Business Of... An Introduction.

Within this module, we learnt a lot about the publishing industry. How it is changing in a digital world, the rise and fall of big and small publishing, and the impacts all of these factors have on authorship.

The lockdown in the UK and in many countries across the globe have thus put further strains on these creative sectors. In response to this, as part of our research for our anthology, we have interviewed writers of different formats and genres to get a greater idea into the “business of” writers during a pandemic.

We began our research into the publishing industry with the aim to learn more about the current climate of publishing in a pandemic.

According to The Bookseller, the publishing industry’s supply chains are experiencing major disruptions which has resulted in increased concern over whether this will have a negative impact on their business. Publishers are not currently included in the UK government’s H M Treasury’s business rates relief holiday offering which the Publishers Association are now campaigning to be changed.

In terms of the current scheme of part-time furlough, this has caused a concern for smaller press publishers. Due to their limited numbers of staff and continued workload, some companies are unable to furlough staff in order to utilise the current Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Additionally, to reduce the workforce in the publishing sector would have long-term damaging effects.

The Publishers Association is also requesting that the government introduces funding towards ensuring that educational supplies for those studying at home. According to the Bookseller, publishers are giving large discounts to educational supplies in these times, however, disruption to supply chains, and the need for a continued income is impacting how efficient these routes may be.

However, there is a positive effect of lockdown. Creative content is flooding in with pandemic related literature. A new collection of 85 poems published by Knopf on June 6 will be titled “Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America’s Poets respond to the Pandemic”. Additionally, there are many other creative works lined up for urgent publication in current times. The “Wuhan Diary” by Fang Fang, recording their 60 days in the Wuhan lockdown, has created quite a stir with its “angry and eerie” tone.

One way the publishing industry is therefore navigating this increase in demand and content is through publishing online. This reduces the stress on the supply chain and allows them to publish quickly in the current global climate. Knopf’s anthology is being published online first before being set for release in paperback form in October. Additionally, author JK Rowling plans to release a new fairytale “The Ickabog” online and plans to donate the royalties.

After conducting this early research, we decided to delve deeper into how the writers surrounding us are impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Consequently, we decided to start the “Business Of” interviews to learn more about how writers are adapting to work in this current climate. We hope you enjoy this series and that these interviews give you hope for how people are thriving and continuing to work efficiently during lockdown.

To submit a poem for our anthology, or get more information about our project, please email: businessofbooksg6@gmail.com