Some basic logistics

Time: Usually, from Tuesday to Thursday in the second or third week of March.

Venue: Olympia (Hammersmith Rd, London W14 8UX), moving to ExCeL from 2027 (1 Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, London, E16 1XL).

Website: londonbookfair.co.uk.

What happens at London Book Fair?

LBF consists of three days, and many more layers. These are: events, talks, panels and seminars, networking, individual meetings, group meetings, buying and selling rights, exhibitions and showcases. During these three days, everyone in publishing ends up in the same place. To generalise, LBF is more informal than Frankfurt, which is the biggest book fair in the world and tends to be very industrial. People are busy at LBF, but they are also relatively approachable.

Where does London Book Fair take place?

The current venue of LBF is Olympia, a large exhibition centre and event space situated in West Kensington, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was originally constructed back in 1886 and has gone through many renovations since then, connecting the historical and the modern. Besides LBF, it houses many other events. First things first: it’s a vast building, which can take a while to get to know. You can explore it in advance on the Olympia website.

From 2027, LBF will move to ExCeL in East London, so please make sure to check updated information on the new venue in due course.

Opening hours

Here is an example of the opening and closing hours of Olympia for all three days (do refer to LBF website for exact times):

Day 1 (Tuesday) 09.00–18.30

Day 2 (Wednesday) 09.00–18.30

Day 3 (Thursday) 09.00–17.00

When they say closing hours, they mean it. When the clock strikes six-thirty (or five), security guards will gently guide everyone towards the exit.

How is London Book Fair arranged?

Olympia is, by any standard, huge and overwhelming. It’s practically inhuman. It makes people walk as many as 20k steps a day without ever leaving the building. It’s worth checking out the floorplan in advance to see where everything is. There are many exhibition spaces, stands, meeting spaces, hubs, cafes and eateries. The layout changes every year — and sometimes at short notice, so check the website and app on the day. Here’s an example:

Exhibitors and stands

Publishing houses and organisations have their own exhibition stands — publishers will exhibit their latest releases and catalogues, cultural organisations will showcase various books and their translations, offer freebies, communicate their funding programmes. Other organisations such as Society of Authors or British Council will share information about their projects, and so on. Translation-related organisations, such as the British Centre for Literary Translation and National Centre for Writing, will usually be at the Literary Translation Centre. There will be copies of various publications, such as the Emerging Translator Mentorship anthologies available, too.

Anyone can come up to the stands they’re interested in — some of them are big enough to walk around in — and chat to their representatives. If the stand is big enough, meetings will be held there. In case the stand is tiny or if a publisher or organisation doesn’t have a stand at all, meetings will take place just about anywhere. Seating has been a problem at LBF, especially in the last few years. There are very few designated seating areas so people will sit down wherever there’s room, in cafes, the few available free seats, or simply on the floor. 

There’s a separate meeting zone, International Rights Centre (IRC), huge and very noisy, filled with many little desks where individual meetings take place — they are normally pre-arranged. To enter IRC, you need to have an IRC badge. These badges will be provided for people who have a designated table at IRC. If you have a meeting there, you need to obtain a temporary access pass, which you can get at the Information Desk on Gallery Level 1. Usually an email or an entry in your schedule or diary is sufficient as a proof of your meeting.

Seminars

The intense seminar programme makes LBF similar to a conference. The seminars take place in various venues across LBF — Authors HQ, PEN Literary Salon, Literary Translation Centre, and elsewhere. Each of these venues have their own busy seminar schedule, with breaks in between. You’re not committed to any of the sessions and you can attend or skip as many of them as you like. ‘Seminar programme’ refers to everything — there are panels, talks, announcements such as the International Booker Prize longlist, and receptions.

You’ll find the 2026 seminar programme at the Literary Translation Centre on the LBF website here.

Receptions

It’s a more informal part of LBF. Most of the receptions will happen at the end of Day 2, and will usually involve snacks and drinks which sometimes get creative and marketing-y. They will also take place in various venues. Again, you can drop in and out as you wish. A number of receptions and parties happen in central London after the LBF hours: publishers, agencies and organizations will take advantage of the fact that everyone’s in town and host a gathering. 

Home base

Without a home base, LBF can feel like a desert. Having one or multiple places around Olympia that you can return to makes the experience more welcoming — it really is like coming home. LTC is one. You can also find other places around LBF and make them your home bases — for instance, PEN Literary Salon is friendly and engaging, and you can also drop in at the national stand(s) that represent your language or a publisher you’re interested in. In the vast space of LBF, they are oases that create a sense of familiarity and connection.

Setting up a WhatsApp group for your peers or colleagues, getting together and arranging a meet-up can serve the same purpose.

Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3

All of them are slightly different, and you might want to plan your time and strategise accordingly. Generally, Day 1 is optimistic, enthused and everyone is still settling in. There are more confused people trying to find places they need to be. Day 2 is the most active and busy. Most important deals will happen on this day, so people will be seriously focused, but when the hard part is over, they will tend to linger at drink receptions in a more relaxed way before heading to after-parties. Day 3 is the quietest — some people will have left by now, way fewer meetings are scheduled, the most significant things will have already happened and exhibitors will start disassembling their stands. Olympia at the end of the third day just before closing is a bit shocking — everything that you have grown accustomed to over three days is suddenly destroyed, one bookshelf at a time. By the evening it’s just a vast empty space with a few remaining people wandering around piles of boxes and half-dismantled constructions. It’s a sight that’s disenchanting and also sobering.

LBF-1

While LBF itself is going on for three days, there’s also a separate event, The Assembly of Literary Translators (I’m going to refer to it simply as the Assembly). Translators have a long-standing tradition of coming together a day before LBF for the so-called London Book Fair Minus One (LBF-1), an all-day event of translation activities. Right until the pandemic, this was organised by the Translators Association as a symposium. In 2024, it returned as Assembly, organised by Ian Giles (current chair of the Translators Association). 

The Assembly is generally very focused, accessible and welcoming, with a variety of talks on translation-related matters. It’s easier to meet people there as it’s much smaller and more contained than LBF. Also, you’ll have a chance to see the people you met there at LBF, because most will eventually end up in Olympia, so there will already be some familiar faces. 

The Assembly runs from 10am to around 6pm, including a networking reception. You need to buy a separate ticket for Assembly through Eventbrite as it is not part of the official events of LBF.

Preparation

Doing homework and researching what’s in store can be really helpful. LBF seminar programme, speakers, list of exhibitors, floorplan are all going to be featured on the website, so take some time to look through them. Are there any sessions and speakers you’d like to see? Would it be useful to make connections with some of the publishers and organisations on the exhibitor list? Consider what project(s) you can discuss with them and what you’d like to explore. 

Other things you can prepare are business cards and your website (more about that in Business cards and Website and online presence) so that you can easily share your contact information and online portfolio when you make connections at LBF. These things take time, so the earlier you start your research, the better.

Getting around London

While LBF is already challenging, jet lag can make it extreme. If you’re travelling from overseas, I sincerely recommend getting to London early, if possible, especially if you haven’t been here before. Even as much as a day spent getting accustomed can do wonders, and help you be more receptive and prepared.

Should you prioritise staying close to Olympia? West Kensington definitely is not the most touristy area. Staying there can be helpful in some ways — it will make it easier to get to LBF events on time and you could walk instead of relying on public transport. On the other hand, as mentioned in Receptions, a number of events take place in central London as well, including the Assembly (LBF-1). London is extremely well connected and as long as you have access to the underground, you can navigate it without much trouble, wherever you choose to stay. For instance, it takes me around 40 minutes to get to Olympia from Tufnell Park; manageable, especially for London.

