Canongate reports turnover of £17.9m as authors and agents paid £8.8m

Canongate has reported a turnover of £17.9 million for the 12 months to 31st March 2024, down from £19.7m in the same period last year, while the publisher’s profit before tax has gone from £1.65m last year to £678k in 2024.

In this period the company paid its authors and their agents £8.8m, representing 49% of turnover. Frontlist turnover was at £3.45m, while backlist sales reached £6.13m—a 4% increase on the previous financial year.

Digital sales were worth £2.7m across e-book and audio, while rights income reached £5.66m—a 17% increase on the previous year—with deals made across 45 separate countries.

In May, Canongate became the first UK publisher to be certified as a B Corporation, and production and systems director Caroline Gorham was recently named one of the Publishers Association’s People of Publishing in recognition of her leading role in the process.

While chief executive officer Jamie Byng acknowledged the importance of remaining profitable, he said that the publisher is not "obsessed" with the bottom line. "If we weren’t rewarding our authors as generously as we do, particularly in the space of digital royalties, we would make more money on the bottom line," he explained. "If we didn’t have a Canongate bond scheme, we would be making more money on the bottom line. If we hadn’t done B Corp, we would be making more money on the bottom line." 

He added: "Looking at the results in black and white terms—just in terms of numbers—I think is to completely overlook something, which I would argue is every bit as important."

Publishing highlights of the financial year included Tan Twan Eng’s The House of Doors, longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, and John Niven’s memoir, O Brother, as well as Lemn Sissay’s Let the Light Pour In and Scots poet Len Pennie’s debut Poyums. Other key books for the publisher included Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act, and the audiobook of A History of Women in 101 Objects, which has been written by Annabelle Hirsch and translated by Eleanor Updegraff.

Alan Rickman’s Madly, Deeply was one of the books that performed well when it was published by Canongate in paperback, alongside Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan, and brother.do.you.love me. by Manni and Reuben Coe.

Canongate’s imprint Severn House also had success with Calico by Lee Goldberg, Davis Bunn’s The Rowan, The Borgia Portrait by David Hewson and Simon Brett’s Mrs Pargeter’s Patio.

Byng said that the publisher "had a weaker frontlist than we have had in previous years, including compared to this year, which is going to be stronger".