At the heart of publishing since 1858
Issue 5945
Editor's Letter Nightmare before Christmas ‘‘I
t’s a nightmare.” More than one publisher said that to me this week when—prompted by the accounts of acute petrol pump shortages—I approached a few
What happily remains true is that the market for books is incredibly buoyant
people to ask again how they were faring with book supply issues as we approach the pre-Christmas season. I was wondering whether, in our recent news reports online, we had been tempted to overstate the problems facing the industry as we come into the busiest time of the year. It seems not—though some say the fuel shortage isn’t causing any immediate problem (other than yet more delivery surcharges, which is of course a problem), the general uncertaint over arrival times for books being shipped internationally, coupled with the well-publicised shortage of HGV drivers and the current delays on reprints, means everyone seems to be expecting there to be issues affecting the industry this year when the Christmas surge fully hits in the next few weeks. Or perhaps the Christmas buyers are already out in the shops? With fears that Christmas trees, turkeys and maybe presents too will all be hard to obtain nearer to December, it seems shoppers could be stocking up earlier than is usually the patern, and even ahead of the booksellers’ Christmas promotions—certainly the book sales figures are very healthy for the time of year. Retailers too are reportedly placing robust early orders, sacrificing cashflow down the line to ensure they have safely obtained the stock levels now that they are going to need closer to Christmas, when geting replenish- ments may be harder. This year it
seems the book market may be less responsive to buyers’ tastes, with retailers more inclined to second-guess the Christmas market ahead of time and take a punt early on the books that will be popular—because obtaining reprints at speed is now such a difficult business (eight to 10 weeks is reportedly being quoted for some illustrated non-fiction titles). “Some books WILL go out of stock this year,” one publisher told me. “It’ll be a case of, when they’re gone, they’re gone till January.” Equit will be important, with indies understandably concerned that stock is kept available to them and not all diverted to fulfil orders from the biggest players if numbers run low; equally important will be honest communication between industry players, as the prob- lems facing us this autumn affect everyone. What happily remains true is that the market for books is incredibly buoyant, that people want to read and they want to buy. Some books may miss out; but will problems with frontlist supply mean opportunities for well-presented backlist? It’s very unlikely to be a poor Christmas season, though perhaps not quite the brilliant one we might have had without the combination of Brexit, Covid and a paper and fuel crisis. Certainly the experience we have all gained over the past 18 months in dealing with uncertaint is going to be called on yet again—not least for hard-worked sales and production staff currently tearing their hair out in publishing houses.
In next week’s magazine New Titles Non-Fiction: January 2022.
Benedicte Page Deputy editor Contents1st October 2021 This Week 06
You have to write 2,000 words a day minimum if you haven’t got a plot laid out beforehand
Lead story
Frankfurt preps for ‘busy’ physical fair
TheBookseller.com Books Author Profile 20 Books New Titles: Fiction 22 05
Book of the Month
Te Lead Story ........... 06 News Review ............ 08 Opinion: Tara Tobler ....... 10 Opinion: Anmol Irfan ...... 12 Letter to booksellers ...... 13
Books
Author Profile ............ 20 New Titles: Fiction ........ 22 Paperback Preview ....... 31
Data
The bestseller charts ......14 Jobs in Books
Recruitment .............36 Frankfurt Book Fair 2021
Introduction ............. 03 Guest of Honour .......... 04 New Agencies ............ 06 Mulcahy Sweeney ........ 08 Agents’ Hotlists .......... 10
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
