The Effects of the Pandemic on Publishing
The pandemic has affected almost every industry in some way. The effects of the pandemic on publishing have been noticeable, with both challenges and opportunities being encountered.
There has been a mixed impact in the publishing industry, with some feeling pronounced negative effects and others doing very well. Those selling online and those with a good portfolio of digital publications have fared the best. Those selling only in brick-and-mortar stores have fared the worst.
The move from print to digital has notably been accelerated during the pandemic, with more online publications being consumed and more online orders being fulfilled. Those that have not been able to move to digital will likely be struggling now and post-pandemic.
In this blog, we discuss the effects of the pandemic on publishing in more detail and highlight which pandemic trends will continue going forward.
Changes to the Publishing Environment During the Pandemic
The challenges faced by publishers before the pandemic have been exacerbated. However, opportunities have arisen, and pre-pandemic trends have been accelerated, such as a continued move to digital publications and online sales.
There has actually been an increased demand for books and other publications during the pandemic.
Therefore, overall sales have stayed stable through the pandemic. The increase in leisure reading due to lockdowns and the loss of social activities has balanced the closing of bookstores (temporary and permanently), and the issue of fewer new books being published.
However, a large percentage of these sales are occurring online. Whether that’s purchasing print publications online or the purchasing and fulfillment of publications online.
Those publishers that have not been able to get into the digital space and compete effectively have lost out significantly. This is unfortunately the case for many small and medium bricks and mortar bookstores.
It’s expected that we will see this shift continue as digital and online shopping continues to grow post-pandemic, with physical stores and print sales decreasing.
Sales within the publishing industry haven’t changed much but an increased move to buying online has been seen.
New Publications and Promotions
A noticeable effect of the pandemic on publishing is that many publishers and authors have had to push publication dates back.
This is in part due to the difficulty of promotion. The ability to tour when a new book is released has been lost, at least the way authors and publishers knew it before.
Publishers cannot host events for new book releases, and the bookstores where many of these are held are not allowed to open. This has resulted in a move to virtual events for publishers that went ahead with new releases. This includes online book tours, virtual readings, and Q&As.
There has also been the loss of in-store promotions that many publishers rely on to make new releases a success.
Luckily, this should not be too much of an issue post-pandemic. We may even see continued use of virtual events, at least in some cases.
Authors with a niche audience and relied on niche and independent bookstore tours to promote their books may be more drastically affected if a lot of those stores did not survive through the pandemic.
Additionally, a general decrease in bricks and mortar bookstores going forward could affect the ability to tour bookstores and run in-store promos.
Print Publications
Interestingly, print sales of some publications have increased during the pandemic. This is especially true of publications bought for entertainment.
Many people increased the amount of reading they do during the pandemic. While there is a big move to digital publications, buying print fiction and non-fiction books for entertainment is still more popular than using e-books.
This trend has increased sales of these types of print publications. However, these sales levels will likely decrease as life returns to normal, and a move to e-books at the expense of print books will continue going forward.
Publications such as newspapers and magazines have continued to see a decline in print sales. There has been a continued move to their content being consumed online. This decline in print sales will continue post-pandemic in this publishing sector.
Digital Publications
Another major effect of the pandemic on publishing is that the move from print to digital in publishing has been accelerated. This trend will continue to grow post-pandemic. For those selling digital publications, the pandemic did not affect their operations much as they sell and fulfill online anyway.
There has notably been a rise in the sale of e-books and audio books. This is in part due to the increased demand for publications.
Audio books especially will fit in well with people’s “normal lives” post-pandemic. Consumers will be busier and may find it convenient to listen to audio books as they do other things, during commutes, etc.
In addition to increased demand, digital publications have been favored over print by some due to their instant fulfillment. It has been difficult to get books instantly during the pandemic due to the closing of physical bookstores. In addition, delivery of books ordered online has taken longer in many cases. This is both due to delivery delays to the final customer and delays in getting inventory delivered.
The fact that digital publications have not come into contact with anyone else may have increased their appeal for some as well.
Additionally, the move to remote learning has made digital education resources more in demand, which is discussed more below.
The move from print to digital in publishing has been accelerated due to the pandemic and will continue post-pandemic.
