London

WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

LBF 2019 ad 1 - Ramsay - new :Layout 1 01/03/2019 17:01 Page 1
VISIT PW AND BOOKBRUNCH AT STAND 6C73

Audiobooks stay hot dollar growth outstripped unit growth for the first time.
“All indicators are that the growth is continuing.”
Mary Beth Roche (Macmillan Audio), said that audio
had become a primary focus of the publisher’s overall
LBF panel explores boom area of publishing publishing strategy. Amanda D’Acierno (Penguin Random
House Audio) agreed, adding that audio had gone from
At a standing room only session on the 2019 London Book “being a sub rights format to being thought of very much
Fair’s opening morning, a panel of publishers charted the as a primary publication format”.
audiobook’s rapid rise, and told attendees that the format But perhaps the biggest indicator of the format’s future
showed no signs of slowing down any time soon. growth may be demographic data showing that audiobook
“One element of what’s driving growth in the US listeners today are young, listening through multiple apps,
audiobook market is that we are making a lot more on multiple devices, and are listening in new ways.
product,” said Michele Cobb of the US Audio Publishers “In the US, 54% of listeners are between the ages of 18
Association, noting that between 2013 and 2017 the number and 44, and that’s a big change from what we used to see
of audiobooks published annually doubled, to about 46,000. 20 years ago when they tended to be more in their 50s,”
“And for the past six years we’ve seen double-digit growth Cobb said. Audiobook listeners were also readers: some
in both dollars and units,” Cobb said, adding that in 2017 83% of audiobook listeners had read a book in the last
year. And that remaining
17%? They are mostly people
coming to audiobooks through
podcasts – and podcast
listeners typically listen to
twice as many audiobooks as
non-podcast listeners.
The improving technology is
also driving growth, especially
the rise of smart speakers, and
people were increasingly
listening to audiobooks at
home. “When the research came
back, at first we did not believe
it,” said Brad Rose of hoopla
Photo from left: Mary Beth Roche, Brad Rose, Amanda D’Acierno, Michele Cobb digital & Dreamscape Media.

Climate
Independent change
publishers ‘Do we bother to Lenny
Bridget Shine think enough about Picker on a
on the IPG’s what is going on host of
Skills Hub. when people make ecological
Page 16 choices?’ titles.
Page 8 Page 20
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04.03.2019 17:19:49
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019 LONDON SHOW DAILY

International Excellence Awards presented

The London Book Fair International Excellence Awards, MARKET FOCUS INDONESIA ADULT TRADE
held in association with the Publishers Association, were Bentang Pustaka
presented last night.
MARKET FOCUS INDONESIA CHILDREN’S, YOUNG ADULT
THE ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHER AWARD AND EDUCATION
De Gruyter (Germany) PT Bestari Buana Murni

AUDIOBOOK PUBLISHER SIMON MASTER CHAIRMAN’S AWARD

Booklava (UAE) Jessica Kingsley

ACCESSIBLE BOOKS CONSORTIUM INTERNATIONAL

BOOKSTORE OF THE YEAR sponsored by Gardners EXCELLENCE: PUBLISHER
Fang Suo Commune (China) EDITORIAL 5 (Brazil)
EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES ACCESSIBLE BOOKS CONSORTIUM INTERNATIONAL
Tata Trusts (India) EXCELLENCE: INITIATIVE
eKitabu (Kenya)
EDUCATIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES supported by The
China Publishing & Media Journal INCLUSIVITY IN PUBLISHING supported by the Publishers
Virtual Reading Gym (South Africa) Association
Jacaranda Books
INTERNATIONAL BOOK TRADE JOURNALIST
Porter Anderson - Publishing Perspectives (USA)
Nick Perren Post-Graduate
LIBRARY OF THE YEAR
Espoo City Library (Finland)
Publishing Awards
The first Nick Perren Post-Graduate Publishing Awards were
LITERARY TRANSLATION INITIATIVE
presented at the ceremony last night. They went to South
Tulika Publishers (India) African students Tsholofelo Matlhadji and Kirsten Benecke.
The awards are granted by the Nick Perren Publishing
LITERARY AGENT Foundation, set up in memory of the former John Murray
Pierre Astier - Astier-Pecher Literary & Film Agency (France) MD and Profile chairman, who died in August 2016. Born in
Kenya, Perren retained close ties with Africa, and the award
LITERARY FESTIVAL in his name aims to support young South Africans wishing
Book Arsenal Literature Festival (Ukraine) to pursue publishing careers.

RIGHTS PROFESSIONAL

FEATURES INSIDE
Rose Janssens - Clavis Publishing (Belgium)

TOO MUCH CHOICE CLIMATE CHANGE

To contact London Show Daily at the NIC JONES
8 LENNY PICKER
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Fair, please visit us at the Publishers
Weekly Stand 6C73. PAUL MICHELMAN
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SECONDHAND DIGITAL
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CHRIS KENNEALLY ZOEY FORBES

Publisher: Joseph Murray

BookBrunch Executive Chairman: Jo Henry CANADA COPYRIGHT BOOKSCAN DIGITAL
Editors: Andrew Albanese, Nicholas Clee, Neill Denny KATE EDWARDS
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Reporter: Ed Nawotka

Project Coordinator: Ryk Hsieh TIME TO AXE THE BOOKTRUST

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Layout and Production: Heather McIntyre READING TAX JILL COLEMAN
Editorial Coordinator (UK): Marian Sheil Tankard DAN CONWAY

IPG SKILLS HUB MEXICO

For a FREE digital trial to Publishers Weekly go to BRIDGET SHINE
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publishersweekly.com/freetrial
Subscribe to BookBrunch via www.bookbrunch.co.uk PRH AUDIO BISG
or email editor@bookbrunch.co.uk AMANDA D’ACIERNO
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3
 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

Rights round-up
f
HarperCollins is to publish Alberto Angela’s Cleopatra: The Queen Who Sphere (Little, Brown UK)
Challenged Rome and Conquered Eternity in the US, UK, France, Germany, reports further international
Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, and Central and South America by 2020, following demand for the novel
HC Italia’s successful publication of the title last year. The publisher said that the Liberation by Imogen Kealey
“extremely well-researched” history would be accessible to “a broad audience”. (Imogen Robertson and
Laura Donnini, MD and publisher of HarperCollins Italia, said: “I am extremely Darby Kealey; agents Broo
proud of our first Italian author to be published by HarperCollins around the Doherty and Rachel
world… Alberto Angela instils in readers the desire for knowledge and the Clements). Grand Central has
curiosity for an ancient world that speaks to today, between tradition and US rights. There have been
innovation.” Chantal Restivo-Alessi, CEO of international foreign language “large” pre-empts in Italy
and chief digital officer, added that HC’s international network was “helping us (Longanesi), Brazil (Planeta)
not only to serve English-language authors in international markets, but also and the Netherlands (De
to expand the reach of our international authors into the English language”. Fontein), and further offers
are on the table. Film rights
are with Jesse Silver of
New York Rights Fair set for Mindframe Films and actor
Anne Hathaway. The novel is
29-31 May based on the story of SOE
heroine Nancy Wake.

The 2019 New York Rights Fair will be co located on the
BookExpo show floor and will run 29 to 31 May. Last year’s
fair, the first time the event was held, ran concurrently with
BookExpo, but at a separate location.
The 2019 fair will again focus on rights and licensing
across all formats, including print, digital, audio, film and
television. It will have a distinct location inside the
exhibitor hall and will feature booths, agent tables, and
rights-focused programming.
Special panels will look at the international landscape,
including a session focused on what Brexit might look like
and how it could affect various industries in the UK
including publishing. Further panels will explore the
impact of streaming services on Hollywood’s appetite for
literary materials as well as trends in adult non-fiction.
Registration at newyorkrightsfair.com.
Hannah Knowles at
Canongate has struck a
Janie Brown “significant” pre-empt to sign
world rights to Janie Brown’s Radical Acts of Love: Conversations from the
Heart of Dying (spring 2020). The agent is Jason Bartholomew at bks Agency.
Brown, an oncology nurse and a counsellor of cancer patients with terminal
diagnoses, recounts 20 conversations with the dying, including people close to
her. Knowles said: “I was completely snared by Janie’s manuscript: something
about the breadth of experiences of death she writes about, and the depth of
understanding and wisdom with which she writes about them, makes Radical
Acts of Love quite simply one of the most profound books I have ever read.”
Walker Books has signed a picture book by British-Jamaican poet Raymond
Antrobus, who is Poet of the Fair at LBF today. Can Bears Ski?, based on
Antrobus’ experiences as a deaf child, will be illustrated by Polly Dunbar,
who also suffers from hearing loss. Maria Tunney at Walker signed world
rights for the text from Niki Chang of the Good Literary Agency; Dunbar
was represented by James Catchpole.

