Publishing industry

With Labor Day only five weeks away, it has become clear that a substantial number of publishers, both in New York City and elsewhere, will not be returning to their offices in anything resembling full force before 2021. Moreover, organizers of a few industry events set for early next year have already announced they will be moving them from in-person to online.  Read more

The nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice have set off conversations in nearly every industry about the treatment of Black workers, and book publishing is no exception.  Read more

The coronavirus pandemic has seen a "huge swing" towards print on demand (p.o.d.), Ingram's senior vice-president David Taylor has said. He also warned that physical booksellers could have difficulty clawing back trade from online retailers after lockdown.

With cities and towns across the country under quarantine, bookstores closing, and in-person promotional events canceled, it's not a great time to be publishing a book. And the urge for many authors with titles scheduled for the coming few months will likely be to request a new publication date. For publishers, though, moving titles in significant numbers will be tricky.

Ask someone who works in publishing what they think of American Dirt and they might tell you they're not the best person to speak to the situation. Or that they haven't read the novel. They might directly reference their privilege, then suggest you ask one of the handful of Latinx people who edit or sell books.  Read more