The publishing industry, like the event, hospitality and tourism industries, has been hit hard by the repercussions of the COVID crisis, to the point of being in danger. With the closure of bookstores, printing houses and, in turn, the lack of sales during the lockdown, the loss of turnover for publishers has been colossal! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/books/coronavirus-book-sales-march-2020.html
Currently, the priority for booksellers is to keep readers coming back thanks only to well-known authors. Perhaps these authors will drain the entire book industry. At the moment, it is difficult to draw conclusions. Some publishers have reduced their activities by postponing the release of certain titles and hoping that the sales lost since March will be recovered by the end of the year or even in 2021. Unfortunately, other publishers have already gone out of business. As for booksellers, they are still on their feet, but everything remains extremely fragile, especially since the most important festivals and literary gatherings that allowed authors to make themselves known to potential readers have also been cancelled.
In the same way, some advertisers who support press groups have suspended their advertising budgets and the whole book chain has been shaken. State aid and other support schemes have fortunately come to the rescue, keeping heads above water for the meantime. http://europeanwriterscouncil.eu/corona-crisis-impact-on-authors/
The publishing world needs to stay confident; this is not the first or the last crisis it will face. It has always been able to adapt to turbulence, so let us review the situation in 2021 to see how it fares, and if other models emerge.
What if this turbulence is an opportunity to be even bolder?