Chronicle Prism launched Selfies awarded

Chronicle Books is to name its new non-fiction imprint
Chronicle Prism. The list is led by Mark Tauber, who joined
the company last autumn and who will also be in charge of
Chronicle’s first foray into audio. Tauber was previously at
HarperOne. The list is being celebrated at the London
Book Fair this afternoon.
The first Chronicle Prism titles will be Dumpty: The Age
of Trump in Verse by actor and author John Lithgow;
Between Heaven and Hell by journalist David Talbot, an
intimate journey through the life-changing year following
his stroke; and Find Your Fuckyeah by Alexis Rockley, a
science-based guide that debunks “warm and fuzzy
personal-growth fads”.
Tauber said: “The name Chronicle Prism evokes the way
our authors illuminate and magnify important topics from
surprising perspectives and unexpected angles, often
inspiring readers to change or bend course. It also puts a
delightful twist on Chronicle Books’ motto ‘See things
differently’ and its beloved eyeglasses logo.”
The 2019 Selfies Award, organised by
BookBrunch and given for a self-published
work of fiction, has gone to Jane Davis for
her novel Smash All the Windows.
Davis was announced winner of the
award at a ceremony at the London Book
Fair yesterday. She received £1,500, a
publishing package from IngramSpark, and a cover design
and a publicity campaign worth £1,000 from Bookollective.
Smash All the Windows, her eighth novel, explores the
complex emotions of the families of the victims of a terrible
disaster. The judges – agents Kate Barker and Annette
Crossland, Robin Cutler of IngramSpark, Emily Laidlaw of
the London Book Fair, and Jo Henry of BookBrunch – said
that they were impressed not only with the quality of
Davis’ writing, but also with her committed publishing and
marketing of the novel.
A runner-up certificate went to Jane Steen for Lady Jane
Investigates.

4
 LONDON SHOW DAILY
Indonesia celebrates turn as Market Focus
Operating under the slogan “17,000 Islands of the Imagination”,
the Indonesia market focus opened in the London Book Fair’s
“Spice Market”, an area of the fair that has been purpose
built to showcase Indonesian publishers and cuisine. The
market is built with a circular design representing the swirl of
water around an island. Dozens of events will offer fairgoers
and Londoners the opportunity to explore the island nation’s
culture. One hundred publishing professionals, including a
dozen authors and 30 publishers, have made the trip to
London; 450 indonesian book titles are on display.
Triawan Munaf, chairman of the Indonesian Agency for
Creative Economy, offered remarks during the ceremony,
pointing out that “Indonesia is more than Bali.” In lauding
the country’s economic growth, he underscored the Muslim
nation’s diversity and tolerance, citing the motto of his
organisation’s recent annual conference, “Indonesia:
Inclusively Creative”.
Indonesia made a push onto the international literary scene
in 2015 when it was guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book
Fair. Since then, more than 1,200 rights deals have been made
for translation of Indonesian books. “We are very proud of
Quantum puts focus on Trump again seeks to cut
leadership, film adaptation library funding
The second of half of Monday’s Quantum conference opened
with remarks from Morten Hessenldahl, the CEO of Gyldendal,
one of Denmark’s largest trade publishers. Denmark, a small
market of just 5.7 million people, is serving as guest of honour
at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, and is under increasing
market pressure as it faces the arrival of Amazon.com.
Hessenldahl has been in his position for just eight months,
having come to publishing from various leadership positions
in Denmark’s arts community. He implored publishers to
“not lose faith in the importance of reading”, and to
remember that while we were in an age of disruption, not
to believe that “everything has to be changed”. Likely as a
result of his experience producing works for live audiences,
he emphasised the need for publishers to maintain ties with
their audience and “end-users”, as he called them.
In a series of slides, offering six tips for the future, Hessenldahl
also reflected that one shortcoming of publishing appeared
to be a lack of 21st-century leadership skills – which he
implored the audience to acquire, quickly.
Television and film adaptations from books were the focus
of a panel that asked, “What do producers want?” The answer
was best summarised by panellist Simon Shaps, the TV and
film consultant for the literary agency Capel Associates: “People
don’t know what they want and they don’t read books.” The
advice boiled down to, well, boiling down your book to a simple
slug or log line, and then producing a one-page that helps frame
the story in a way that a potential filmmaker can visualise it.
6
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019
f
Stephen Lotinga (Publishers Association) addresses the opening ceremony
the way the world has embraced our writers and publishing
industry,” said Anton Kurnia, owner of Baca Publishing House.
“People didn’t know much about us before and now they do.”
Indonesia is the first South East Asian nation to be the Market
Focus at the London Book Fair; next year’s Market Focus will
be announced sometime after the end of this week’s event.
For a third straight year, the Trump administration has
proposed the permanent elimination of the federal Institute
of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and with it
virtually all federal library funding.
The president’s FY2020 proposal, dubbed “A Budget for a
Better America”, was officially released on Monday, and is the
largest US federal budget ever proposed, with some $4.7
trillion in proposed spending, including a $34 billion increase
for the Department of Defense, and $8.6 billion for Trump’s
border wall. In all, federal library funding in FY 2019,
including the IMLS budget, came to roughly $233 million.
On Trump’s watch, the federal deficit has now eclipsed
$1 trillion, and last month, the US national debt exceeded
$22 trillion.
In a statement, American Library Association (ALA)
officials blasted the Trump administration’s proposed cuts.
But while ALA officials are disappointed, they are hardly
surprised. The library community vowed to continue to
work with Congress to ensure library funds are not cut.
“As discouraging as it is that the administration has
again proposed eliminating the Institute for Museum and
Library Services (IMLS), the bipartisan support in Congress
over the past two years gives us reason to hope,” ALA
president Loida Garcia-Febo said.
In spite of Trump’s previous budget proposals, library
funding has actually increased slightly over the last two
budgets.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L
M O N E TA R Y F U N D
P U B L I C AT I O N S
Spring 2019. $40. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-48437-214-2. 398pp.
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019
Too much choice
Nicholas Jones suggests that just
having as many titles as possible on a
website isn’t the best way of selling
There is nothing quite like knowledgeable hand-selling of
books. Early in my publishing career I had the excellent
experience of going to bookshops (no central buying in
those days) with John Lyon, then London rep for Michael
Joseph before his move to America and rise to prominence
with Little, Brown. John would tell me a little about each
before our appointment, and I remember his brief on
Heywood Hill, then as now a unique Mayfair shop aimed
at the carriage trade: “Someone will go in and say, ‘I’m off
on holiday tomorrow. What should I be reading?’, and the
customer will rely wholly on what HH suggests.”
That is still true: if you look at the Heywood Hill website
now, you will see the tagline, “Life is too short to waste time
on bad books. Allow us to sort the wheat from the chaff.”
Delivering that offer depends on knowing your clientele
individually. One person’s chaff is another one’s wheat.
Such individual recommendation is clearly not often
possible in a trade now so largely dependent on e-commerce.
There’s a tendency to offer everything and assume that
customers will narrow down what they want, but online
searches are not yet wholly the answer: I sometimes fail to
find books that I know are on Audible (things I have
produced), despite carefully trying alternative search words.
As for the “if you like this, then you’ll like that” algorithms,
things have got a lot better since Amazon suggested about
ten years ago that I’d like Silence of the Lambs because I

The Future of China’s
Bond Market
“The Chinese bond market is too big and
important to be neglected or misunderstood
by investors and policymakers. Now, with the
appearance of this volume, no one has an excuse
for neglect or misunderstanding.”
—Barry Eichengreen, University of
California, Berkeley
had bought a cookery book, but no website I know of has
yet emulated the glorious targeted serendipity that you get
in a physical bookshop with knowledgeable staff.
Do we in publishing bother to think enough about what
is really going on when people make choices? If we don’t
think about the process, we may invite decisions that are
easily made but not actually satisfactory.
There’s a famous paper by Sheena Iyengar and Mark
Lepper called “When Choice is Demotivating” that studied
the behaviour of shoppers in an upmarket food shop in San
Francisco. They set up tasting tables offering varieties of jam,
on one occasion with six on offer, another time with twenty-
four. In both cases about a third of the people entering the
shop sampled some jams, but when it came to making a

Visit IMF in Stand 7G10a purchase, those presented with the smaller range actually
bought ten times more often. Yes, ten times.1 Too much choice
overwhelms and customers succumb to the “tyranny of
choice”, as Barry Schwartz called it in Scientific American.2
When Waterstones used to run the three-for-two offer I
sometimes found that having gone in to buy a book that I

bookstore.imf.org definitely wanted, and found something else that I was

sort-of interested in, I then realised that there really wasn’t
a third book I wished to encumber myself with. So I would

8
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

leave the shop with

nothing. I’m not
surprised that one of
the first things James
Daunt did when he
took over was to
Editorial and production
terminate that
ineffective, often counter-
services for every stage
productive, offer.
This is relevant to
of the content life cycle
the audiobook world.
Quite a few of us in
the professional audio
world take busmen’s HTML5
holidays by subscribing XML
to Audible, but talking
to those who’ve come
Nicholas Jones into our studio
recently I find I am
“There is a need not alone in often EPUB
for specialist having one or more
unused credits. As
audio re-sellers more and more and
who curate more titles get added,
choice becomes harder NIMAS
titles and and harder. There is a PDF
AI & NLP
guide listeners” need for specialist
audio re-sellers who
curate titles and guide listeners in a way that the “more the
merrier” approach will never offer.
WCAG
It’s not just in reaching customers that thinking about the
process of choice matters: recruitment is another area where
too many options may produce the wrong answer. A friend
of mine made the mistake of putting an ad for an editorial
assistant in the Guardian, and got 800 applications. It is
impossible to make a truly objective choice from that number.

