KN22001 KEY NOTE BOOK PUBLISHING APRIL 2001

Edited by Jacob Howard

ISBN 1-84168-186-5

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This report covers: book publishing, consumer books, academic books, professional books, English Language Teaching books, ELT, school books,

Companies covered include: Bloomsbury Publishing, HarperCollins Publishers, Hodder Headline, MacMillan Publishers, Oxford University Press, OUP, Pearson, Penguin Books, Random House Group, Reed Elsevier,

Executive Summary

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Book sales to consumers recovered during 2000, after a flat year in 1999. Publishers' sales did not reflect this pattern; they had stronger sales growth during 1999 than 2000, mainly due to the large number of bookshop openings and refurbishments during 1999. Key Note estimates that the total UK book market was worth £3.25bn at retail selling prices (rsp) in 2000.

The consumer books sector, including hardback and paperback fiction and non-fiction, accounts for more than two-thirds of the book market. Within this sector, children's books experienced particularly strong growth, partly on the strength of the popularity of the Harry Potter books. Growth within the academic and professional books sector has been sluggish over the past 2 years, a trend which has been blamed on continued low spending on books among students, despite increases in student numbers. The market for school books, which is closely tied to government policy on education, was given a boost in 1998 and 1999, through the availability of money earmarked for book spending. However, there is still agreement that schools are not well enough provided with books.

Other media exert a positive influence on the consumer books market, with titles linked to films and television programmes generally doing well. The Internet and other new media will undoubtedly exert a strong influence on the market in time, as the growth of Internet bookselling has added new channels for book sales, and several publishers are developing their own initiatives for using new technology. The possibilities of online publishing are already being exploited strongly by the academic and professional sector. On the more negative side, there is still much uncertainty surrounding the use of new technology by the publishing industry - both in terms of being able to predict which electronic products and services will succeed, and because of complex issues connected with rights and royalties.

Social and demographic factors suggest that the book publishing market will continue to thrive over the next few years, showing steady growth. Within the consumer books market, children's books will continue to be a particularly important sector. The education sector may benefit in the short term from 2001 being an election year, but continuing concerns about university funding may mean that the academic and professional sector is unlikely to see significant growth in the medium term.

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Text © 2001 Key Note

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