So much for staying home and reading: sales plummet and the situation for publishers is dire

Appeals to read a book during the containment measures for the pandemic emergency are of no use. Publishing has plunged into a serious crisis: this is what the Observatory of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE), which conducted a survey among publishers, denounces. According to the AIE’s findings, 98 percent of publishers believe that the damage caused by the emergency is “significant or dramatic for the entire supply chain,” and the figure is up from last week’s survey (when 91 percent of publishers thought this way). There will be 23,200 fewer titles published this year-that’s 30 percent of Italy’s entire publishing output. And this will mean fewer copies printed (49 million fewer in 2020). The use of social shock absorbers by publishers is also growing: as of March 30, 64 percent of houses said they had already initiated layoff procedures, or were in the process of scheduling them.

“These figures speak for themselves,” says AIE President Ricardo Franco Levi. “From many quarters there are calls to support culture. This is no accident; the alarm is clear. This is why we strongly urge the government and parliament to intervene: turn a spotlight on the book world. You are losing it.”

Also denouncing the slump in sales is ADEI, theAssociation Of Independent Publishers, which found that the month of March closed, for independent publishers (who account for 46.5 percent of the market) with a 68 percent drop in sales: translated, this means that 60 million euros went up in smoke. The results emerged from a survey that ADEI proposed to 160 publishers. As for titles, for independent publishers alone there will be 10,000 fewer new titles by 2020, with print runs contracting by 20 percent (16 million fewer copies). And again, for 75 percent of independent publishers, a full return to normal will only be possible after September. The next few months are still estimated to be tough: for April, estimates are 10 percent of potential, for May, 15 percent, and on to July where 65 percent of potential will be worked on.

“We need to understand the real damage in order to design a strategic plan and ask for a direct commitment from the government for this fundamental sector of culture,” says Marco Zapparoli, president of ADEI. The figures, he argues, “are ruinous. Immediate action is needed from the government and the regions to make up for the lack of liquidity in the short term. The next Cura Italia Decree must also provide funds for Book Publishing. Cinema and entertainment have less economic impact than ours, but they have received allocations of 130 million. The book world lacks at least 100 million in liquidity in the short term, it is essential that it be allocated by April: we will ask the Ministries of Culture, Economy and Development for three orders of measures: short, medium and long term.”

So much for staying home and reading: sales plummet and the situation for publishers is dire

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