Publish Smarter
But at least I know she didn’t use the technique of the
publicity director of the 1990s publisher who would simply
discard anyone who didn’t have a London SW postcode.
C Northcote Parkinson, he of Parkinson’s Law, that
“work expands to fill the time available for its completion”,
also wrote an essay about the art of recruitment, suggesting Intelligent automation,
that the perfect advertisement produced one candidate and
one candidate only, one who was exactly right for the post. accelerated workflows,
The wording should be carefully balanced between enticing
and discouraging applications – in his example, the job was digital learning solutions,
for a lion tamer: “excellent pension scheme, but never yet
claimed” was one masterfully discriminating phrase. and more
In short, too much choice overwhelms; the offer to your
customer should limit the number of options available. ■

Stand 3E08
1
Discussed in Michael Bhaskar’s book Curation, 2016, Piatkus (UK)/
Little, Brown (US). See Chapter 5
2
Barry Schwartz, Scientific American, April 2004, pp. 71–5

Nicholas Jones is founder and managing director of Strathmore

Publishing, an audiobook production company based in London that has
produced more than 1,200 audiobooks, by authors as diverse as Richard
Dawkins, Julia Donaldson, Philippa Gregory and Russell Brand. cenveopublisherservices.com
@CenveoPublisher
 LONDON SHOW DAILY
Who wins in a digital
world?
When digital disruption leads to digital dread, many
organisations are tempted by the lure of grand ambitions,
writes Christopher Kenneally. But sometimes, a taking
stock of your current business may be all that’s needed.
“Sometimes it’s easier to think in terms of moon shots
and how we’re going to completely recast what we do in
the marketplace,” said Paul Michelman, in a recent
interview for Copyright Clearance Center’s podcast series
“Beyond the Book”. Michelman is editor-in-chief at MIT
Sloan Management Review (SMR) and the editor of a pair
of book series on managing technological change,
published in partnership with MIT Press. “It sounds
strange, but sometimes that’s an easier thing to think about
than just finding something in our current operations that
you can improve with the same technology.”
In The AI Advantage (published in October 2018),
author Tom Davenport, distinguished professor of
information technology and management at Babson
College and co-founder of the International Institute for
Analytics, advises taking small steps rather than giant
leaps. “What Tom is doing in this book, which I think is
just so powerful, is showing organisations how to take a
huge complicated technology, AI, and simplify it to the
point where you can actually do something,” Michelman
explained. “It’s easy to get caught up in the kind of long-
term threats and long-term potential of a technology as
huge as AI. But when we do that, we fumble around on
how to get started.”
Before joining SMR in 2015, Michelman was editor-in-
chief at Safari Books Online, and he has also been an executive
editor at Harvard Business Review. In 2016, he helped create
the Frontiers section in SMR to explore the organisational
issues of our time, from the rise of the robots to the surprising
ways that humans remain more powerful than any technology.
Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the MIT Sloan School
of Management is the business school of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, and is internationally recognised as a
hotbed of innovation in artificial
intelligence, data analytics and
computer engineering.
“As a curator of the most
important new ideas coming
out of management research,
both within academia and
within industry, our role is to
identify for people the work
that stands to advance the new
type of practices required
today,” Michelman noted.
“With brands like MIT and
MIT Sloan, we have a hugely
important role to play in
10
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019
helping people figure
out which ideas are
worth spending time
on.” And, he added,
acting on.
Citing the recently
published Who Wins
in a Digital World?, a
collection of articles and
other materials culled
from SMR, Michelman
acknowledges that one
of the greatest dangers
facing businesses today
lies in uncertainty.
“One of the things
we’re finding, which is
Paul Michelman scary to organisations,
is that there isn’t a surefire formula,” he said. “There isn’t a
playbook for how to adapt your older, successful legacy
organisation to the digital world. There’s no playbook for
how to beat unknown competitors, which emerge
seemingly out of nowhere.”
In April, the MIT Press and SMR collaboration will
welcome another title, The Technology Fallacy: How
People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation, by
Gerald C Kane, Anh Nguyen Phillips, Jonathan R Copulsky
and Garth R Andrus. The authors assert that organisations
do better by focusing on company culture, rather than
viewing technology as the fix for every obstacle.
“What the authors are saying is that it’s humans who
create value. But of course, to create value today, humans
need to be able to use technology in the most effective
ways,” Michelman said. “What the authors are saying in
The Technology Fallacy is that your entire organisation has
to be retooled, including the way we manage human
beings, in order to take advantage of new technologies.
But the fundamental issue here is the human beings, not
the technology.”
Over his extensive publishing career, Michelman has
witnessed firsthand the crossover from an analogue to a
digital world. “Publishing is at the epicenter of digital
disruption,” Michelman said. “The democratisation of
ideas is a really wonderful thing. You have more people
from more diverse points of view contributing to the
world’s body of knowledge. Of course, and all publishers
recognise this, that also creates a huge problem for the
consumer of ideas. How do you determine what ideas are
credible and what are not?”
Which only emphasises the power of people in the
publishing business. “One of the nice things about being in
the middle of the digital tsunami is you have your own lens
to bring when you see a new idea,” Michelman explained.
“If an idea feels meaningful to us, we have a pretty good
sense it’s going to feel meaningful to others.” ■
Christopher Kenneally hosts “Beyond the Book”, a podcast series from
Copyright Clearance Center.
 TM

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 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

In Canada, a busy year With a federal

election on the horizon,

for copyright legislative or regulatory

change may still be
years away. However,
Ever since Canada’s 2012 Copyright Modernization Act, it’s parliamentarians of all
been an intense time for copyright in Canada – and 2018 political stripes have
was no exception, writes Kate Edwards. The long-awaited an opportunity to play
Statutory Review of the Copyright Act began in April 2018 a leadership role in
and continued through much of the year. Led by the Standing reversing the
Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, the review problems resulting
heard testimony from more than 200 witnesses and accepted from the education
briefs from almost as many stakeholders. Its eventual report sector’s interpretation
will include the findings of a parallel enquiry by the Standing of the Copyright
Committee on Canadian Heritage, focused on remuneration Modernization Act’s
models for artists and creative industries. provision on fair dealing.
Canadian rightsholder organisations and the International In response to
Publishers Association contributed to both committees, focusing Kate Edwards widespread recognition
on the damage caused by the inclusion of fair dealing for education that Canada’s Copyright Board had become inefficient, the
in the 2012 Copyright Modernization Act. Authors and publishers Ministers responsible for the Board initiated a process for reform
testified that the introduction of a poorly defined fair-dealing in summer 2017. While the reform package that was ultimately
exception in 2012 helped break a previously well-functioning announced in October 2018 included some progress, the primary
marketplace, leading to their cumulative loss of at least $98 request made by the author and publishing sectors – that statutory
million (CAD) over the last six years, and unsustainable damage damage rates be harmonised across collective societies – was not
to a host of Canadian cultural industries and professions. The included. This means that when Access Copyright (the Canadian
reports are expected to be released sometime this spring.
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12
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019
in Quebec) seek to enforce publishers’ and authors’ rights against
unlicensed infringers, they can only collect damages equal to
the value of the tariff set by the Copyright Board.
Imagine parking your car in a lot where the fine you might
receive is equal to the cost of parking; who would ever pay
in advance? Pay now, or maybe pay later – if you’re ticketed.
This is now the situation for the Canadian education sector:
it has no incentive to pay tariffs set by the Copyright Board.
This is an untenable situation for Canadian writers and
publishers. Continued litigation is also not sustainable.
K-12 litigation
The education sector’s disregard for the Copyright Board has been
on full display in suits launched in February 2018 against Access
Copyright by the K-12 education sector outside of Quebec. The
suits seek to recover $25 million (CAD) in legally certified tariff
fees collected by Access Copyright for the period of 2010-2012.
There is no dispute that the Departments of Education
overpaid the tariff during this period (fees are often paid before
the Copyright Board sets a final rate), but because the schools
ceased paying the mandatory tariff in January 2013, in Access
Copyright’s view, tens of millions of dollars are owed to both
Canadian and international rights-holders, not the other way
around. Seeing provincial governments suing Canadian creators
and publishers when they in fact owe them money has led
many to question the commitment of Canadian governments
LONDON SHOW DAILY
at all levels to a sustainable domestic publishing industry
and the Canadian-specific learning resources they produce.
The Federal Court of Canada’s 2017 decision in Access
Copyright v. York University was a definitive victory for
Canadian rights-holders. It found unequivocally that York’s
copying guidelines – substantially shared by the entire
education sector – are unfair, and that tariffs certified by the
Copyright Board are mandatory. The university’s appeal of
the decision is scheduled to be heard by the Federal Court
of Appeal this month. In the meantime, the education
sector has not changed its copying practices, and continues
to amass an enormous bill in unpaid tariffs. We anticipate a
decision on the appeal in late 2019 or in early 2020.
The view from Quebec
To end on a positive note, in July 2018 Copibec and Université
Laval settled the class action suit launched by Copibec when
Laval ceased payment of licensing fees to the collective. With this
settlement, the entire K-12 and post-secondary education sector in
Quebec is now back under collective licence. This is excellent news
for writers and publishers. Though the vast majority of Canadian
educational institutions outside of Quebec remain unlicensed,
when material is copied for use in Quebec classrooms royalties
are paid. With leadership and political will, there is no reason
that the same could not again be true throughout Canada. ■
Kate Edwards is executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers.
13
 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

