Frankfurt Book Fair 2026 Retrospective

The challenge of global supply was a big talking point among publishers at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair. Rising fuel prices are driving up their shipping and road delivery costs, while tariffs and customs admin are causing a lot of headaches for export teams and their partners around the world.

It has prompted many publishers to look again at the steps they need to get their books to readers. Distributors, wholesalers, retailers, libraries… copies can pass through numerous hands before reaching their buyers and often clock up thousands of sea, road or air miles. Each of these stages takes a slice of the cover price and whittles away the money that is left for the publisher and author. In many scenarios, the cumulative cost of taking a book from digital file to bookshelf is higher than ever before.

There are no easy fixes for the inflation that is affecting all of us currently, but we see two ways to bring down the costs. One is print on demand, which can dramatically reduce the expense and hassles of storing and transporting large quantities of books. POD is even more effective when done close to its ultimate destination, because it slashes both the wait time for a traditional print run and the distance it must be transported. It’s a low-risk strategy that means you only produce and deliver books when people want them.

The second potential win lies in end-to-end fulfilment. Publishers who can sell direct to buyers know they will cut out the intermediaries and keep more of the proceeds for themselves. They also own more of the relationship with their customers and get a much better picture of who is buying their books.

This is where PODW comes in. We integrate print on demand and fulfilment in a one-stop, automated platform to make delivery as painless as possible. Our BookVault solution is the fast and efficient gateway to selling direct to consumers, or through a vast network of retailers around the world.

It has the extra benefit of making life easier for buyers. Consumers have become accustomed to getting hold of their purchases easily and quickly, so any delays to book deliveries can cause frustration. Because publishers’ global orders with us are printed and delivered via our nearest site rather than a single UK facility, fulfilment is typically a matter of days rather than weeks.

With geopolitics so complex, we don’t see traditional global distribution getting any easier in 2027. This is a great time to reconsider how much of your order book can be rerouted through print on demand facilities and onwards to your buyers without delay. Get in touch if you would like to know more.