When researching accommodation, check if you can reach Olympia conveniently. The closest stations are overground, Kensington (Olympia) and Shepherd’s Bush. Here are some other tube stations nearby, all of them around 10-15 minute walk away from Olympia:

• West Kensington (District Line)
• Barons Court (Piccadilly and District Lines)
• Hammersmith (Piccadilly, District, and Hammersmith & City Lines)
• Shepherd’s Bush (Central Line)

Tube fares start at £2.70, bus fares at £1.75. You can use a contactless card (or Oyster card, which needs to be purchased separately) for both, and you simply need to tap your card when entering and leaving the station. Note that paying for a tube ticket in cash is more expensive. 

Getting into Olympia

There are several entrances to Olympia. Two of them are located on Olympia Way: they’re called Olympia Grand Main Entrance and Olympia National Entrance. Another commonly used entrance, Grand Hall entrance, is on Hammersmith Road — however, it is currently closed. Always refer to LBF or Olympia websites for latest updates and guidance. Depending on when you arrive, you will see a relatively long queue outside. It moves pretty fast, but keep in mind that getting in is not immediate. There will also be a basic security check — a security guard will take a quick look through your bag(s). They do that every time you re-enter the building, so if you go out for a short break, don’t forget to bring your badge with you, and be ready to go through security again.

Badge

First things first: do have your badge on you at all times. You’ll need it to get in, to attend events, and also it contains your name and other information, which is helpful when meeting new people (I have visual memory, so it’s particularly helpful). You can choose what you want your badge to say when registering to LBF online — so you can include ‘translator’ or ‘author’ as well as your other activities, and spotlight your language combinations (I once saw someone with little flags of their languages drawn on their badge, which I thought was a nice idea; you can get as creative as you want). 

Tip: when you’re filling out your registration form, there will be a compulsory slot to fill called ‘Company’. This will appear on your badge. If you’re not affiliated to a particular organisation, you can add any other information here that might be relevant: for instance, your research interests, genres you focus on, areas or expertise, or other details.

Printing your badge out in advance is the best way to go. But if you forget it, not to worry — they have self-service printing stations at the entrance. It might take a while though, because there are queues everywhere.

Once you have your badge, don’t forget to collect the lanyard. They will give you the lanyard at the entrance too, after someone scans your badge and makes sure everything is correct. 

LBF has recently switched to new sustainable badges: the holder is made of recycled paper and is really large for some reason, about the size of an A5 sheet. Not the most comfortable thing to wear, but you’ll still need it every day. Another tip: try to get the lanyard early on. They tend to run out of the lanyards with official LBF logos by the end of Day 1 and start giving out random ones, which are fine, of course, but the official ones make for better keepsakes.

Cloak room

There is a cloak room by the entrance of Olympia. It costs around £1 for the whole day. Depending on the time of day, queues can be long and bothersome. It depends on the time of day though: the queues get better later in the day, but get busy again before closing time.

If you know someone at one of the exhibition stands or if the country of one of your language combinations has a stand, they’re usually understanding about this and often will agree to watch over your things if they have some extra room in the stand. 

Another reason not to check in your coat: you might have to leave Olympia and come back multiple times a day — for instance, for a meeting in town or for lunch in one of the nearby places. Also, some opportunities like this occur spontaneously, and risking a long queue every time that happens can be too much of a nuisance. Otherwise, you might want to make sure you have a lightweight coat or an extra sweater that you can easily throw on and off. 

You might also not want to bring heavy things unless you really need them, such as a laptop. There’s a high chance you’ll end up with a lot of books and freebies. It’s practically inevitable that you will leave with more stuff than you came with. You might even need to have a tote bag ready for them. I would say pack a tote bag in advance, but there’s a high chance you’re going to get a tote bag too. For more, see ‘Freebies’ (below).

Getting around Olympia

As a part of their new environment-friendly policy, Olympia doesn’t offer paper copies of maps, so do make sure you have access to a digital map on your phone or on the LBF app. The first thing I usually do once I’m in is have a look at a large-scale map by the entrance, and take a picture of it; somehow it tends to be clearer than the digital ones. If you’re unsure about something, you can always ask the event staff (they will be wearing matching shirts), who are generally most helpful. There’s free Wi-Fi everywhere at the venue, as well as charging stations.

