Hachette, S&S, Bloomsbury latest publishers to skip Frankfurt

Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Bloomsbury are the latest publishers to announce they won’t exhibit at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.

HarperCollins, Bonnier Books UK and Pan Macmillan UK, as well as Simon & Schuster and Macmillan US, previously announced they wouldn’t be attending Frankfurt Book Fair’s physical event after organisers confirmed that the fair will go ahead as scheduled from 14–18 October, and as a virtual event. Australian publishers interested in attending the fair told Books+Publishing they were waiting to see if Australia’s overseas travel restrictions are lifted in time for the event.

The Bookseller reports that Hachette UK, alongside Hachette Livre France and Hachette Book Group in the US, would not exhibit at the fair on the basis of the ‘health and safety’ of its employees. ‘We’ll follow with great interest the virtual and digital solutions which are being developed by Frankfurt Book Fair to provide new ways of connecting and working with the global publishing community,’ a spokesperson said.

This news came as Bloomsbury confirmed it would not attend the physical book fair at Frankfurt, with CEO Nigel Newton saying the decision ‘flows from the consistent application of our policy of putting staff welfare first’. Newton said, ‘As October is the cusp of the flu season and a possible second spike of the coronavirus, I think it would be inadvisable for Bloomsbury to send people by plane, train, bus or car to an international trade fair.’

Category: International news