Time to axe the tax on longstanding

recognition that the

reading Government would

not seek to tax reading
and knowledge.
2. It is fair. Many
EU Legislation on taxing digital products vulnerable groups
was reformed in 2018. Dan Conway would benefit, including
the 360,000 registered
argues that it is time that the UK blind or partially
dropped VAT on ebooks sighted people in the
UK who rely upon
accessible digital books.
For those of you who have been in and around publishing 3. It would be
policy for a number of years, the issue over ebook VAT will positive for industry
not be a new one. When the UK entered the European growth. The measure
Union nearly 50 years ago, we decided as a nation that we would grow readership
would not tax knowledge. And so began the tradition of Dan Conway and grow the market
printed books being VAT-free, stimulating learning and overall.
ensuring that reading remained affordable and accessible “Many vulnerable 4. It is popular
to people of all ages, incomes and abilities. groups would with the public.
Then came the rise of digital. The nature of knowledge Polling commissioned
exchange would be fundamentally altered, ushering in a benefit… [and] it by the Publishers
revolution that would alter global society forever. The way would be positive for Association and
people accessed information changed and reading followed conducted by ComRes
suit – for academic journal publishers digital is now industry growth.” before Christmas
roughly 90% of the market, while in fiction sales we see the found that almost two
ebook totalling almost a third of all sales. Print remains thirds of British adults support the move.
resilient of course in many parts of the market and the 5. Finally, and importantly for the Treasury, it is cheap.
physical book is a much-beloved product, but it has not Frontier Economics has estimated that the annual costs to
been impervious to the revolution. the Exchequer of zero-rating e-publications would be
approximately £210m, or only 0.14% of the total VAT receipts.
Keeping up with EU legislation This would then be offset by at least £55m per year in reduced
Throughout this period, EU law did not keep pace and public sector organisation spend on digital publications.
Member States were persistently banned from dropping The Publishers Association has begun conversations with
rates of VAT on digital products. Until the 4th December HM Treasury over the exemption and is working with the
2018 that is. On what the Publishers Association dubbed Government and wider interested stakeholders to work out
“eVAT Freedom Day”, a moniker reinforced by the Rt the policy rationale, economic ramifications and scope of
Hon. the Lord Young of Cookham speaking on behalf of the measure. These discussions will continue into 2019.
the Government in the House of Lords later that week, the There is little hope that the Chancellor will announce
EU legislation was officially reformed and the UK finally this measure using his “Spring Statement” today, but we are
became able to end the outdated inconsistency. hoping that we will be able to prove the case to
Now it is for the UK government to decide whether it will Government in the ensuing months in the lead up to the
keep pace with other European nations (who are already in full budget in the autumn. Be warned, the Government
the process of utilising this newfound freedom) and act to doesn’t give away money easily and, while we are
implement this long- cautiously optimistic, the case is far from won.
awaited legislation. So how can the industry support the campaign? The
Publishers Association is calling on the wider industry to help
Why the UK us in calling on the Government to #AxeTheReadingTax.
government In doing so, the UK will show the world that our country is
should act now serious about cementing our position as a literary nation
There are five reasons that encourages readers of all backgrounds and ages.
why the Government Please sign our petition at www.axethereadingtax.org to
should do it. show your support and let’s future-proof the UK’s great
1. It is, frankly, the publishing industry. ■
right thing to do. It Dan Conway is head of public affairs and research at the Publishers
maintains a Association.

14
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 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

Development for all: Guild (IPG) are

publishing an incredible

the IPG Skills Hub range of content and

employing many
thousands of people
Bridget Shine explains how new from a multitude of
backgrounds. They are
professional development resources are the experts in their
fields and the lifeblood
helping to create better pathways of publishing.
through publishing The IPG celebrates
the rich diversity of
In tune with the current international climate, the UK the independent sector
publishing industry has been undergoing a period of every year at our
introspection. On top of a succession of reports indicating Independent
the lack of ethnic diversity across the sector, recent research Publishing Awards,
has suggested that publishing is the preserve of the well off, which highlight the
with new recruits drawn from middle class backgrounds and Bridget Shine enormous
with the financial support necessary to work in London and contributions that our members make to the UK’s culture
the south east, where jobs are concentrated. “The publishing and economy. We’re looking forward to celebrating our next
industry seems to be from another century,” said Justin set of winners at the 2019 awards, which will be presented
Webb in a discussion on Radio 4’s Today programme. by Sindhu Vhee during our Spring Conference on 2nd May.
This is a surprising and inaccurate generalisation that This is not to deny that publishers face significant
ignores the many hundreds of independent publishers spread challenges in attracting and nurturing talent, whatever
across all four countries of the UK. From the north of Scotland their size, location or specialism. A couple of years ago our
to the tip of Cornwall, members of the Independent Publishers research into members’ priorities highlighted an urgent

Programme Highlights
Wednesday, 13th March 2019
Olympia Centre

Indonesian Graphic Novels Seno Gumira Ajidarma in Conversation From Local Page to World Stage
Indonesian readers delight in the visual—not with Sian Cain Ever since Indonesia’s appearance as Guest of
surprisingly given the country’s large number of Indonesian ‘Author of the Day’, Seno Gumira Ajidarma, Honour Country at the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair,
talented graphic artists. The stories being told in is a critically acclaimed author of non-fiction, short a growing number of literary festivals and literary
a visual or graphic format are both classic and stories and essays. Though much of Seno’s work, support programmes have helped to boost
contemporary, as appealing to today’s generation as both the factual and the fictional, focuses on everyday Indonesia’s image as a rich source of content. Hear
they were to readers in decades past. life and criticizes contemporary social, cultural and from three literary activists how this has happened.
political conditions— he has a great sense of humor
Speakers : Hikmat Darmawan, Rakhman Azhari, as well, and has published satirical essays, playful Speakers : Goenawan Mohamad, Janet DeNeefe,
Sheila Rooswitha Putri poetry, a cartoon novel, and historical fantasies. He Laura Bangun Prinsloo
Chair : Paul Gravett is well known in Indonesia as a consistent advocate Chair : Claudia Kaiser
Venue : Spice Café (4B30) @ LBF of free speech and freedom of publication. He will Venue : Spice Café (4B30) @ LBF
Time : 13:00—13:45 be appearing in conversation with Sian Cain, The Time : 15:00—15:45
Guardian’s books site editor.

Speakers : Seno Gumira Ajidarma,

Sian Cain (Interviewer)
Venue : English PEN Literary Salon (3D90)
@ LBF
Time : 14:00—14:30

#ImagineNation #LBFIndonesia

16
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019 LONDON SHOW DAILY

need for support in improving the skills of their staff – not

just so they can make themselves better businesses, but so
“The IPG Skills not been the case with
the Skills Hub. Since
young publishers can broaden their expertise and progress Hub… shows the launching two years
their careers. While some of our members have the
resources for in-house or external training, many others
publishing industry ago, it has exceeded
our targets and
struggle to find the time and money for it. And across the at its best: expectations, and has
board, when companies need to tighten their belts, training
seems to be one of the first things to fall by the wayside.
collegiate, generous grown into a rich
source of nearly 100
Add to the mix the seismic change that has swept and egalitarian.” different pieces of
publishing in recent years, and the need for upskilling was training content.
clearly greater than ever. We responded by developing a Multi-module courses in publicity and financial
strategy for training that grew into the IPG Skills Hub, a management, timely and practical resources to support
major portal of training resources that is available to all dignity at work, snappy tips for business strategies and
members of staff at every IPG member. Free and unlimited increasing sales – all this and so much more is available
access removes the hurdles to training, and online hosting on demand in a few clicks.
means content is always available, regardless of publishers’ Members tell us they use the Skills Hub for things like
geographical locations or working patterns. inductions and appraisal follow-ups as well as ongoing
Another key characteristic of the Skills Hub is that the bulk professional development, and some say that it pays for the
of the content is written by our members and for our members. cost of IPG membership by itself. We are hugely grateful to
Independent publishers have a remarkable camaraderie, and everyone who has contributed content, because it shows
the Skills Hub celebrates their willingness to help one another. the publishing industry at its best: collegiate, generous and
It hosts resources from publishers and suppliers who are egalitarian. And by transforming the way our members
experts in their fields, and draws on content that is so look after their people, it dismantles some of the most
generously shared at our popular conferences and events. significant barriers to access and progression in the world
Some publishing initiatives sound impressive and of publishing.  ■
worthy while never fulfilling their potential – but that’s Bridget Shine is chief executive of the Independent Publishers Guild.