Checklist: Getting around Olympia

• Get to Olympia 

• Join a queue 

• Go through security check 

• Get your badge scanned 

• Collect your lanyard 

• Optional: leave your coat at the cloakroom 

• Consult the map/app/staff to find where you need to be

Staying nourished

One of the most popular tips you’ll ever get about LBF is: ‘Whatever you do, bring your own food.’ In this regard, LBF is much like an airport — everything is overpriced with long, slow and noisy queues attached. There’s also very limited seating. There’s usually no drinking water in the bathrooms (actually, water in the bathrooms can get scorching hot, be careful). There are water stations, but everyone is always confused about their exact location. Finding one might feel like a treasure hunt —  sometimes they’re well hidden behind the stands. At other times, they run out of water and are not always re-filled. Cafes and eateries will usually be happy to refill your bottle, but their water supply is also protected by long queues. In short, it’s worth making sure you have the right amount of water and snacks to at least ensure survival during the day. Generally, staying nourished and hydrated in LBF can be challenging and while there’s an actual supply of food and water, it might cost you — not just money but also time and considerable effort. Sometimes LBF can feel like a fight for basic survival supplies: water, seating and finger sandwiches.

The Quiet Room

This new addition to LBF was introduced in 2024. It’s located on the ground floor (the location might have changed this year, so do check the map) and is meant for people to have a private, comforting area where they can wind down. Previously, the closest thing to a quiet room was the silent space installed in the Latvian stand some time ago (they actually advertised it in bathroom stalls with a tagline ‘There is a place more tranquil than this’, pictured). 

It’s a much needed space, but it can only contain so many people at once. Staff won’t admit new people whenever it’s full, and it’s full most of the time. From what I hear, it has dim lighting, bean bags, weighted blankets and stim toys.

What to wear

There’s no strict dress code and people will usually go for casual/smart casual. 

I remember an advice I heard before my first LBF that wearing a memorable piece of clothing or jewellery can serve as an asset in networking: a colleague shared a story where someone they emailed after LBF remembered the necklace they had been wearing. Visual cues can work to your advantage. The amount of people everyone meets everyday makes post-LBF networking a memory game, and something as simple as an accessory standing out can help someone to connect names with faces, especially if they have visual memory. 

On a more practical note, layers are a good idea, because it can get hot and stuffy in Olympia, but March in London is anything but. Also, since the cloakroom is not always easy or quick to access, a lightweight coat that you can carry around without much trouble or a jacket that easily fits into your bag might be the best options.

You have to walk a lot too (as you already know, some people will make as much as 20k steps a day without ever leaving the building), which brings me to another aspect of how to dress: shoes.

Shoes

This subject deserves its own comment. Every single person I have ever spoken to about LBF, and every single how-to-prepare-for-LBF guide out there will be explicitly assertive about one thing: wear comfortable shoes. It’s a mantra. People’s impressions about LBF will differ, but there’s one thing you can be sure of: they will be unanimous about the shoes. It got to the point where it makes me wonder if this is saying something about us as a society and if everyone feels compelled to wear uncomfortable shoes all the time, reluctantly making an exception for LBF. In any case, do wear comfortable shoes. 

What to bring

Besides necessities, you might want to think about what extra items can make your life at LBF easier. Here are some ideas: 

• A foldable chair. Since seating can be difficult to come by at Olympia, it will provide you with enviable independence. 
• Noise-cancelling headphones to manage the extreme ambient volume at the venue, or simple earplugs. Also, regular headphones will come in handy if you need to have a call at some point.
• A power bank as well as a charger. There are sockets and charging stations around, but they are usually in high demand. 
• An extra bottle of water, a reusable coffee cup, packed lunch and snacks – all to save time and avoid long queues.
• A notebook. Everything at LBF moves at great speed, so it can be very useful to write down ideas or make quick notes at meetings and talks.
• You can also bring materials related to your project, such as a book catalogue, anthology, information leaflet, portfolio, whether in physical or digital form: even if you simply show it to people rather than hand it to them, these can serve as a helpful visual aid, especially when there’s not much time for in-depth discussions.

