Frankfurt Book Fair 2024 - An Inspired Review
The 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair wasn’t just a showcase for the publishing industry—it was a celebration of the people driving the future of the industry, and the future of storytelling and knowledge sharing. People are what makes books go round and the Inspired Team were delighted to be there at the Fair talking about this most crucial part of the industry with many of its leaders.
So – on the topic of people in publishing, what emerged from the Book Fair conversations?!
- AI: We can’t talk about an industry event without mentioning the hottest topic of the moment – AI! It became part of every conversation in some form or another with publishers embracing innovative technologies in order to improve processes, generate revenue with licensing deals and navigate policies. What remains clear is that AI is not a replacement for human talent, but rather an enabler and in fact serves to highlight the important role of publishers as generators of credible, authentic and accurate content.
- Research Integrity: In part, owing to the rising concerns around AI and how it could interfere with the production of accurate academic and scientific content, research integrity is at the top of the agenda for publishers in this field. New products and roles are being created to ensure that scholarly content is transparent, reproducible and, as such, scientific advancement is protected.
- Escapism: Over in the Trade & Consumer publishing Halls, we heard a lot about the rising success of genres that offer readers some form of escapism. This could be stories of other worlds, knowledge about faraway lands or mindfulness but as an industry we can take pride in that we are able to whisk our audience away from what can feel like a tough reality at times.
- Innovation: 2025 will not be the year of status quo! We were blown away at the ideas both in terms of product and process that are being generated in our industry as publishers constantly strive to evovle. With this in mind, what is increasingly important in the workforce is the ability to be agile, to problem solve and to be part of change. While it can feel uncomfortable being in the ‘grey’ area, this is where the real light can come from!
- Go Global: Technology continues to facilitate a more global workforce and this is something that many publishers are increasingly embracing. Accessing a wider talent pool can help address certain skills shortages, improve competitive advantage and diversify the voices that go into the content. At Inspired we are so proud to be part of the creation of global teams, where skillsets from around the world join forces with a shared goal.
Ultimately, the 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair celebrated the power of people—those who write, illustrate, publish, and translate—and how their collective efforts shape the future of global storytelling and knowledge sharing. At Inspired, we are proud to play a part in the development of careers in the publishing industry and send a huge thanks to all the wonderful publishing people who shared some of their precious time with us at the Fair!
For those of you who missed it, we hope that this provides a helpful snapshot of some of the trends and we look forward to many more conversations with you all about the power of publishing people!
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