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The Covid-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on the way publishing professionals work, from online selling to seizing the advantages of remote working and breaking out of London, industry leaders have predicted.
Asked about their thoughts on a post-coronavirus future, chief executives told The Bookseller that publishing would come through the pandemic strongly but would need to change, with some suggesting that they were using the fallow period to "strategize" for the new normal.
Despite the obvious challenges, Hachette c.e.o. David Shelley said the crisis could speed up the process of big publishers finally breaking out of the London bubble.
He said: “Long-term, I do think there are some potentially interesting possibilities that this situation will throw up. We have recently opened an office in Manchester and I can see from this experience, and the relative ease of decentralised working, that it will be very possible for us to be based in more locations nationwide and to be less dependent on London.
“Looking at how we recruit and retain talent, too, I think this will become ever more key in terms of having the best people on board to adapt quickly and creatively to a rapidly changing world. In practice, this could mean looking increasingly outside our own industry for new talent to ensure that publishing is a dynamic, consumer-focused and outward-facing industry where new ideas are welcomed.”
At Penguin Random House, c.e.o. Tom Weldon noted that the shift to online retail had been accelerated and this could also have a lasting effect on publishers trying to direct readers to those platforms.
He said: “Publishers and booksellers will need to be agile, flexible and entrepreneurial in adapting to that. At Penguin Random House we’re focusing a lot of resource on using our own direct to consumer channels to connect readers with booksellers online. Of the 1.3 million users who visited penguin.co.uk last month, a significant proportion - around 12% - clicked through to an online retail site, including Amazon, Waterstones and the Hive.”
Association of Authors' Agents president Isobel Dixon suggested readers would now have awareness of a wider vaiety of online retail options owing to the crisis while Caroline Michel of PFD predicted publishers could be tempted to set up their own online market.
However, Curtis Brown's Jonny Geller, who earlier this week accused publishing of missing opportunities to innovate, again said there had been a lack of leadership in adapting to the crisis and the approach would have to change.
He said: “When booksellers open properly, which I hope will be from June and when Amazon goes back to full power, I can see a renewal of confidence from publishers and a speedier acquisition process and more aggressive book launch plans. Until then, I fear they will hunker down and move titles on and wait for it all to pass. This is the wrong thing to do. They need to be filling the void by online selling and be agile with relevant titles. They need to lead and I’m afraid I haven’t seen this yet.
“I believe we will enter a new phase of publishing where the big companies will have to be proactive to survive, innovative to thrive and those who take the view we will be back to the old ways of marketing and selling titles are in for a shock.”
Marcus Leaver and Mark Smith, executive directors of the Welbeck Publishing Group, said: "Clearly 2020 will not go as we had thought it would. That said, we expect to spring out of this lockdown with exciting plans for all areas of our business. This has been a useful time in which we have sharpened our thinking about and strategized for the medium and long-term. Yet again, books have proven to be integral to society and fundamentally important to the nation's mental health and well-being."
Fuller predictions from industry leaders can be read here.