Thoughts on #FutureBook 2024
TYPE! co-founder George talked his way into The Bookseller’s #FutureBook event this week. Here are his thoughts on the day and the many dilemmas facing the industry.
Oh, the rarefied air of a bona-fide publishing event. Into County Hall, high ceilings, a lady calling my elevator for me. Up through endless elegant corridors and into a gorgeous reception room flooded with natural light from huge windows overlooking the Thames. Someone handing me a free book. Cut glass accents pausing only to enjoy the excellent canapes. Impeccably dressed people everywhere. Welcome to #FutureBook 2024.
How did an oik like me get a pass, you ask? I’d tell you it was skill and the brand resonance of TYPE! magazine, but really The Bookseller let me in on condition I live tweeted throughout the day. I’m writing this blog too because I got a inspired and thought you highly-productive writers may find it interesting.
Here are some things to think about:
1) Are books too cheap?
Much talk of book prices failing to keep pace with inflation, and the relative low-price point of books in Britain compared with other countries (only India’s are lower). Of the average £9.23 sale, how much moolah trickles down to the mid and low-level employees who bring that book into being… not to mention the authors who can’t make a living from the full-time job of writing novels? Can this continue?
I’d argue that in a cost-to-value ratio – especially considering the time spent consuming – it makes no sense that a copy of Laidlaw costs less than a ticket to see Venom: The Last Dance. But will the market buck at any price rises? Previous #FutureBook award-winner (and genuinely from a working-class background) Katie Ogunsakin reminds us: “There’s a lot of hardship in the UK… publishing isn’t seeing it firsthand… we are selling products to an audience that is finding it increasingly hard to afford them.” And that’s before you get to the £9.99 ‘cliff-edge’…
Can the industry raise prices? Can it afford not to? My thought: would raising physical book prices while cutting eBook and audio prices lead to reduced paperback and hardback volumes (thus aiding sustainability), while protecting readership, accessibility and profit?
2) How can we invest in libraries?
Speaking as a self-employed business owner getting hammered by inflation, libraries have become increasingly important to me. I occasionally use them instead of a co-working space, and they are a Godsend in preventing bankruptcy when printing white papers to proofread. I’ve noticed I’m borrowing more books than ever and buying fewer, while reading a record number. Is this the cost-of-living crisis, or are my local libraries just excellent?
As many panellists pointed out, healthy libraries protect publishing by creating new generations of readers. Louis Coiffait-Gunn, CEO of CILIP, the library and information association, invited the audience to think of libraries as ‘destinations’ that could drive footfall into town centres… the “Swiss Army knives of the high street.” Mairi Oliver of Lighthouse Bookshop wants a library and librarian in every primary school.
The Tories cut library funding to the bone. How can the industry step int?
3) What’s happening on ‘class’?
After the lunchtime bento boxes were handed back to the catering underlings there was tacit agreement that publishing remains ‘elitist’. Research shows diminishing proportions of working-class individuals within the creative sector. Booksellers Association President and owner of Sevenoaks Books Fleur Sinclair stressed the importance of ensuring books by writers of all ages and backgrounds were being sold by booksellers of all ages and backgrounds. I quite agree – especially on output. Speaking as an avid reader and someone who doesn’t come from ‘money’, I find little new commercial fiction about and for the likes of men like me, but plenty that fits inside a very narrow progressive middle-to-upper-class agenda. I read GQ’s list of best books to read for men recently. Not much there for a straight man who likes football and boxing – and I’ve read Brokeback Mountain.
At least there is an acknowledgement of the “publishing bubble” and a brain-drain caused by low salary levels (as remarked upon by Simon & Schuster’s Polly Osborn) that means people looking to buy a house are leaving the industry when they “still have much to give”. One idea was to “lift the lid” on publishing so lower-income graduates and even non-graduates could understand what publishing was and that it was a viable career option. How to achieve this is open to debate.
There are reasons to be cheerful though. Kevin Duffy of Bluemoose Books has built a successful business by championing (typically) working-class voices from the North, rather than “orange-headed celebrities”, albeit he worries about “discoverability”. The appetite for these books is real: three Bluemoose tales are currently in film production.
However, ‘class’ is entrenched, and there’s still a long way to go. When I arrived at #FutureBook I offered to make a cup of coffee for one of the delegates. When I handed it over, he didn’t acknowledge what I’d done… didn’t even look at me. I think he heard my accent and assumed I was a member of staff, or maybe I was there to clean those windows…
4) Can the creative industries flourish together?
Is publishing overlooked by its flashier counterparts of TV, Film, Games and Fashion? And what can the other creative industries teach publishing about genres and consumer wants? Presentation of the day came from Enders Analysis, who didn’t just describe but actually quantified the misery of different creative sectors. Abi Watson from Enders spoke about books being “the rare industry where the physical format has survived, by and large...” and said price-point opportunities exist if sales channels were diversified. Book publishers have advantages: “The music industry would kill to have 1,000 HMVs.” Spotify’s attempts to diversify its offerings away from the big music labels were worth noting. Lessons could also be learned from the success of ‘Swoon-worthy” Netflix shows. Elsewhere, everyone was enthused by the Wicked marketing campaign. I’m not convinced; normally the longer the trailer, the worse the film.
5) How can we influence the Government?
A new cohort of 335 brand new MPs may be ripe for ear-bending. Will they listen? Probably not, but there are many ways to engage with the novel, overpaid and under-developed individuals who now rule over us. “They love a photo-op,” after all. Someone pointed out the creative industries were identified as one of eight growth drivers in a 2035 strategy — good, as our best exports are whisky and culture. However, The Chancellor of the Exchequer (and renowned economist) Rachel Reeves isn’t on many Christmas Card lists. Fleur Sinclair spoke about the ‘colossal’ negative impact of Reeves’ budget here, another panellist remarked: “Rachel Reeves doesn’t help.” So poor Rachel isn’t popular in the publishing industry. Despite her editing skills.
6) Is it time to do things differently?
Without getting into AI and the ethics of AI-generated books and audiobooks, which were well-covered by other panels at #FutureBook, there was acknowledgement that market forces, including the increasing power of the ‘big five’ publishers, must mean change. Abi Watson identified three more big risks to the books industry: the financial health of retailers, increased competition from other forms of entertainment, and the potential for (big) authors to begin going direct to audience. Business model innovation is already underway; an ‘influencer’ panel described the evolving ways ‘creators’ are being paid, including flat-fee, competition, readalong, and payments based not only on the “vanity metrics” of views and likes, but also on quality, effort and genuine passion for the product. Macro, micro and organic creation should all be considered together today, rather than paying three influencers and hoping for a result.
Indie publishers were surprisingly upbeat. Kevin Duffy argued for football-style sell-on payments for publishers if authors accept big money moves away from the small houses that invest time in developing their work and brand. Jasper Joffe, CEO of Joffe Books, said: “It’s a wonderful time to be a publisher… you can reach readers directly… there are no barriers to entry.” Mairi Oliver described bookshops as “hopeful places”. There’s life in the old dog yet.
So there you have it: #FutureBook in a nutshell. Plenty more insights from the conference on The Bookseller website here. In all seriousness, it was a great, informative, and sometimes provocative event. I learned a lot and I got to schmooze. Will I go back? Let’s see what The Bookseller editor makes of this blog first. As a wise lady once said (at #FutureBook 2024) “ask forgiveness, not permission.”
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++ Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash.