News

Makinson predicts "dark clouds" for 2012 book trade

30.11.11 | Bookseller Staff

Penguin chief executive John Makinson has said he sees "dark clouds" on the horizon for the book business in 2012. He also said Penguin’s publishing list for the fourth quarter, though strong, was not as strong as the “truly extraordinary” list last year, which included Jamie Oliver’s 30-minute Meals.

According to a Reuters report, the Penguin c.e.o. said at the London leg of the Reuters Global Media Summit: "Last year, we had a truly extraordinary fourth quarter. We don't expect publishing performance in the fourth quarter to be quite as strong as in the fourth quarter of 2010, but it won't be bad.” He pointed to books such as Lee Evans' autobiography, Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and Tom Clancy's latest novel as likely highlights of Penguin's Christmas offering.

He added: "There are things that influence the size and shape of the industry, and clearly we're going through an enormous amount of change in that respect at the moment."

Looking to 2012, Makinson said he saw "dark clouds", reports Reuters.

He added: "This is a business which has always been driven very much by supply rather than demand factors. Consumer taste doesn't actually change all that much but what does change is the availability of books in different channels.

"It is tougher to predict how we will be 12 months from now, as an industry, than pretty much any time that I can remember."

This follows Penguin's nine-month interim results, reported on 3rd November, which showed overall sales were flat for Penguin to 30th September, with e-book sales more than doubling over the same period.

 

Trackback URL for this post:

http://www.thebookseller.com/trackback/78981

Comments: Scroll down for the latest comments and to have your say

By posting on this website you agree to the Bookseller comments policy. Comments go direct to live please be relevant, brief and definitely not abusive. Report any "unsuitable comments by clicking the links"

Sort: Oldest first | Newest first | Readers' most recommended

By Mark Verin

Dear Mr. Makinson,
I suppose you are not surprised with outcome. In simple words this is the prise of publishers obsession with famous .com(s) and with e-books. It seems too late to cry for more selective and smart customers. Those clouds over book-selling sky evaporated from publishers offices, not from bookshops or libraries.

Wed, 30/11/2011 - 11:36
By Kathryn

There are still plenty of loyal readers out here, e- and otherwise.
Don't despair - the Penguin still rules, OK!

Wed, 30/11/2011 - 16:38
By Anonymouse

One more middleman bites the dust. Because they were too myopic, too entrenched and, most of all, too greedy.

Not to mention superfluous.

P.S. how ironic that the captcha verification is "HmvLN". I guess you couldn't learn the lessons of the music "industry".

Fri, 13/01/2012 - 11:16

Post new comment

Due to persistent spam problems we are now asking users to register before submitting comments. If you have already registered or are a subscriber then please log in now. Otherwise you can use the simple form below to register when you submit your comment. Your comment will go live once you click the validation link in the email. Comments still go live without moderation.
You should use this name when logging into your account.
This name will be displayed when you comment on the site.
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <br> <p> <img>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

Type the characters you see in this picture. (verify using audio)
Type the characters you see in the picture above; if you can't read them, submit the form and a new image will be generated. Not case sensitive.

Latest Jobs

Editor
Quid Publishing, part of the Quarto...
Competitive
Assistant Editor
The Royal Academy of Arts is one of...
£23,950 plus attractive benefits
Sales Manager: Healthcare
A prestigious scientific membership...
Available on request
 

TheBookseller