In March, I attended the London Book Fair for the first time. As a Scottish publishing student, I was excited to see what was out there in London, considering the industry is extremely London-centric. I was hopeful that I would encounter people that are Scottish that now work in London, as I know that they exist somewhere! However, my reality swiftly changed into one that felt under-represented and largely unseen. Every talk I attended featured no Scottish people on the panel, and whilst I am aware that this was London, and the London Book Fair, I thought that I would see at least one person that sounded like me. It’s a known feat that accessing the industry is much harder when you’re physically distanced from the main publishing hub, which was why attending LBF was a huge deal, and I do feel very lucky I got to attend (Layfield, 2024).

There is so much Scottish and northern talent circulating the publishing industry now, but still very few publishers acknowledge that publishing can, and should exist beyond London and ‘the south’. Whilst some of the ‘Big Five’ companies like HarperCollins and Hachette hold offices outside of London, in areas like Edinburgh and Glasgow, other publishers seem to be afraid to branch out into Scotland and the north of England. In turn, the networking opportunities that exist in London publishing circles become exclusionary – only those that either live and work in London or can easily commute into London become the ones that can attend these events. That was why interacting with the Publishing Scotland stand was so valuable – surrounded by like-minded publishing professionals, those who have already made it in the industry, and get to do something they love every day. I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Publishing Scotland drinks reception on the Wednesday evening, which was also a celebration for BookSource’s 30th anniversary. Mingling with fellow Scots and getting to serve them the Scottish delicacy of whiskey was a privilege, and I had so much fun celebrating the evolving network of Scottish publishing in the big city. It was fascinating to see networking across businesses happen in front of me, but most importantly, it was a slice of home hearing other Scottish accents around me, especially in an event as overwhelming as LBF. I really latched onto these small comforts, and knew I could rely on visiting the Publishing Scotland stand, if ever I needed some Scottish joy.

In summary, it would be great to see more publishers break away from the London-centric essence of publishing, not just geographically, but in the people they employ. An ideal publishing world would include more people from varied backgrounds and nationalities, not just those born and bred in London. In turn, this could diversify the type of books they’re publishing, and the authors they work with. Whilst London Book Fair is a once-in-a-lifetime experience – a must-attend for anyone wanting to work in publishing – it should aim to expand its offerings of panel-speakers, to include publishers and writers from outside ‘the south’, ensuring a more inclusive and better-represented host of events.

Bibliography

Layfield, E. (2024) ‘Talent beyond the M25’. The Bookseller. [Online]. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/comment/talent-beyond-the-m25 [Accessed 7th May 2025]

Image credits: Lucy McNaughton 2025