Reading between the lines during these hard times
With booksellers, literary agents and publishers all noticing the economic pinch, Alison Walsh asks the experts what the industry must do to survive the crisis

By Alison Walsh writing in Independent. ie
Sunday February 08 2009

As recently as last October, publishers were heading to the biggest event of the publishing year, the Frankfurt Book Fair, in bullish form. Simon & Schuster UK publishing director Suzanne Baboneau was quoted in the Bookseller as going "with all guns blazing" and there was much talk of "business as usual". October 2 last year, 'Super Thursday', saw the publication of a whopping 800 titles, all competing for the Christmas bestseller lists.
What a difference a few months makes: with swathes being cut through the US publishing industry and high-street book retailers reporting much pain, is the world of books -- traditionally thought to be 'recession-proof' -- the latest victim of the credit crunch?
Well, opinions vary both about the symptoms and the cause: Michael McLoughlin, managing director of Penguin Ireland, arguably one of the babies of the Celtic Tiger, is cautiously optimistic about data released from Nielsen Bookscan, the industry's statistics provider, for last year: "Nielsen Bookscan released a statement on December 21, which indicated that unit sales were up 15.4 per cent last year and that the value of those sales was up 8.6 per cent," says McLoughlin, although he admits, "That's what the market will be saying, but some retailers might not agree with that."
Certainly Kevin Barry, managing director of the Dubray Books chain, sees a different picture, quoting Central Statistics Office data that the 'stationery and book' sector is down by as much as 15 per cent. And, on the frontline of change, he firmly blames the downturn.

The full story here.