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Publishing marketing message: 3

The success of the UK publishing industry has had a global impact, driven by the dominance of the English language.

• The international importance of the English language gives the UK publishing industry a powerful competitive advantage. New opportunities for UK publishers in non-English-speaking countries are being created as English increasingly becomes the preferred second language in many markets across the globe.

• UK publishers have well-established networks of partners in overseas markets.

• The UK has outstanding educational publishers. UK-based publishers have been very successful in adapting or developing materials for educational systems worldwide.

• The UK is home to a world-class academic publishing industry, both in terms of the content it creates and the innovative access models that it has pioneered. The UK is an international leader in the production of Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM) research journals and databases, professional data and training and business-to-business information.

• The UK is an international leader in children’s fiction, picture books and children’s information publishing. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series is arguably the world’s greatest children’s publishing success story of recent years.

• UK publishers have played a leading part in the development of the international market for work in English from other cultures, such as African, Caribbean and Indian literature.

• The annual London Book Fair is one of the world’s leading events for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. Some 23,000 publishers, booksellers, literary agents, librarians, and media and industry suppliers from over 100 countries attend the fair every year.

Sources

All facts and figures sourced from The Publishers Association