Publishing industry

The last few weeks have seen a lot of discussion around author welfare, industry stress and, most recently, publisher resourcing - topics that overlap considerably in my experience. On the latter, I'm not sure I would agree that publishers are less resourced now than they were previously. Haven't we always been stretched?

More than half of authors (54%) responding to a survey by The Bookseller on their experiences of publishing their debut book have said the process negatively affected their mental health. Though views were mixed, just 22% of the 108 respondents to the survey described a positive experience overall with their first publication.

The UK publishing industry had a "record-breaking year" in 2022, with a total income of £6.9bn.

A Year in Publishing, a look at the state of the book market by trade body the Publishers Association , found that sales were up 4% from 2021In 2022, 669m physical books were sold in the UK, the highest overall level ever recorded.

Each year, The Economist publishes a special edition in which it encapsulates the state of the world as expressed by numbers. These articles are authoritative, accurate, well-researched, and comprehensive. I couldn't hope to emulate them in a review of the world in publishing.  Read more

After a three-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, PW's annual salary and jobs survey is back, albeit later in the year than usual. This year's survey gathers data on 2021 and includes many standard questions, while also looking at how the pandemic has impacted certain publishing practices.