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Europe's Pandemic Sales Slide Quantified
A report by the Federation of European Publishers aims to quantify the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on European publishers, citing a significant plunge in bookstore sales and commensurate lost revenue for publishers.
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German Sales Drop 14% in the First Half of 2020
German Book sales crashed during lockdown, but have bounced back as bookstores reopened, and are down just 14% overall for the first six months of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.
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Bertrams Goes Bankrupt
The Bertram Group, one of two major U.K. book wholesalers, has gone bankrupt. Asset sales have been agreed to, and the majority of its employees have been let go.
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Vietnam's Liberal Publishing House Wins Prix Voltaire
Liberal Publishing House, a clandestine publisher founded last year by dissidents to challenge the authority of the government of Vietnam, has been awarded the 2020 Prix Voltaire from the International Publishers Association.
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W.W. Norton Names New U.K. MD
Norton has named John Donovan managing director of its U.K. operations as the company integrates its international sales operations into a single group.
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Frankfurt Book Fair Will Take Place, Organizers Vow
The German state of Hessen gave the Frankfurt Book Fair permission to go ahead. The fair, scheduled for October 14-18, will be significantly smaller to maintain social distancing. Many events are moving online.
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Italy Reports Huge Decline in Book Sales
The Italian publishing industry sold eight million fewer books in the first four months of 2020 than 2019, and bookstores ceded ground to online bookstores. Publishers hope that promotions will help them rebound.
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France's Publishers Expect Big Revenue Declines
A survey found that one in four French publishers said they expected to lose between 20% and 40% of revenue this year, with a quarter expecting to lose more than 40%.
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U.K. Wholesaler Bertram Group Is Up for Sale
Bertram Group, one of the top U.K. book wholesale companies, is up for sale. An advertisement online notes that the company had a turnover of £250 million last year, with a gross profit of £9 million.
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German Bookstores Rebound After Reopening
Since stores began reopening on April 20, German bookstores are back to 80% to 85% of comparable sales from the same period last year.
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Canadian Publisher Survey Finds Stress, Burnout
Canadian trade magazine 'Quill & Quire' conducted its first workplace survey and found many publishing employees felt financial hardship and more than 75% had experienced workplace burnout.
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Italian Literary Agents Form Trade Association
A group of 37 Italian literary agencies have formed ADALI, the Association of Italian Literary Agents, to promote best practices and foster better business relationships.
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Publishers Weekly to Launch Trade Magazine in Spanish
'Publishers Weekly' and Seville, Spain–based Lantia have announced a new magazine for the Spanish publishing trade, 'Publishers Weekly en Español.' It will be published 26 times a year in Spain starting in the fall.
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United Independent Distributors Acquires Eurospan
The U.K.'s United Independent Distributors, which offers distribution for academic, trade and journal publishers, has acquired Eurospan, the 56-year-old London-based sales and marketing company.
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Virus Crisis Causes U.K. Authors to Lose Cash
A recent survey by the Society of Authors in the U.K. found more than 85% of its members could not benefit from government support and more than half were likely to lose significant income.
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Children’s Books in China 2020: A Unique Challenge in Translating Baby Books
In the Chinese children’s book market, “the more words, the better” is a general truism. But now that the country is adding around 15 million newborns per year, publishers are looking beyond educational and illustrated titles.
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Children’s Books in China 2020: Igor Oleinikov on Illustrating Children’s Books
In 'The Snow Comes Around', a picture book published by Beijing Dandelion Children’s Book House, a white moose appears out of the snow on the first page and walks through all 16 spreads.
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Children’s Books in China 2020: Deploying Tech Tools During the Covid-19 Outbreak
For publishers, going online, trying out different tech tools, and rethinking promotional and marketing methods while working remotely from home were par for the course.
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Children’s Books in China 2020: All Our Coverage
Welcome to PW’s fourth special report on the Chinese children’s book market.
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Children’s Books in China 2020: Thinkingdom Children’s Books
At Thinkingdom Children’s Books, publishing a title—be it original or translated—“is like giving birth to a newborn,” says v-p and general editor Li Xin.
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