17
 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

Amanda than it does today. I

QA
don’t oversee ebooks,

D’Acierno: so I’m not sure I’m the

best person to speak
to the audio versus
Now hear this! ebooks question. But
one of the key aspects
of digital audio
The rise of digital audio has been one of publishing’s big growth is that it’s
stories in recent years, and 2019 shows no signs of slowing bringing in new
down, writes Andrew Richard Albanese, who recently consumers. In the
caught up with Amanda D’Acierno, president & publisher, Audio Publishers
Penguin Random House Audio Group (PRH was the Association’s (APA)
inaugural winner of the London Book Fair’s Audiobook most recent consumer
Publisher of the Year prize) to talk about audio’s rise, and survey, 50% of
its prospects for continued growth. listeners report the
time they spend with
A decade ago, the digital conversation was all about ebooks. Amanda D’Acierno audiobooks is an
But today, digital revenues for many publishers are being addition to their time
driven into positive territory by audio. If you’d told me a spent reading, not
decade ago that audio would lead the way to profitability replacing time with
for publishers in digital, I’m not sure I would have believed print or ebooks.
it – but that’s the reality today, isn’t it?
Audio has long been a lab for publishers in how to play in Do you have a sense of where we are in audio’s growth
the digital space. It was a good place to experiment for a curve?
long time, because it had a different bottom line impact I think this year will be another year of real growth for
audio. The APA’s data shows that more than half of
audiobook listeners are young, ages 18-44. And they’re
listening on multiple platforms. They are downloading
titles from Google Play, from an Audible subscription, from
Apple Books, and they are using OverDrive’s Libby app to
borrow from their library. And these are just a few of the
digital audiobook stores. The more people I meet, the more
combinations of audio apps I see.

Given the rapid rise in the demand for audio, I imagine you
had to really quickly ramp up your capacity?
We did. In fact, increasing capacity was a primary goal of
the merger between Random House Audio and Penguin
Audio. In 2014, our first year as the combined Penguin
Random House Audio, we published 652 titles in audio. In
2018, we published 1,465. To make that happen, we had to
do a lot of work on the front end. For example, what does
it take to acquire those titles? The managing editors have to
put everything in the system, what does that mean
operationally? How do we secure the cover art and format
for our product? What kind of digital distribution system
do we need to have to get these recordings stored, and then
out to accounts? It was a major investment.
In terms of production, we’ve been very fortunate that
we’ve always had studios in Los Angeles, and we have
expanded our facilities to include ten studios in LA, and
five more here in New York. We’re also working with more
directors, actors and post-production staff. To help our
producers find the right voice for every title, we’ve even
built a database, called Ahab, which I think of as a kind of
IMDb for voiceover talent. We’re working to roll Ahab out

18
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019 LONDON SHOW DAILY

internationally across Penguin Random House now, and
we’ll open it up to external partners in the near future.
What’s the international outlook like for audio? Is the rest
of the world seeing the same kind of growth?
The US, the UK and Germany are very mature audiobook
markets that are seeing year-over-year growth. In 2017,
Penguin Random House launched an audio division in
Canada, and Audible launched a distinct site in Canada as
well. And we’re seeing increased demand for Spanish-
language audio in the US and abroad. Our colleagues at
Grupo Editorial have overseen a robust Spanish-language
audio publishing programme, and last year we began
partnering with them to jointly produce Spanish-language
audiobooks, including Dan Brown’s Origin, and forthcoming
editions of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Audio was the hot topic at last year’s London Book Fair,
and audio is prominent once again this year. I have to ask –
16 years ago when you started in audio, did you foresee a
day where the format would be the talk of the industry at
international book fairs?
Honestly, 16 years ago I would have been surprised if you
told me that audio would be the talk of the industry in 2019.
It’s been a very exciting development, and great to see the
growth of this format that so many people have worked so
tirelessly to pursue. Like most of us in publishing, I came
into the business very much thinking book, book, book.
Then, I really fell in love with taking an author’s work,
works that I have so much respect for, and finding the right
actors to bring those written works to life in audio.
frontlist titles. We’ve really combed through the backlist in
the last few years, and in the English language there aren’t
many titles left out there that are appropriate for the
format that haven’t been exploited in audio. And by
appropriate, I mean narratives, excluding things like
cookbooks and photography books. That’s why I think
building the audiobook catalogue up with more languages
is really the next big growth area for audio.
Speaking of future growth, we see so many possibilities for
more exposure. It seems like wherever you look, you see
someone has earbuds in. What do you think might drive the
next bump in growth for audio?
Last year was another huge holiday season for smart
speakers like Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa devices,
and the research shows that people with those devices are
listening to audiobooks. But the way they’re listening is
changing. Instead of only listening while multi-tasking, like
during a commute or a workout, now we’re starting to see
that people are listening to audiobooks in the evening as a
wind down, as a relaxing end-of-the-day experience. We
are shifting our marketing messages to reflect that. Given
the continued adoption of smart speakers, the format’s
appeal with younger, 20 and 30-something readers, and
seeing our early sales so far this year, I feel optimistic about
another year of double-digit growth. ■
Secure the rights to your next

In a talk last year in Frankfurt you noted that Michelle

BEST SELLER!
Obama did not do an abridged edition, and spent almost
seven days recording the audio edition of Becoming.
Abridged editions used to be the norm – is Michelle Obama
an outlier, or have authors bought in to doing complete
audio editions?
Out of the more than 1,400 titles that we published last
year, less than 20 were abridged. In the early days,
audiobooks were abridged to keep the price point down,
not to mention it was very cumbersome to have 25 or 30
CDs in a package. That’s all changed with digital delivery.
Customers now demand an unabridged product. And just
as readers are more aware of audio today, so are authors.
Ten years ago, we were still educating customers about
audiobooks. Now, we’re helping them figure out what their
next audiobook listen should be. Authors know this, so it’s
not at all difficult to get them into the studio to read,
especially for non-fiction. I can’t imagine Mrs Obama PUBLISHING RIGHTS: amym@ctpub.com | 800.284.1114
would have wanted anyone else to read her work.
Visit us at
So where is the audio business now in terms of the catalogue
– are you still combing through the backlist seeing what
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at the London
needs an audio edition, or maybe an updated or better
Book Fair
quality audio edition? Or are you focusing on frontlist?
Most of our current production efforts are focused on

19
 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

The end of the world

as we know it?
It has been 30 years since Random House released Bill
McKibben’s The End of Nature, the first major book about
climate change written for lay readers. In 2019, with the
effects of climate change accelerating, a host of new titles
(including McKibben’s latest work Falter: Has the Human
Game Begun to Play Itself Out? – Holt, April) will offer

photo: NASA
varied takes on the subject, writes Lenny Picker, including
a look at how geology has influenced humanity, accounts
of how we got to where we are today, and even a dash of
Hurricane Felix, September 2007
much-needed optimism.
In Origins: How Earth’s History “If your anxiety about [climate
Shaped Human History (Basic
Books, May) astrobiologist Lewis change] is dominated by fears of sea-
Dartnell weaves together the latest level rise, you are barely scratching
science and world history to explore
how planet Earth itself has directed the surface of what terrors are
the human story. “Fundamental possible.” – David Wallace-Wells
features of the planet we live on have
crafted our very evolution, directed principles such as equality, freedom
the history of civilisations to shape and human rights result out of
the modern world, and still influence these developments.”
politics today,” Dartnell says. And on Blom’s editor, Robert Weil, says
the subject of climate change, Dartnell seeks to put our Nature’s Mutiny is an essential work
present perilous conditions in deeper context. “Burning “to help us understand how a global
fossil fuels has been like releasing a trapped genie, he says. society and culture copes with the
“It granted us our 17th-century wish for virtually limitless dire consequences of climate change.
energy, but has done so with mischievous malice for the “Even though I love European
unintended consequences further down the line.” history, and have published dozens
Dartnell, however, remains hopeful. “We see multiple of books in the field, I had never seen
times when civilisations have faced increasing challenges a history that examined the Ice Age
from their natural environment, and they have been able to of the late 16th and 17th centuries to show how Europe was
work themselves out to a solution,” he says. Dartnell’s totally refashioned as a result of these climate changes,” Weil
editor, TJ Kelleher, says Dartnell’s prior book, the New says. “Blom demonstrates how the urban European world
York Times bestselling The Knowledge: How to Rebuild we know today was shaped by the flight of people from
Our World After an Apocalypse, will provide a springboard rural areas to the cities, and one can imagine over the next
for Basic’s marketing efforts. 100 years how seismic the geographic shift in population
In the recently published Nature’s Mutiny: How the will be when millions of people have to flee coastal areas.”
Little Ice Age of the Long Seventeenth Century Nathaniel Rich’s Losing Earth: A Recent History (FSG/
Transformed the West and Shaped the Present (Liveright, MCD, April) originated as a New York Times Magazine
February) Philipp Blom starts with the simple question: feature in 2018. “Climate change poses the ultimate test to
What changes in a society if the climate changes? His our humanity,” Rich says. “I thought the best way to take
answer: everything. “We may not this on was to follow the story 40 years into the past,
know what global warming brings, before the current political paralysis set in, and write about
but we can give a fairly detailed the small group of heroic nobodies who first grasped the
answer about what changed during full extent of the problem and tried to warn the world to
the so-called Little Ice Age, roughly act before it was too late.” Rich poses a series of
between the 1560s and the 1680s. In complicated moral questions – including: “How do we
Europe, feudal societies developed begin to make sense of our own complicity, however
stronger markets, stronger middle reluctant, in this nightmare?”  
classes, different social practices, Rich’s editor, Sean McDonald, says FSG/MCD will
political ideas and a different idea of aggressively market the book as one book to read if you
what makes us human. Philosophical want to understand the world we live in. “I think the book

20
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019
points clearly at what we have to do
now,” Rich says. “We’re all very
excited to be publishing it, and
deeply committed to it... I mean, who
wouldn’t be thrilled to be involved in
doing anything that might help save
the world?”
In End Times: A Brief Guide to the
End of the World (Hachette, August),
former Time correspondent Bryan
Walsh shares his experiences writing
and editing stories about climate change over the years. “I
attended major UN climate change summits from Denmark
to Indonesia to Mexico. I interviewed prime ministers and
scientists and ordinary people about their feelings on
climate change. And what I ultimately found was that while
we may talk about the importance of climate change and
our willingness to act on it, not many of us are really
prepared to accept limits like flying less, eating less beef,
even having fewer children,” Walsh says. “Judged by our
actions, rather than our words, it’s clear we think climate
change is important – but not that important.”
Walsh’s editor Krishan Trotman says the book “uniquely
tackles the psychological challenges of climate change, the
way it clashes with our natural short-term thinking and
understanding that can help us understand other existential
risks”. And, Trotman adds, the book also places climate
change among those other risks. “Climate change is just
one of many threats to the future of the world,” Trotman
says, “and as Bryan explains in the book, it’s not likely the
one that would get us first.”
In The Ice at the End of the World: An Epic Journey into
Greenland’s Buried Past and Our Perilous Future (Random
House, June), journalist Jon Gertner argues that: “We need
to have an ethical and factual awakening about climate
change that has not yet occurred.” But after an unusually
warm summer melted the entire surface of the Greenland ice
sheet, Gertner says, “I started to think that Greenland – with
ice comprising 24 feet of potential sea level rise – might be
an interesting and focused way to write about climate.”
Gertner’s editor, Andy Ward, says the book may be “tightly
focused on this one place – 1,500 miles long and 700 miles
wide” but in fact tells a much larger story about the future
of our planet. Ward says he feels a responsibility to publish
books about subjects that speak to uncomfortable truths.
“There are plenty of subjects worthy of deeper exploration
right now,” he says. “It’s our job to
do as much of that as we can.”
Perhaps the gloomiest entry for
2019 is The Uninhabitable Earth:
Life After Warming by David
Wallace-Wells (Tim Duggan Books,
February). Editor Helen Conford
says the book “offers us a new,
imaginative understanding of why
climate change is the fundamental
condition of life in the 21st century”.
LONDON SHOW DAILY
And Wallace-Wells certainly pulls no punches, writing that
the “slowness of climate change is a fairy tale, perhaps as
pernicious as the one that says it isn’t happening at all, and
if your anxiety about it is dominated by fears of sea-level
rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors
are possible, even within the lifetime of a teenager today”.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. In A Bright Future:
How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the
Rest Can Follow Joshua S Goldstein and Staffan A Qvist
(Public Affairs, January) offer a rosier take – although, like
Wallace-Wells’ book, it opens by stressing that the current
situation is worse than we think. But, Goldstein says, the
experiences of Sweden, France, Ontario province and
South Korea show that “clean energy can be added at the
needed rate for global decarbonisation”.
The book’s focus on practical
solutions is what intrigued its editor,
Benjamin Adams. “We chose to
publish this book after the midterm
elections, to help set the agenda for a
new Congress,” Adams says. “What
makes Goldstein and Qvist unique
on this subject is that they are saying
that this truth doesn’t have to be as
inconvenient as we think. If we’re all
up for fixing it, we can.” ■
IN THE SHADOW OF WAR:
Spies, Love & the Lusitania
by Colleen Adair Fliedner
When the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a German
U-boat off the coast of Ireland in 1915, nearly 1,200 people
drowned, including 128 Americans. The British government
wanted the U.S. to join the Allied Forces in WWI. Did
they set in motion actions allowing the luxury liner to be a
target for a German U-boat’s torpedo to achieve that goal?
This compelling novel is the story of a family torn apart by
death, and lovers who are separated when the ship slides
into the icy sea. German
spy rings in New York,
America’s $500 million
dollar loan to replenish
England and France’s
empty war chests and
much more are woven
into this gripping drama.
ISBN: 978-1-937818-93-7 ( PB )
ISBN: 978-1-937818-94-4 ( HC )
Sand Hill Review
Press, LCC ... Available
from: Ingram Content
21
 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

A marketplace for arguments turn upon

the applicability of the

second-hand ebooks? Oracle v Usedsoft case

(which held that sales
of second-hand
Spring is in the air, heralding the annual ritual of cleaning, software programs did
decluttering and making space for the longer days ahead, not infringe copyright
writes Zoey Forbes. Whilst some book lovers are loathe to provided the rights-
part with their books (as exemplified by the fierce debate holders had received
that raged over Marie Kondo’s advice to only keep books appropriate
that “spark joy”), others will be spring cleaning their remuneration on the
bookshelves and disposing of their unwanted books. But first sale); whether
what can we do with the books we no longer wish to keep? there is a first sale (as
Thanks to a legal principle known as “exhaustion” here ebooks tend to be
in the UK and the “first sale doctrine” in the US, we can licensed rather than
distribute the physical books we own as we wish without sold); and whether
the consent of the rights-holder. We may decide to donate transferring ebooks
our books to a charity shop or give them to a friend. We Zoey Forbes engages the
may sell our books to a second-hand bookshop or, if we distribution right. The
have something really special, to an antiquarian book “There is a real policy arguments turn
dealer. We may even sell our books ourselves through an
online marketplace such as eBay. But does this extend to
concern that a on the tension
between the free
our ebooks? ruling in favour of movement of goods
In the US, the answer is no. At the end of last year, the
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that ReDigi,
digital exhaustion and services, and the
protection of
an online marketplace which allowed users to sell their would threaten a intellectual property
unwanted iTunes files, was unlawful. The Court of Appeals
concluded that ReDigi’s system created unauthorised
profitable segment rights; the differences
between physical
copies of the iTunes files, which were not protected by the of the publishing copies and digital
first sale doctrine or the US doctrine of fair use. Whilst the copies; and the
Court of Appeals did not comment on the lawfulness of
industry.” potential loss of value
other systems, it placed any change to the first sale doctrine in the primary market.
firmly in the hands of Congress. The ruling has been For rights-holders, the fundamental differences
welcomed by the Association of American Publishers, between physical and digital formats are the heart of the
which had previously warned that legalising ReDigi would problem, as summed up by the Association of American
be “catastrophic for the entire publishing industry” as Publishers in its amicus brief for the ReDigi case: “With
various players have expressed interest in creating a ebooks, used copies are a perfect substitute for new copies,
secondary market for ebooks, which would undermine the and digital “lending” allows multiple readers to access a
primary market. single digital copy simultaneously. Moreover, unlike the
Here in Europe, the jury is still out and all eyes are on the makers of films and sound recordings, ebook publishers
Dutch case of Tom Kabinet. Back in 2014, Tom Kabinet cannot effectively distribute their works by means of online
created an online marketplace which allowed sellers to streaming, rendering the ebook market uniquely vulnerable
upload their used ebooks for purchase and download, after to the consequences.”
which the ebooks were deleted from the sellers’ accounts. As a result, there is a real concern that a ruling in favour
After the Dutch Association of Publishers brought of digital exhaustion would threaten a profitable segment
preliminary proceedings for copyright infringement, Tom of the publishing industry (the Publishers Association
Kabinet changed its business model from being an valued the total income from digital sales of ebooks and
intermediary to being a reseller of ebooks that it either journals at £1.8bn in 2017), with ramifications for both
bought itself or received as donations from its members. publishers’ and authors’ income.
Nevertheless, the question remained as to whether Tom Unfortunately, this uncertainty may not be resolved for
Kabinet could resell used ebooks without the rights- some time: it can take up to two years for the CJEU to
holder’s consent. The Dutch court referred this question to make a decision. Therefore we might not get a definitive
the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and answer until 2020 or beyond. And even though the position
requested a ruling on whether the principle of exhaustion is settled across the pond, it is not immutable. So, whilst
applies to ebooks. you can’t sell or donate your unwanted ebooks for the time
There are a number of legal and policy arguments both being, the message is watch this space. ■
for and against digital exhaustion. In short, the legal Zoey Forbes is an associate at Harbottle & Lewis LLP.