Do they sell books at London Book Fair?

Some book fairs do offer books for sale, but not LBF. Exhibitors do have books though and will sometimes give them away for free. Most of them will do this on Day 3. If there’s a book that caught your eye while you were looking around, it’s worth waiting for them to start packing up and see if some books are up for grabs. Publishers will usually send the exhibited items to charity and they simply let you keep the books you want if you ask them. It differs from exhibitor to exhibitor, so you can simply chat with them and see. You can even explain your motivation — e.g. it’s a graphic novel on education, which is directly related to your research, or it’s a Hungarian graphic novel, you translate from Hungarian and are keen to explore a new genre. Some exhibitors will leave early and simply place the books they want to give away in their stands before they are disassembled.

Freebies

You’ll have things offered to you all the time. Mostly, they’re the usual stuff: pens, tote bags, pins, postcards, journals and anthologies, and, of course, books. Among the more unusual things I got were: a pocket mirror, a Japanese paint brush and ink, a box of pills that looked like hard drugs but actually contained rolled-up poems inside, and a leather handbag from the Indonesian delegation (why a handbag? I don’t know). One year, I was too focused on work and realised by the end of the fair that I didn’t pick up anything at all, not even a single leaflet; meanwhile, my colleague seemed just as busy but managed to fill a whole suitcase with books. Generally, it’s worth devoting some time to exploring freebies: it’s a simple way of researching marketing strategies and publishing trends. It doesn’t even have to be time-consuming and can add a fun layer to the LBF experience — it can also lead to some unexpected discoveries and creative opportunities.

On LBF time

Remember you don’t have to be at the venue  the whole time. You can come and go as you please — just don’t forget your badge. Merely stepping out for a few minutes to get some air can do wonders. 

Otherwise, LBF is very much a world of its own — you don’t see the outside world or how the light changes, so it alters your understanding of time and dictates its own rhythm, especially when you spend long hours there.

I was once telling a story about something that happened at LBF. I was saying ‘…so it was very late at night, and I was leaving Olympia with X and Y…’ when my friend sensibly interrupted: ‘Wait, what were you doing at Olympia late at night?’ And I realised that what I instinctively referred to as late at night was in fact around Olympia’s closing time, 6.30 pm. It did feel like it was very late at night though. Olympia can distort your sense of reality, so stepping back for a bit helps bring things back into perspective.  

Strategy

Make note of people and organisations that would be useful to connect with. If someone you’d like to meet is not on the exhibitors list, it doesn’t mean they’re not going to be there. Most publishers and other industry people will be around. Even if they don’t have a stand, someone representing them will be there. If they’re not from London, they will likely be in London to meet people who are in town for LBF. 

If in doubt, email them and check. You can simply say that you’re attending LBF and would like to know if they’re going to be there, and if they’re available for a meeting. Mention what you do, your interests, research areas, language combinations and your motivation for meeting with them. Optionally, mention a (potential) project you’d like to discuss. Do this well in advance, as people’s schedules can fill early.

While you might have an initial plan beforehand, you can come up with new ideas and discoveries and meet new people while you’re already at LBF. Thus you can also drop by the stands and chat to people there (not everyone is going to be available all the time, of course, but someone might give you a lead in any case). Visiting cultural institutions and national stands is also a good idea. If you translate from German, it will make sense to drop by the German, Swiss and Austrian stands. And so on.

Having a pitch is helpful because it gives you a starting point for a conversation. You might stay in touch with someone and work on entirely different projects with them, but your pitch gives them a glimpse of your literary taste, knowledge and skills. It’s important to be able to describe your project briefly, clearly and in an appealing way. You can get as creative about this as you want. For example, a translator friend of mine would bring a print version of their portfolio to LBF. It contained their translation sample pages, details about the source language edition, and pictures of the original cover. It was something tangible to show to relevant people, and a conversation starter. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it shows you that you can choose a strategy that feels right for you. 

