04 Apr Escapist, Healing Fiction Soaring High at 2025 London Book Fair

The 2025 LBF saw declining interest in nonfiction while fiction—especially escapist and genre fiction—continued to rise, and topics of discussion included digital-first publishing, audiobook streaming, and AI-assisted translation.

BY MARLEEN SEEGERS AND CHRYSOTHEMIS ARMEFTI — ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON APRIL 4, 2025

The London Book Fair 2025 attracted over 30,000 visitors, maintaining the same attendance as in 2024, and featured more than 1,000 exhibitors. Due to ongoing renovations at Olympia London, the International Rights Centre (IRC) was divided into two rooms, which included over 550 negotiation tables—10% more than the previous year. While the spacious layout might have seemed beneficial, the IRC encountered significant operational and logistical challenges this year. Many have likely heard rumors about issues such as a freezing room, a collapsed ceiling, and incorrect table numbers.

Marleen pitching titles in the sun

2 Seas Agency’s table was positioned in the ‘good’ room that wasn’t freezing cold, nor did any parts of the ceiling fall down on us. What’s more, we were located next to a large window, which brought a more uplifting atmosphere to our meetings while keeping the background noise at a much lower level—our voices were very grateful! The space we were allocated was relatively quiet, allowing for meaningful conversations and in-depth discussions about books and market trends. 

While in previous years, we’d noticed a continuously strong interest in nonfiction projects, this year, we felt more hesitancy overall for the genre. Editors increasingly prefer working on nonfiction projects with local authors, who have a shared background with their readers and can more easily market their books via local and social media. However, we still felt relatively strong interest for titles in the fields of personal development, personal finance, current affairs, big ideas, popular science, true crime, and narrative non-fiction. Additionally, publishers showed a keen interest in solution-based non-fiction, which provides readers with practical advice and suggestions for addressing their daily challenges, which we seem to need now more than ever.

Chrys is going for it at 9 am on the first day of the LBF!

The trends in fiction vary across different countries and publishers, but it’s clear that while non-fiction sales are on the decline, fiction sales are growing. Escapist fiction continues to gain popularity, driven by the increasing demand for uplifting, feel-good stories or book club fiction, romance, and romantasy. It looks like the Korean and Japanese ‘healing fiction’ trend is also here to stay for another while. Overall, readers are seeking comfort and optimism to escape the uncertain times marked by war and economic crises.

Cozy mystery novels are also in high demand, particularly in Southern European countries. Straight-out genre fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror) and fiction containing genre elements are also in higher demand, with publishers traditionally shying away from genre showing interest as well. 

We organized a small cocktail party at our table to celebrate the international success of Le roman de Marceau Miller with his French trade and massmarket publishers, international editors, co-agents and scouts. © José Carlin Perez, En Exergue

Several editors from Northern European countries have shown interest in exploring digital-only publishing options, and we have started to negotiate such deals. More and more publishing groups are establishing digital-first imprints that concentrate exclusively on eBook and audiobook editions of popular genres, such as romance, feel-good stories, and crime, particularly in series format. These groups typically plan to secure print editions by partnering with other imprints once an author or book achieves success.

Marleen with the Direct Publishing team, Mark Schaefer‘s Japanese publisher

Another question raised was whether we are open to audiobook-only offers. With the heavy decline of traditional audiobook downloads, the industry has shifted toward a streaming-only model. New releases are increasingly skipping physical formats and even digital downloads, opting instead for direct streaming distribution. This model caters to changing consumer habits, particularly among younger audiences who are used to on-demand content consumption.

Our current intern Juliette joined us on the last day of the fair!

The fair also highlighted the growing role of AI in publishing, especially in translation and audiobook production. More publishers of commercial fiction are experimenting with AI-assisted translation while still relying on human editors for proofreading, editing, and production. However, when it comes to audiobooks, publishers emphasize the importance of human narration to preserve authenticity and emotional depth in storytelling.

It was an active fair on many different levels, and we were happy to connect with everyone we met. At the moment of publishing this article, Chrys just returned from yet another fair, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Marleen is planning her next trip to Europe in May, starting at the Turin Book Fair and ending at the Paris Book Market, which have both been gaining in attendance from international editors in the last few years.