22
 MAY 29 - 31, 2019
JAVITS CENTER, NYC

ESSENTIAL FOR ANYONE SELLING

IN THE NORTH AMERICAN MARKET

BOOKEXPOAMERICA.COM
 LONDON SHOW DAILY WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

When do book-buyers Commuting/

travelling
17%
52%

choose digital? For pleasure/

relaxation
20%
43%

In 2018, the UK book market saw growth across print, audio and To read/listen 22%
ebooks, with physical and digital proving they can co-exist and before bed 43%
thrive alongside each other, as readers decide which formats work A very long/ 31%
best for them in different situations, writes Jackie Swope. We have complex book 41%
some readers that have switched completely to one format – ebook
consumers aged 55+ show the highest tendency to have stopped An easy/ 28%
light read 37%
buying print in favour of ebooks, while 30% of audiobook
consumers report reading fewer print books since they adopted Author/genre I am 22%
audio – but many of those that are buying digital formats are still less familiar with 33%
swayed back to print in certain circumstances, whether stemming
To read/listen to 35%
from price, author, genre or intended use of the book. on holiday 32%
For those ebook consumers that buy both print and ebooks,
48% of those surveyed would still choose a print book for study/ One of my favourite 31%
work, closely followed by 45% choosing print for a favourite authors/genres 31%

author. On the other end, a similar share said they would choose Read/listen to 29%
an ebook for commuting/travelling, and 39% would go digital for with children 31%
an author they haven’t read before. We asked audiobook
For study/ 32%
consumers a similar question, and 42% of those that still use print
work purposes 30%
or ebooks along with audio said they would stick to reading rather
■ % likely to choose print/e
than listening for a favourite author or genre, as well as for a ■ %likely choose audio
holiday read. And as with the ebook results, audio consumers
Audiobook consumers that have increased their audio listening and still read print/e
ranked commuting/travelling as the primary circumstance in
which they would be more likely to listen to audiobooks. emerges, with commuting/travelling as the most popular driver for
If we focus on those that have increased their ebook or choosing ebooks or audiobooks, as shown in the graphs. An
audiobook consumption in recent years, the same general pattern unfamiliar author and a holiday read skew more digital than print
when it comes to ebook buyers, but even those that have increased
their ebook buying show a preference for physical books when it
comes to relaxing, reading before bed, buying a favourite author
Commuting/ 18%
travelling 52% and especially for study/work.
Contrarily, for audiobook consumers that have increased their
listening, they’re more likely to choose audio for pleasure/
Author I haven’t 18%
relaxation and for before bed, along with for an unfamiliar author
read before 45%
or genre. As for a favourite author or genre, the respondents who
would choose an audiobook only just outnumber the ones that
To read on 32% would choose a print/ebook. Only a couple of situations see
holiday 39% preference for reading edge ahead of listening for these consumers,
with 35% saying they would be more likely to choose a print/
To read before 35% ebook to read on holiday and 32% saying the same for study/
bed 33% work purposes.
Price proves to be the unifier for both ebook and audiobook
For pleasure/ 32% consumers. Unsurprisingly, in both studies, the majority of
relaxation 30% respondents said they would choose the cheaper format, whether
that be print, ebook or audio. But when prices are the same, 37%
of ebook buyers that still buy physical books said they would
By my favourite 43%
choose the print book, with 21% going with the ebook. Audio
author 24%
consumers weren’t as decisive: 40% agreed that they were equally
likely to choose audio or print/ebook if prices were the same, with
For study/ 48% 33% going with the latter in that situation. ■
work purposes 18% Jackie Swope is publisher account manager, Nielsen Book Research.
■ % likely to choose print This article includes insights from two of Nielsen’s 2018 deep dive studies:
■ % likely choose ebook Understanding the UK Audiobook Consumer and Understanding the UK
E-Book Consumer. Both are available to purchase; please contact
Ebook buyers that have increased their ebook buying and still read print books infobookresearch@nielsen.com for more information.

24
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INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR
Trade Days: December 2-4, 2019

§ Turn-Key display options § 5 star hotel block minutes from the

§ Shipping, customs clearance and delivery exposition center
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§ And more…

For more information, stop by the USA Pavilion in Stand # 6C99, or contact us after the fair

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FIND OUT MORE
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Sponsored by
In collaboration with
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019
Jill Coleman looks at the issue of
diversity in children’s books publishing
and how BookTrust Represents hopes
to make a difference
“I am a bookworm, the daughter of a bookworm, but always
assumed that I couldn’t be a published children’s writer
because I wasn’t white and dead. In my early thirties, I found
out about Malorie Blackman and thanks to the Pig Heart Boy,
I finally found my real voice” – so says Patrice Lawrence.
BookTrust exists to get children reading, regardless of
their race, colour or background. We want all children to
experience the transformative life chances that result from
engaging in reading. Reaching out to everyone with books is
more than just a vision for us, it’s what we do. But finding
books that accurately reflect the diversity of families across
the UK is difficult – we just don’t find enough.
Transformative life chances
Why do we care so much? We know from years of experience
that representational voices in children’s books are important for
all children from all backgrounds. Books are a window onto the
world, a child’s first access to culture, and all children deserve to
hear a range of voices and perspectives. As has been said many
times before, books are also mirrors, reflecting and articulating
our own experience – and we are depriving many children of this
experience in the books they read. We know that children who
don’t see themselves in books are less likely to become readers
and therefore less likely to become the writers of the future. So, in
the longer term, we are all deprived of new voices and new talent.
In April, BookTrust is publishing BookTrust Represents,
a major piece of research with University College London,
investigating the number of authors and illustrators of colour
published in the UK over the last decade. This groundbreaking
piece of research is the first of its kind and provides a detailed
picture of trends in authorship. It shines a light on the fact
that in the past 11 years, fewer than 2% of all authors and/or
illustrators of children’s books published in the UK are British
people of colour, and it describes the experiences of a range
of writers and illustrators in their journeys to publication.
Our investigation gives us an accurate baseline from which
to measure changes over time, and the data to inform our
future work and our investment in making effective change.
We know that the book trade is aware of the problems that
exist around diversity and representation, and of the huge
commercial opportunity this presents to the industry. We
understand that many organisations are working hard to rectify
the problems and that a number of initiatives already exist to
increase publishing diversity, which we enthusiastically support.
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019 Muswell Press
Spring Highlights

Nadia Shireen on a visit to a primary school

“It’s important More to be done

We also know more ‘Engrossing. One of ‘A nail-biting thriller
that all children that needs to be done. the finest historical that’ll keep you up all
Children need and novels in recent years’ night’ Emily Koch
understand that deserve to see National Post
people who look like themselves in books,
and to have access to a
me can do jobs like rich and diverse range
this. It’s not just for of voices. If they do, it
can be life-changing.
posh white women “When I go into
or old white guys schools to read, the
response from kids of
with beards.” colour is incredible.
– Nadia Shireen You can see their faces
light up with possibility.
I underestimated the importance until I saw it with my own
eyes. There’s that phrase ‘you cannot be what you cannot see’.
It’s important that all children understand that people who
look like me can do jobs like this. It’s not just for posh white
‘One of the most ‘An original and
women or old white guys with beards, “says Nadia Shireen. fascinating characters charming novel.’
This is why we’re supporting the publication of Speaking in politics’ Guardian Claire Tomalin
Volumes’ Breaking New Ground brochure, which launches at
the Fair today (10am, Children’s Hub), and showcases 100
wonderful children’s writers and illustrators of colour. Following
the launch of our research, as part of our BookTrust Represents
project, we will be promoting these writers and illustrators
to schools, bookshops and festivals across the country.
BookTrust is passionate about helping to create a real
change across the ecosystem of the books industry. We are
eager to support and encourage any efforts that help to
move this forward, so that all children will see themselves
accurately represented in books. We pledge to continue our
work with a variety of authors, illustrators and influencers
who can help us widen the appeal of reading, so that all
children, regardless of their colour, background, ethnicity
or culture, see reading as “for them”. Because every single
child deserves to discover the magic of a story. ■
‘Delicious’ Love and War,
Daily Telegraph Crime and Betrayal
Jill Coleman is director of children’s books, BookTrust, which each year
reaches 3.4 million children across the UK with books, resources and
support to help develop a love of reading. To find out more go to:
booktrust.org.uk/booktrustrepresents.

Visit us on stand 6E70

www.muswell-press.co.uk
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

Fernando
QA Esteves: In
Mexico
The Mexican book market is characterised by a huge presence of
the government, both as publisher and book buyer. This is why a
major change in the country’s command, like the one represented
by Mexico’s new president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (who
took office in December of last year), can deeply affect the book
industry. Carlo Carrenho had a chance to talk to Fernando
Esteves, the managing director of Ediciones SM in Mexico.

How do you see the Mexican economy in 2019?

