London book fair: UK publishers cheerfully splash cash as sales rise

Decline of reality TV and soap star memoirs greeted with glee, but publishers say it is time to turn the page on Gone Girl-style ‘grip-lit’On the eve of the London book fair, publishers were excited by news that sales of physical books were up for the second year in a row – 7% more than in 2015. And, following Waterstones’ return to profit for the first time in years, there was also good news for bricks-and-mortar bookshops, with a 4% rise in purchases across the UK. Meanwhile, ebooks declined by 4%, the second consecutive year digital book sales have fallen. Is this the start of a trend? While it was too early to tell at this year’s book fair, more than one publisher was whistling a happy tune as they entered the Olympia exhibition centre on Tuesday. With print books having a higher average price point than ebooks, and with a weaker pound benefitting exporters – German publishers in particular bought big this year – the mood among the hundreds of publishers was optimistic. As an industry that works 18 months ahead of the reader, the future of publishing looks bright. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]

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What U.S. Agencies Will Be Selling at Bologna

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