Monday, April 13, 2015

Traditional books on paper open a new chapter of success

As the expansion of ebook sales slow down, enthusiasm for both paperbacks and hardcovers remains strong

Reading girl in a bookstore
Sales of children's literature in print rose by 9% last year. Photograph: Alamy
A former tannery has been magicked into an arts venue, the lights have been dimmed, and a roomful of publishing executives are sitting on creaky wooden floors, cross-legged or knees scrunched up, school-assembly style. The canapes can wait: the group has gathered to listen to writers reading their latest, soon-to-be-published works – a heart-rending family memoir, a Jazz Age tale, the gangs of Los Angeles.

These are some of the stories publishing house Picador hopes will enthral readers this summer – and almost every writer reads from a paperback. One, poet Kate Tempest, speaks from memory, electrifying the room. No Kindles, Nooks or iPads in sight.
Public affection for print runs deeper than some had thought. On the eve of the London Book Fair, a three-day trade extravaganza that starts on Tuesday, optimism is rippling through the industry that it can weather the digital age. The idea that the ebook will kill the paperback seems increasingly like a tall tale.
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