Following up

Try to keep conversations brief, as the environment for them is hectic. Leave details for later. Exchange contact information and make sure you know how to reach the other person. You can follow up with more specific questions, a more detailed pitch or sample pages after LBF. Alternatively, you can simply reach out to say it was nice to meet them and you hope to stay in touch. Everyone will be tired right after LBF and their inboxes will be overflowing, so give it at least a few days or a week (unless they asked for something right away, then send it to them without delay).

Expectations

Do people sign translation contracts at LBF? If they do, it’s usually a consequence of a much longer process. While your project can be picked up, it most likely won’t be immediate and it will take multiple other steps. Perhaps a particular project won’t be right for an editor you met, but they actually have a project in your language combo and will offer you something else. What matters is that you’re already on their radar.

Other opportunities can come up too. For example, one of my academic colleagues got their job through a connection they made at LBF. They simply chatted with a panel speaker after a seminar they attended, found out there was a vacancy in their field, and applied. It’s not just translation contracts — there are so many different projects, and so many ways of being involved in translation. 

Some translators don’t go to LBF for strictly work-related matters — they come for networking. When else is everyone so conveniently together in the same place?

Flow

It’s not always possible to plan everything in advance at LBF. Things are always on the move. Take spontaneous opportunities and keep an open mind. LBF can be compared to surfing. Seizing an opportunity is like catching a wave. Once you’re in the flow, it requires flexibility and focus to navigate the momentum, much like staying balanced on a surfboard. If you find out about a reception in central London that same evening, consider if it might be useful to attend. If you were planning to have a quick lunch later in the day but get invited to join someone, take the chance. You might meet other people there, and then one thing can lead to another. It goes without saying that this approach applies within reason. It doesn’t mean ditching previous appointments — don’t abandon a pre-scheduled meeting because something else came along. 

Serendipity

At an event during the pandemic, speakers were talking about why an online version of LBF (or other networking-based events) doesn’t work as well as the in-person version. One of the reasons mentioned was serendipity. There’s an element of magic in busy hubs such as LBF. You might start chatting with someone at the queue for coffee, and you mention a book you’ve just read and loved, and they turn out to be the editor of said book, and now you’re not only forever bonded as LBF coffee-queue buddies, but you also embark on something that can lead to a fruitful collaboration. Sometimes it can be way less direct than this — your LBF coffee-queue buddy might not be an editor but someone who inadvertently gives you a podcast idea, or mentions you in a conversation with a programme director of an organisation you want to work with, who later reaches out to you and offers a project on spec. Possibilities are endless, and one of them is that they’re simply a fascinating person whom you have a nice exchange with while you’re both waiting for coffee.

Another approach is to leave some free time in your schedule where you can simply wander, chat and meet new people. You never know what’s going to happen.

In a nutshell, a good LBF means combining strategy and serendipity: defining specific things you want to explore, as well as having an open mind to welcome unexpected ones.

Negative experiences

With LBF being so busy, you might run into people who act suspiciously. They might be harmless — for instance, there was a person one year who demanded selfies from participants and took non-consensual photos of them in an intrusive way; fortunately, it didn’t take more than a polite warning to make them stop. Obnoxious or insulting behaviour, rudeness, harassment are intolerable. You should expect everyone to treat you politely and respectfully. This is a given, no matter how busy and hectic everything is. If they don’t, it’s not ok and doesn’t reflect well on them. Don’t hesitate to talk to someone if in doubt — whether it’s your mentor or someone else you feel comfortable around.

App and Colleqt QR

LBF has its own app. Instead of updating the same app, they usually release a new app every year, so check your App Store/Play Store closer to the event. 

All in all, it’s worth downloading the app. It can be laggy and sometimes inaccurate, but it also contains information that you can’t find anywhere else, as well as live updates, so it can help you keep an eye on what’s happening. It also features the floor plan and the seminar programme. 

