When things are not the way they used to be, you still read your favourite books

The Old Lion Publishing House is one of the most powerful and iconic publishing houses in Ukraine. Founded in 2001 in Lviv, it produces books for the whole family. With its network of nine bookshops across the country and a team of more than 100 people, the publishing house published 130 titles in 2021—before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During the hostilities, this number decreased to 100 books in 2022.

Mariana Savka, co-founder and editor-in-chief, says that in the first weeks of the war, the publisher began publishing certain books only in electronic format, waiting for the opportunity to print them later on paper. "We saw that the number of sales of digital copies was growing. After all, a large number of people went abroad at this point. There was a huge demand for books in Ukrainian for children." The Old Lion was able to meet this demand because it is located in the west of the country, away from the hostilities, so the team had access to storehouses that were sufficiently well stocked.

Savka says that at first they gave away books for free but quickly realised that this was not a long-term option. "The first quarter was all about selling children’s books. We made a resource for free download of 40 book titles on our website, and there were a lot of downloads." Within a week of the invasion,  the Old Lion began sending readers their orders, including those abroad. "At first, we closed our bookshops but we realised that we had to reopen them urgently because many internally displaced people ended up in Lviv and these bookshops became centres where people met, collected humanitarian aid and medicines."

As of today, the demand for books has recovered, despite the fact that books have risen in price. "It’s a surprise to me that the book market is active in times of war. People buy books—they need them. They do not fall out of their basket," says Savka.

Many internally displaced people ended up in Lviv, and these bookshops became centres where people met, collected humanitarian aid and medicines

One of the changes that has occurred over the past year is that people from all over the country found themselves in Lviv as they searched for safer places away from the war. That has increased the number of Old Lion customers, although there is also a reverse trend: the outflow of regular customers abroad. But the publishing house says that it has not lost contact with them.

"If we talk about foreign publishing houses buying rights for Ukrainian authors, they have become very active. This year we have sold the biggest number of publishing rights to other countries compared to previous years. The topic of war is a priority in a style and genre that is understandable to foreign readers. We have a book called The War that Changed Rondo, which was among the top five best books in Bologna. Before the war, we sold the publishing rights for it to 11 countries. And we sold the same number of rights during the war. This is a breakthrough for us. In this regard, a window of opportunity has opened for all publishers. We became more visible. It was a period when everyone suddenly saw us," says the publisher.

The main challenge for the publishing house team today is uncertainty. The country still lacks electricity, and this affects the readership, its emotional state and sales. All challenges are related to external circumstances.

Recently, the Old Lion has received requests from those returning to the towns taken back from Russia to replenish library collections with Ukrainian books. The publishing house has already sent more than 6,000 books in response. "When my PEN colleagues visited a Kharkiv library that had removed Russian literature from its shelves, they found out  that there was nothing to read there. There were no Ukrainian books. The biggest request from visitors was for romance novels, easy reading. In general, this genre is not very popular among Ukrainian publishers, but it is very popular among readers. Therefore, this niche was filled by Russian editions. It would be incredible if this niche was filled by Ukrainian equivalents. But this will take some time," explains Savka.

When I ask Savka why reading is important to people during the war, she answers that it is important for people to maintain daily habits and reading skills. It helps people get back to normal. "When things are not the way they used to be, you still read your favourite books. For many mothers who are now abroad, reading Ukrainian books to their children means keeping in touch with their own country. It is also important for children to keep it and not forget their mother tongue."