Last month, professionals from across the publishing industry gathered for London Book Fair (LBF). Three days of deal-making, discussions, and seminars bring about many talking points, especially for a postgraduate publishing student. For many of us visiting LBF for the first time, it can be an introduction to many aspects of the industry.

But whilst many of the seasoned professionals were talking on the newest deals or the lack of exhibition space, for us students, it is also a chance for us to build our ideas on which to write our dissertations. After all, what place is better to develop the idea you will write thousands of words on an aspect of the publishing world then one of the industry’s biggest events? With talks on a vast range of issues and areas of publishing, as well as the chance to chat to agents, authors, editors, designers, and marketers, it can be a melting-pot of ideas and experience.

But there is a big difference between trying to do something and it actually being successful. So how do you the most out of an event like LBF to help develop your dissertation idea?

Use the experience of the industry

Your topic needs to bring out an aspect that you’re passionate about. After all, you need to not be exhausted by it when only 500 words in. I have found that discussing diversity and representation in the industry was something that really interested me. I orientated the talks I wanted to listen to and the stands I wanted to visit based on this.

From this, I found certain speakers whose work has provided me inspiration for my topic idea or have helped direct me towards others. Listening to both Natasha Carthew, author of Undercurrent and the founder of the Working Class Writers’ festival, and Nels Abbey, author of The Hip-hop MBA and co-founder of the Black Writers Guild, their experiences and efforts to bring better representation have been a major part in my own topic choice.

Be prepared to face more than a few walls

LBF is a busy place, with many of the attendees busying themselves between meetings. This often doesn’t give them much time to talk to students. Many stalls and exhibitors did not want to give up any time either and whilst this can be demoralising and annoying, especially when you make sure to be polite and only talk to someone when they are not busy, you cannot let it put you off asking.

Perseverance is key to success, and you cannot let bad experiences break your resolve. It also makes any breakthroughs rewarding. Sweet Cherry Publishing, Usborne Books and The Bookseller were all kind enough to take time out of there schedules to talk to us, providing insight and advice. The latter even led me to an article that I will most likely cite in my dissertation itself.

“The creative industries are based on having the right people around you“

Society of Young Publishers

These conversations also serve to be a fantastic potential connection for when fully writing your dissertation later down the line, as well as working in the publishing industry itself. As explained by the Society of Young Publishers (SYP), “The creative industries are based on having the right people around you and because so many jobs are based on judgement and creative flair, personal recommendation counts for a lot”.

With LBF done for 2024, we students now face the terrifying expanse that is dissertation writing. However, just because LBF is finished, does not mean there are not other publishing events to help us create industry connections. The Edinburgh Book Fair here in Scotland is fast approaching and whilst we will not need it to inspire our dissertation ideas, the skills we learned at LBF can be used to carry us onwards in the publishing industry.

For more on how I am tackling my dissertation and adventures into the publishing industry, feel free to follow me on LinkedIn.