This year will be atypical until the new government settles in. That
said, the most optimistic forecasts expect the economy to grow just
below 2%. Public expenditure is one of the main engines of the
Mexican economy, and the new government will have to juggle
two contradictory goals: the fiscal surplus, and the expansion of
social policies, which was one of the president’s main campaign
Every day BookBrunch promises. This context is key if we keep in mind that 55% of the
book production in Mexico, mostly educational books, is in the
provides the book trade with: hands of the government, and that a significant part of book
sales are directed to the government. On the retail front, most
Mexican bookstores, around 1,200 in all, are facing difficulties.
• Insight and perspective
What are your expectations for this new government in
• Concision and accessibility relation to the Mexican book market?
Historically, progressive governments in Latin American have
• Reliability and immediacy favoured the publishing industry, particularly the educational,
children’s and young adult segments. There is no doubt that
the new government desires that books reach more people.
Sign up now for our free However, it is still unclear if the government is taking private
publishing houses into consideration in its plans to achieve
daily headline email or this goal. Early statements by public officers in the education
subscribe for in-depth and culture departments suggest that the problem of low
consumption of books will be faced by hammering the supply
stories and news: side, and lowering prices, and not so much through education

www.bookbrunch.co.uk
and reading promotion. But the main challenge here is to create
readers, to develop consumers, to strengthen bookstores and
to invest in new promotional platforms. Mexico is the largest
Spanish-speaking country in the world with 125 million people,
but it is not the one with most book sales, because 40% of the
Discounts available population lives in poverty. And to make things worse, four out
of 10 books are pirate editions, which is a very serious problem.
for members of SYP, SoA
and IPG and freelancers; Mexico hosts the most important book trade event in the Spanish
language, the Guadalajara Book Fair. How important is this fair?
students and booksellers The Guadalajara Book Fair (FIL) is not only one of the
free of charge. most important book fairs in the world, but also one of the
most inclusive ones. Book professionals, such as publishers,
booksellers, agents, librarians and reading promoters, share
the fair with hundreds of writers and thousands of readers.
Guadalajara offers more than 700 cultural activities. Digital

28
 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

publishing and rights

sales are more and
more present each year.
FIL Guadalajara is a
very energetic place to
get to know Mexican
literature, to interact
with foreign publishers
and to make business.

What is your take on

the digital book
market in Mexico?
According to the
National Chamber of

November
the Mexican Publishing
Industry (CANIEM) and
Fernando Esteves other private studies, like
the one conducted by
“The main
17-24, 2019
Bookwire, the Mexican
challenge here is to digital book market
grows exponentially
create readers, to every year and is the
develop consumers, largest one in Spanish

to strengthen
bookstores.”
Latin America.
Nevertheless, it is still
small, around 3% of the
MIAMI, FLORIDA
general book market. In
the future, digital will be bigger than paper, but in Mexico, and
probably in the rest of Latin America, the conditions mean it will
be at least five years before ebooks reach double digits. And this
is not necessarily good news. Publishers understand that they
have to invest in digital books, but the returns are still uncertain.
POETRY, FICTION
What about audiobooks?
Companies like Storytel already have local offices, recording & NONFICTION FROM
studios, highly qualified teams, a strong catalogue selection
and, of course, plans to keep growing in Mexico. I don’t ALL OVER THE WORLD
want to estimate the potential of the audiobook market in
Mexico, but feel certain it will grow faster than the ebooks.
The popularity of mobile devices, and the long commutes that
characterise Mexico’s larger cities offer the perfect conditions
STREET FAIR
for audiobook consumption. The challenge rests on the
development of a wide and attractive catalogue and, above
all, on creating a consumer culture for this kind of service.
PUBLISHERS &
What Mexican authors is the world missing out on because he or
BOOKSELLERS
she hasn’t been translated into English or other major languages?
A few names come to mind, but I am not sure which of them
have been translated or not and to which languages. Anyway, CHILDREN’S AUTHORS
Héctor Aguilar Camín, Juan Villoro, Elmer Mendoza, Juan
Pablo Villalobos, Xavier Velasco, Jorge Volpi, Yuri Herrera, & ACTIVITIES
Guillermo Arriaga, Fernanda Melchor and Julián Herbert
are definitively interesting Mexican authors that the non-
Spanish world might be missing out on. ■

Carlo Carrenho is a publishing consultant and founder of PublishNews.

MIAMIBOOKFAIR.COM
/miamibookfair
#MiamiBookFair2019
 LONDON SHOW DAILY
Brian O’Leary:
QA
What’s next
for BISG?
It’s been two years since Brian O’Leary took the helm of the Book
Industry Study Group (BISG). Andrew Richard Albanese caught
up with O’Leary to talk about the challenges BISG is addressing
today, and what’s on the organisation’s radar going forward.
Give us a quick state of the union. Are you happy with the
progress you’ve made thus far, and what are some of the
bigger things you’re focusing on now?
I started with a plan to significantly expand programming, and
we’ve done that. Last year, BISG delivered three dozen events, 12
of them as in-person sessions on topics that included metadata,
of course, but also content workflows, rights, digital retailing
and blockchain. Our webinars are really popular, and we’re
using them to deliver committee updates while also broadening
awareness about things like mergers and acquisitions, the state
of the paper market and how libraries look at publishing.
With the BISG Board, we’re looking at ways to strengthen the
alignment between our strategy and our five standing committees,
which meet regularly to address issues related to metadata, rights,
subject codes (BISAC), the supply chain and workflow. We’ve also
started a partnership with the Book Industry Guild of New York
to open up a dialogue about supply chain capacity and how we
can collaborate to avoid the bottlenecks that hampered retailer
access to books last year, particularly in the fourth quarter.
BISG is best known for industry standards, like BISAC
Subject Codes and Best Practices for Product Metadata. Are
there other initiatives you have underway?
Promoting standards and best practices is a core component
of what BISG does. For much of the last 20 years, we’ve
focused on improving how the industry collects, maintains,
communicates and updates book metadata. That made
most of our communications operational in nature.
In 2019, you’ll also see us focus on the why – the
marketing applications for book metadata. Our metadata
committee will lead this effort, and you can expect us to
offer webinars and programmes about using metadata to
improve discovery and sell more books.
Let’s talk about BISG membership. Where does it stand?
More broadly, who joins BISG – and why? Has that changed
in recent years, and who, in your opinion, should join BISG?
Today, we have 165 members, up 20% since the start of 2017.
Our membership represents all parts of the book publishing
industry: publishers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, libraries
and industry service partners. That makes sense, because BISG
works to solve problems that affect two or more parts of the
industry. If you’re interested in improving how the industry
operates, communicates and innovates, BISG is the place to be.
30
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019
Last fall in Chicago,
BISG hosted a full day
event, Book Publishing:
From Concept to
Consumer. Is this kind
of programming going
to be more of a focus for
BISG going forward?
The event in Chicago
was our first attempt
to talk about the
entire supply chain for
an audience of people
who are either new to
publishing, or
experienced in only a
specific functional
Brian O’Leary area. And yes, we’ll be
repeating the programme
this fall, probably in Chicago
or Minneapolis. We’d love to
scale it beyond that, as well. We
know there are colleagues eager
to gain a holistic view of how books are made, marketed and sold,
and not all companies have the resources to provide such training.
Each year, BISG fields a survey that solicits observations
and impressions from around the supply chain. Anything
stand out this year?
Two-thirds of those responding wanted us to identify specific
ways to improve the effectiveness of the supply chain for
metadata, and half supported developing a rights taxonomy.
While metadata and rights are core areas for BISG, the level of
support surprised us. So we’ve already introduced the topics to
the relevant committees and expect significant progress to be
made this year, with input from a broad range of stakeholders.
What do you think are the important issues or innovations
facing the book industry as we gather in London in 2019,
and where do you think things are headed a little further out
– what will be talking about in London in 2025?
I’ve been thinking about how much the global market for
books is growing. Right now, selling rights around the
world is a labour-intensive effort. Over the next six years, I
wouldn’t be surprised to see rights taxonomies take hold
across international marketplaces, allowing for scale. We
might see experimentation with blockchain technology to
automate rights transactions, including permissions. For
larger deals, London and Frankfurt will keep their roles, but
online transactions will grow the market for many publishers,
offering meaningful revenue at much lower costs.
In the US, “flat is the new up”, as they say, but as literacy
rates grow by double digits in a number of territories around
the world, publishers will need to improve workflows,
update how they communicate and sell rights, and broker
more deals for translations of English-language works.
These are all areas where BISG can be helpful. ■
 NEW YORK
&
RIGHTS FAIR

May 29-31, 2019

Jacob Javits Convention Center | NYC

C
Connect with publishers, rights professionals and others from every
part of the book business and every corner of the globe.

Visit us at stand #6C93 to

learn how you can participate
The 2019 New York Rights Fair will be collocated with
BookExpo, making the two fairs the biggest and most
important U.S. publishing event of the year. Together,
these two shows impact every part of the book
business, in every corner of the globe.

NewYorkRightsFair.com
 Visit Us!
Hall 6, Booth 6A40

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