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News
As publishers try to deal with the massive disruption to the book industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are bracing for another big blow that could arrive over the coming weeks as more retailers open their doors.
A massive return of books stemming from the two-month run of closed doors at bookshops and retail outlets could be a crushing financial hit for many domestic publishers, particularly the smaller independent variety.
“Publishing has always been a precarious business,” said Sarah MacLachlan, publisher of the Toronto-based House of Anansi Press.
Our society faces an unprecedented challenge from coronavirus and publishing is no exception to that. The pandemic has affected all of us in the books industry – booksellers have had to close shops, authors have had to move publication dates and cancel events, freelancers have seen their work and incomes shrink.
Publishers are facing incredibly difficult decisions about how to respond to the significant pressures on their businesses and how best to support their employees in the coming months.
THE search is launched this week by PENfro Book Festival to find some of the country’s best ‘eco’ poets and short story writers.
Two competitions run by the Festival are linked to the Loving the Earth Green Fair weekend, due to be held at Rhosygilwen, Cilgerran, at the end of August. Results will be revealed at the fair, and if the event is postponed the winners and shortlisted writers in both contests will be announced on the venue’s website.
Poetry competition organiser, Jackie Biggs said: “PENfro Book Festival had planned to run a series of literature related events at Rhosygilwen throughout this year, but while all live events are postponed we can at least continue with our popular competitions.
When we heard the news that one of spring’s most highly anticipated books for kids wouldn’t be coming out until late summer, I’ll be honest: it felt like a gut punch—to kids.
All these children who had just learned they would be sheltering in place at home for weeks to come, whose worlds had shrunk practically to the size of their living rooms, were so in need of the kind of joy a new book by their favorite author brings.
Articles
When Simon & Schuster announced in late February that it is canceling Milo Yiannopoulos’s book, Dangerous, many in the publishing industry reacted with a sigh of relief. The six-figure book deal that the right-wing provocateur landed at Threshold Editions, S&S’s conservative imprint, late last year caused a wave of criticism—from various factions of the media, the public, and the house’s own authors. And, though it’s still unclear what ultimately motivated the publisher to yank the book, the fervor that the alt-right bad boy’s deal caused put some on alert. Could other publishers be pressured into canceling books by controversial conservatives? Does the industry have a double standard for authors on the right? Does it matter?
Late last year, novelist Keira Drake said her publisher was giving away copies of her upcoming young-adult novel, “The Continent,” a fantasy set in a world where two nations have been at war for centuries. “It’s raining books!” she wrote.
Her enthusiasm was quickly punctured. Online reviews poured in, and they were brutal. Readers pounced on what they saw as racially charged language in the descriptions of the warring tribes and blasted it as “racist trash,” “retrograde” and “offensive.” Drake and her publisher, Harlequin Teen, apologized and delayed the book’s publication.
Not so long ago, writing and publishing your own book was just a pipe dream for many of us.
It wasn’t so much getting the words down on paper which was putting us off.
It was more the expense of either finding an agent and a publisher or paying through the nose to print dozens of copies yourself which might have ended up unsold and gathering dust in the garage.
But that is resoundingly no longer the case. Digital publishing and online booksellers such as Amazon have been an absolute game-changer.
Traditional book publishers. They were once known as the titans of the book publishing industry. In the Baby Boomer era, self-publishing was an unknown concept. You needed a traditional publisher if you wanted the best chance to succeed with your book.
During that time, there was significantly less competition for publishers and authors, meaning more book sales for both parties.
Over time, traditional publishers (especially The Big 5) gradually started to exploit authors by offering lower royalties and seizing the author’s publishing rights.
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