This is a very casual example, but one of the exhibitors was hosting drinks with elaborate canapés and giveaways, and someone I had a meeting with at that time got an alert on the app and suggested we go. We got there early and saw a bunch of familiar faces — when I wondered how we all showed up there at the same time, it turned out all of them were using the app and got an alert! It ended up being a really useful networking event before it got too busy. They also ran out of canapés and everyone who arrived late was still longingly talking about those canapés the next day. I couldn’t make this up, and yes — LBF can get abnormally fixated on things like that, just like scientific conferences where everyone suddenly becomes obsessed with chocolate donuts or another random treat served at coffee breaks.

In 2026, LBF also introduced Colleqt QR codes. You can scan the codes throughout the fair to view key exhibitor information, connect them with your own QR code on your badge to exchange contact details, receive a daily summary of who you’ve met that day, and more easily follow up with them after the fair.

Business cards

While not the most environmentally-friendly option, business cards are still very much a thing at LBF, and people are handing them out like it’s 1999. While they also successfully exchange social media accounts, there’s just something about business cards that feels right in this setting. It’s satisfyingly tangible and helps with visual memory. Also, everyone’s in a rush, so handing each other a card is actually quicker than triple-checking the spelling (‘it’s Catherine but with a K and a Y and no E in the middle or at the end’) and juggling Bluetooth settings to make your phone appear on their Airdrop list. 

If you’re a student or a member of an organisation, you will often be able to get standard-template business cards with their branding. 

Otherwise, it might be worth having some business cards made, or an online version of them at hand. While they do offer some advantages, business cards are definitely not a must — plenty of people opt out, or run out. Here are some things about them that can be useful:

• It has your picture on it
• It has a QR code that leads to your website or social media account
• It contains some additional information about you, keywords that set you apart: your language combinations, your other activities, the name of your affiliation
• It has something interesting about its design. Much like the jewellery instance, it serves as a conversation starter and a visual cue.

Website and online presence

You don’t need to have a website, per se. What’s important is to be findable. A website is a simple and convenient way to achieve this. It can be very basic, as long as it contains your email address and key information about you. A virtual business card or social media account works very well too. Twitter used to be the most popular platform in the publishing industry but it got messy in its current X shape, so Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn might be the best options. 

A website has a lot of extra advantages in that you can make it whatever you want it to be — it can include your translation or writing samples, links to your publications, spotlight your achievements, education, skills, language combinations. You can update it as you go and you have way more control over its design than on any social media platform. This way, people can easily look you up and reach out to you. It sounds simple, but some people are surprisingly hard to find. I needed to contact a translator for an interview recently, and only had their Instagram, which they hadn’t used for months. No other contact info was available. I ended up having to contact our mutual friend, who was on a cruise at the time, and seizing hold of that email address ended up being an actual saga. A potential client would have to be extremely persistent to go into this extra trouble. Why not make it easier for them to reach you?

Don’t forget to follow LBF on social media as well — so far they have used X and Instagram the most. Do tag them in any related posts or stories. Use hashtags #LBF and #LBF[YEAR]. 

Checklist: preparation

• Have you printed your badge?
• Do you have business cards?
• Are you findable online?
• Have you explored the programme and highlighted events / exhibitors / people you’re interested in?
• Have you considered your pitch / focus points?
• Do you know how to get to Olympia from your place and go back?

No wrong way

While taking steps to prepare helps, LBF can be overwhelming for absolutely everyone, whether they’re first-timers or veterans. People at various stages of their career have shared they find it challenging. So don’t worry if you happen to feel that way. In the busy LBF crowd, there are many like-minded people who feel exactly the way you do, even if they appear to know what they’re doing. There’s no ‘right’ way to do LBF. Rather than pressuring yourself to achieve specific goals, your LBF debut should be about exploration, creativity, and welcoming a new experience.

Good luck, and see you soon at Olympia!

Resources

• Making the Most of London Book Fair as a Literary Translator, online event on 26 January 2026
• Making the Most of London Book Fair 2025, panel recording
• The ETNer’s guide to the London Book Fair, online article