Bricks-and-Mortar vs. Online Publishing Retailers
The pandemic forced many bricks-and-mortar bookstores to close. A drop in demand for print books and a drop in demand for buying them in stores was seen pre-pandemic. This trend has been accelerated by the pandemic.
Small independent retailers that relied on in-store sales will have suffered during the pandemic. These retailers will have needed to set up or boost their e-commerce operations to survive. Unfortunately, a decent amount of those that could not continue selling during the pandemic will have closed permanently.
It is expected that in-store print book sales will increase from pandemic levels post-pandemic. However, they will not go back to what they once were, with a continued decline in sales expected to be seen.
This will be a big issue for niche and indie publishers that rely quite heavily on bookstore presence for sales.
Online Retailers
Like in most industries, any business that can sell online has fared a lot better than those in their industry that haven’t moved to an e-commerce model.
Many online publishing websites have seen increases in sales, even when competing with websites like Amazon.
During the pandemic, some bricks-and-mortar bookstores have moved to offer curbside pickup or direct delivery to customers. Others have increased their online presence and improved their online distribution model significantly to survive.
Along with the issue of increased competition online, customers lose the unique element of actually being in the store and looking at the books. If they’re having to purchase online, then it comes down to price for many, with the best price often being given via mass retailers.
While some customers have been shopping online at independent and smaller retailers to help these businesses survive, it’s not clear whether this trend will continue significantly post-pandemic.
With many individuals concerned about personal finances due to the pandemic, there will be a rise in those looking for the best price.
Publishers that can sell online have fared a lot better during the pandemic than those that can’t.
Publishing Supply Chains
Another effect of the pandemic on publishing, especially for print publishers, has been that some supply chain elements have been disrupted.
This includes difficulties and delays in shipping, especially if shipping internationally. Delays in getting stock delivered and sending it on to retailers or customers have been experienced.
Fortunately, many of these supply chain issues are temporary and will be fixed as life returns to normal.
The worst-case scenario for most publishers is that a supplier has closed or downsized their operations and can no longer serve them. It should be easy to find new suppliers as needed, but publishers could see an increase in costs as a result.
Education Publishing
With the almost complete move to remote learning for students, what has been the impact of the pandemic on education publishers?
Education publishers have seen a continued increase in use of digital textbooks, especially by higher education students. While many students still choose to use print, not offering digital options leaves publishers at a disadvantage.
This trend will also continue past the pandemic, with education publishers needing to make publishing digital textbooks a big part of their operations.
Even K-12 students will have moved to using more digital textbooks, worksheets, and resources while learning at home.
Another concern for higher education publishers during the pandemic has been a drop in the number of students. Many students have postponed courses until they can be in the classroom. This has resulted in decreased textbook sales, both digital and print. However, this trend is expected to resolve itself post-pandemic.
In the long term, changes caused by the pandemic will mainly remain in higher education. There will be more variation in the K-12 market. Many will go back to using print, but like in the rest of the industry, consumption of print materials is unlikely to go back to pre-pandemic levels.
The move to remote learning for most students has had a significant effect on education publishing.
Scientific Publishing
Medical communications and scientific publishing have seen increased demand for medical content during the pandemic. Demand for this form of publishing was growing pre-pandemic, and the pandemic has increased demand significantly.
Pharmaceutical companies have relied on medical publications to share their findings with HCP’s and patients.
The amount of medical content being consumed online by patients and the general public has increased significantly. This demand is expected to continually increase due to the pandemic making individuals more concerned about health and medical news and information.
In Conclusion
The effects of the pandemic on publishing have been noticeable. Luckily these effects have not been as damaging as in other industries.
Those that have fared the worst are primarily bricks-and-mortar bookstore owners that have not been able to transition to digital. Publishers that rely on those stores have been hit hard too.
Publishers that have effectively transitioned to publishing digital content and selling via digital platforms have fared the best and taken advantage of consumer demand for publications.
The challenges and opportunities in publishing seen during the pandemic were visible pre-pandemic and have simply been accelerated. In the end, a lot of these trends are here to stay, and publishers will quickly need to adapt to new consumer wants and needs to survive long-term.