New Report: “COVID-19 and Book Publishing: Impacts and Insights For 2021”

Note: This report includes a chapter on libraries (p. 35).

From the Publication Announcement:

A team of three publishing industry consultants have united to explore COVID-19’s effects on U.S. book publishing market. including trade, K-12 and higher education.

COVID-19 and Book Publishing: Impacts and Insights for 2021 looks at each
segment individually, as well as specific analyses of bookstores and libraries.
But a major value of the report is the extent to which it looks beyond industry sources, to
consider the broader economic and social picture that surrounds book publishing, heading in 2021. With chapters on the economy as a whole, on retail, and on the entertainment industries, the report steps outside book publishing and looks back in from multiple perspectives.

Examples from the report of external impacts on the immediate and
future prospects for book publishing include

• The potential effects of mall closings on chain bookstore sales;
• The growing role of non-traditional booksellers (e.g., Walmart
  and Target, also re-energized in their online efforts by the
  dramatic shift to online retail);
• Disruption in higher education proving a boon to college publishers’ digital sales, and the likely boost to direct-to- consumer channels from increased homeschooling and educational materials purchases by parents of K-12 students;
• The threat to library budgets from state and local government revenue shortfalls; and indicators in digital entertainment of the growing importance of integrating social connection in media products.

About the Authors

• Cliff Guren is the founder of Syntopical. The firm provides strategic planning and business development services to publishers, technology companies, and industry service providers. Cliff has held senior management positions at Apple, Microsoft, Quebecor, and Asymetrix.
• Thad McIlroy is an electronic publishing analyst and author based in San Francisco and Vancouver, BC. His site, The Future of Publishing, provides in-depth coverage of the book publishing industry. He is also a partner in Publishing Technology Partners.
• Steve Sieck is president of SKS Advisors, a New York-based research and strategic consultancy firm specializing in business, professional and academic publishing and information services, and a partner in Publishing Technology Partners.

Direct to Full Text Report
50 pages; PDF.

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Funding, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Publishing