Scottish book trade backed to bounce back with gusto from Coronavirus blow

Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, Scotland’s book trade was in good health. Last year saw robust sales through the tills, several independent bookshops opening (including Topping & Company and The Portobello Bookshop in Edinburgh), new branches of Waterstones and a thriving events and festivals scene.

This positivity is now tempered by the very real threat that lockdown poses to the trade. Kristian Kerr, publicity manager of Edinburgh-based Birlinn, says: “Like all small businesses, we are nervous. We know the trade will pull together to get through, but none of us can pretend that this is not, and will not continue to be, painful.” Birlinn has furloughed just under half of its team and those remaining have accepted a temporary pay reduction. Like many other publishers, it has stripped back its publishing programme to focus on key titles. Kerr praises distributor BookSource for its careful planning, which has enabled it to stay open and support small publishers during this period.

For Little Door Books, the children’s list founded by Alan Windram in 2016, cancelled events have caused a “real dent” in finances, as have the “huge drop-off in orders and sales”. It is “having to think creatively about promotion and marketing, using social media even more than before”. As well as holding online book launches, Inverness’ Sandstone Press is running online discussion groups and a writers’ club alongside sales initiatives. Children’s publisher Floris Books has had “stonking” sales through its website recently, seeing great demand for fiction, nature-inspired picture books and activity books. Luath Press is ramping up its e-book and audiobook publishing to appeal to locked-down readers unable to access physical titles.

Let’s get digital
Book trade organisations are turning to digital channels to support their communities too. Scottish Book Trust has launched an online Home Activities Hub for families, providing resources for parents and carers, alongside its Bookbug and Bookzilla apps, and it is working with partners to promote other free resources. The Gaelic Books Council (GBC) has moved some of its regular activities—such as Gaelic reading and singing sessions—online, and it has commissioned poetry videos from writers who were due to appear at cancelled festivals. Meanwhile, the Scottish Poetry Library (SPL) has commissioned a series of blogs from poets reflecting on how they are coping with the lockdown restrictions.

Edinburgh-based agent Jenny Brown commends publishers and bookshops for finding “imaginative new ways to reach readers”, as well as authors and illustrators who are promoting their titles across social media and running online workshops. She says: “It’s heartening to see the collaboration, mutual support and creativity from the trade.”

It is hard to predict the impact on Scotland’s book industry longer-term. Publishing Scotland c.e.o. Marion Sinclair says: “This is so difficult for small publishers, already operating on tight margins, and who often do not qualify for the existing government schemes due to the size and nature of their workforce.” The whole industry is readying itself for a hit in its usual income from festival appearances. SPL director Asif Khan warns that a significant period of economic recession could lead to some small publishers folding and streamlined literary programmes at festivals, “resulting in significantly less revenue for writers and booksellers”.

Little Door Books’ Windram says smaller publishers will “think longer and harder about the amount of books we will commission until sales get back to more normal levels”. Sinclair also foresees “fewer risks taken and a consolidation of lists” in the short-to medium-term, as well as “an acceleration of the green agenda in all sectors”. GBC director Alison Lang believes the whole sector will re-think “formats, supply chains, environmental impacts, delivery and logistics, and the resilience or fragility of the current industry structures”. On a more positive note, Floris Books’ sales and marketing director Suzanne Kennedy feels that “learning how to maintain working relationships remotely will open up new possibilities”.

Several industry players see potential for more remote working across the industry post-lockdown. Brown says: “Perhaps in the medium-to long-term this will help with geographical diversity and that, in turn, could make a change in the kinds of books editors consider and acquire.” The agent also believes that online meetings could give illustrators and authors more face-to-face time with their editors. Saraband’s founder Sara Hunt thinks her staff will “welcome being back in the office”, however she hopes for a “more open attitude from London media to working with companies and authors from beyond the M25” given the current reliance on remote press interviews.

Mind the gaps
Looking at the wider impact that the pandemic will have on the industry, there is concern for authors and freelances who may fall between the gaps in the government’s financial support schemes. Scottish Book Trust is offering support to authors, illustrators and poets through its Live Literature programme and upcoming events programming, as well as providing resources for writers and freelances, and championing their work through its social media platforms. Sandstone m.d. Robert Davidson highlights the “unique difficulties” facing booksellers, expressing his intention to work more closely with them when the lockdown is lifted.

Despite the challenges facing them, Scottish publishers are bullish about pushing through. Anne Glennie, director of the Isle of Lewis’ Cranachan Publishing, says: “We are no stranger to impossible margins, variable cashflow, or to overcoming the odds—it’s what we deal with every day.” Sinclair promises that Publishing Scotland will be “working very hard on the recovery, trying to use all the contacts and affiliations we have to get our publishers and retailers back to a more normal position. This exposes the nature of independent publishing and bookselling: brave, risk-taking, but not cushioned in any way.

Time for reading
One of the positives of the current lockdown is an apparent rise in reading across the UK. Brown notes an increased interest in children’s and educational titles, immersive novels, multi-generational stories and uplifting fiction. She anticipates that “it will be a while before readers are ready for dystopian or dark novels”, but believes narrative non-fiction will continue to sell strongly.

Kennedy and Hunt foresee a continued demand for environmental and nature-related books. Hunt also thinks memoirs and books about mental health, wellbeing and kindness will remain popular. Sinclair says: “Perhaps there will be fewer titles published overall, but there will have been a lot of creativity accessed during lockdown—through films, TV, games, music, and podcasts, as well as books—so hopefully, a greater appreciation of these creative sectors will emerge.”

Photograph: a poster currently on display on Byres Road in Glasgow’s West End