delighted with the warm reception that the first awards received this year – what could be nicer than showcasing successes from all round the publishing world. Just reading the shortlist certainly gives us all a snapshot of the innovation, expertise and passion that makes up our industry from Malawi to Malaysia, Beirut to Belarus and all points in between! The awards span all industry categories, underpinning our commitment to creators whether they instil a love of books from childhood, develop educational reading schemes or simply offer a lifetime of reading for pleasure that is the bedrock of this great industry – an industry that well deserves recognition and awards!”
The Awards are the UK’s recognition of international publishing industry excellence and have been designed to celebrate achievement across the whole business of publishing. As many as 10 categories are open to international companies outside the UK only. However UK organisations are eligible for 4 awards: The London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award, The Publishing for Digital Minds Innovation Award, The International Literary Agent Award, and The Market Focus Achievement Award. Other awards include The Publishers Association Copyright Protection Award, The International Academic and Professional Publisher Award, The International Education Initiatives Award, The International Educational Learning Resources Award, The Bookseller International Adult Trade Publisher Award, The International Trade Children’s and Young Adult Publisher Award, International Literary Translation Initiative Award, The Award for best use of IP across Multiple Media Platforms, The Publishers Weekly International Book Industry Technology Supplier Award and Mexico Market Focus Award for outstanding contribution.
The shortlist will be announced in February 2015. The LBF International Excellence Awards 2015 winners will be announced at an invitation-only ceremony on April 14, 2015, in The Conference Centre, London Olympia, London.
Olympia London: the new venue
Olympia London has enjoyed a 126 years of colourful history since opening its doors to the public on December 26, 1886. The elevation of Olympia’s 170ft clear span of the roof is the architectural achievement of the then famous architect Henry Edward Coe. The New Hall (now known as Olympia National) was built in the year 1923 under the leadership of architect Joseph Emberton. And later the Empire Hall (now known as Olympia Central) was built in the year 1930. The building was configured much like a department store. Emberton later designed Simpson’s of Piccadilly.
In the year 1983 Empire Hall re-launched as Olympia Two. And in the year 2011 with the investment of £20 m starts with the new West Hall, providing two floors of 4,000 sq m each. Olympia London celebrated 125 years with specially commissioned works of art in the year 2012. The event commissioning British artists Peter Blake, Rob Ryan and Sanna Annukka’s work were inspired by venue’s location in the heart of London, and its status as an iconic landmark. Again in the year 2013 with the investment of £30 m the redevelopment of the venues culminated in a completely renovated Olympia Central and Olympia Conference Centre which the business rebranded as Olympia London.
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