The Publishers Association has today released new research showing that the UK’s publishing sector is worth an extraordinary £11 billion overall to the economy, and is the global leader in book exports- a phenomenal cultural achievement for the UK.

The research, conducted by public policy consultancy Public First, shows that publishing has the potential to contribute even more to the UK’s future success. The report predicts that, with the right backing from government, publishing can contribute an addition £5.6 billion to the UK economy by 2033, and support a further 43,000 jobs.

International demand for UK publishing is set to grow by a further 20% in the next decade, proving its global potential.

Key stats:

• £11 BILLION – Contribution of UK publishing sector to the UK economy overall.
• 84,000 – Number of jobs supported by UK publishing in 2024, which is predicted to grow by 43,000 by 2033.
• £6.5 BILLION – Gross Value Added of publishing exports.
• 20% – Growth in international demand for UK publishing by 2033.
• £5.6 BILLION – How much UK publishing is set to grow in the next decade.

Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association said: “The publishing sector is a true success story for the UK, driving economic growth, highly skilled creative jobs, and leading in worldwide publishing exports that contribute to Britain’s cultural and academic standing abroad. Publishers act as the heartbeat of our leading creative industries, through the incredible stories they bring to screen, stage, and games, and they also underpin the UK as global base for R&D.

As a country, we should be immensely proud of what the sector has achieved- but we must not take it for granted. With an election on the horizon later this year, we ask politicians on all sides to recognise the publishing industry’s economic value to the UK, announced today on the eve of London Book Fair, but also its huge cultural and academic importance in inspiring the next generation of readers, learners and leaders. We must ensure we work together to unlock the next chapter of this success story and grow UK publishing’s economic and social contribution for the UK.“

The research is part of a wider report, titled “Vision for Publishing: The role of publishing in the UK’s success”, which lays out ten the key priorities the Publishers Association is asking the government to consider. These include commitments to;

• Deliver AI opportunities for the whole economy, by ensuring that AI growth cannot come at the expense of IP and human creativity.
• Vigorously uphold the UK’s globally advantageous intellectual property (IP) and copyright framework.
• Establish a Publishing Export Accelerator.
• Axe the final tax on reading (audio).
• Invest in libraries and literacy.
• Restore a diverse, open and fair market for education resources by changing the scope of Oak National Academy.

To see full report, please use this link.

The Publishers Association have today announced a new literary award for up-and-coming authors, who are deemed to have made a fundamental contribution to how we see the world. The recipient of the ‘The Unwin Award’,  will be judged on the overall body of their work, rather than an associated title, and will receive a £10,000 cash prize.

Nominations are expected to open over the summer, with the first winner being announced in early 2025. Further judging criteria will be announced in due course.

The recently announced ‘Unwin Award Lecture’ will run in tandem with the literary award, with the Publishers Association committing to the programme until 2030. This was made possible following a donation from the Unwin Charitable Trust to support a multi-year programme of work in championing the value of publishing to the world.

Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association said: “I am delighted to announce this new literary award, which I know will take pride of place in our event calendar moving forward. Books play such a huge role in society; they contribute to our mental health and happiness, teach us about new things and different cultures, and help us escape to faraway places when we need it most. It is so important to celebrate and spotlight the new voices who are using their talents to further the world we live in, and I can’t wait to open nominations and start the process. I know there will be great things to come.”

Creative Industries Minister Julia Lopez said: “For decades our publishing industry has showcased world-renowned British writers to the world, opening our minds to new perspectives and transporting us to other worlds. As a result it has generated billions of pounds for the economy.

“We plan to build on that success, by supporting authors to maximise their true potential and grow the creative industries by £50 billion by 2030.

“The Unwin Award will be a fantastic way to champion the next generation of promising new authors.”

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Officer of the Publishers Association said: “I am excited that the Publishers Association are launching the Unwin Award for up-and-coming writers to shine a spotlight each year on a promising author at the start of their career when it might really help them.”

Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books UK said: “Great books transport us – shaping their readers lives and forever altering the way we see the world around us. The Unwin Award will reward those up-and-coming authors who show the bravery to pour their lives and souls onto the page and the talent to deliver the books that further the world we live in. It offers a chance to further amplify their voices and shine a spotlight on their invaluable contributions to society and our culture. I’m so looking forward to seeing the first nominations this summer, and getting lost in the life-changing pages of our future Unwin Award-winners.”

The inaugural Unwin Award Lecture, was delivered by esteemed historian and author Peter Frankopan at The Royal Institute of Great Britain on 20^th February.

The Publishers Association have today launched the new Research Impact Campaign, which focuses on three short videos about impactful scientific research developed in the UK and disseminated by publishers. The campaign aims to champion the UK’s scientific output, and showcase why it is one of the best places in the world to conduct academic research.

The campaign highlights the key partnership role of academic publishers in supporting the research community and helping UK research reach further.

The research featured in the videos includes the economics of the green energy transition, technology in elite women’s football and quantum physics. Researchers from Oxford, Cambridge and St Mary’s Universities featured in the videos explain their research and how publishing has helped it have greater impact. The research papers featured are published in journals from Springer Nature, Elsevier and IOPP.

Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association said: “The UK is renowned for its academic prowess, and we’re delighted to launch the Research Impact Campaign to further spotlight some of the brilliant work being done by researchers and their publishers. Research in the UK is truly moving the needle around the world, and actively changing the world we live in for the better. I hope this campaign inspires and drives awareness of these achievements. A special thank you to the researchers involved in making this project come to life.”

Antonia Seymour, President of the Publishers Association and CEO of IOP Publishing, said: “The UK’s universities and researchers are world-leading and academic publishing is a key partner in the research ecosystem.  Every day, in academic institutions across the UK, researchers are carrying out incredible work that has the potential to positively impact our lives. We hope that the Research Impact campaign will emphasise the role academic publishing plays in expanding the reach of that research.”

The Research Impact Campaign will be promoted by the Publishers Association throughout 2024 as part of the wider Value of Publishing campaign.

ENDS

About the Publishers Association

The Publishers Association (PA) is the member organisation for UK publishing, representing companies of all sizes and specialisms. Our members produce digital and print books, research journals and educational resources across genres and subjects. We exist to champion publishing to the wider world and to provide our members with everything they need to thrive. We have helped change laws, improved business conditions and inspired people to become publishers. We are passionate about the capacity for books and reading to make life better for people.

Notes to Editors

The researchers and papers featured in the video are:

• Dr Rupert Way, Empirically grounded technology forecasts and the energy transition, Oxford University, published in Joule (Elsevier)
• Dr Katrine Kryger, Ten questions in sports engineering: technology in elite women’s football, St Mary’s University, published in Sports Engineering (Springer Nature)
• Dr Carmem Gilardoni, Spin-relaxation times exceeding seconds for color centers with strong spin–orbit coupling in SiC, Cambridge University, published in The New Journal of Physics (IOPP)

Jesse Norman’s The Winding Stair, Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE’s Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival and Matt Chorley’s PLANES, TRAINS AND TOILET DOORS: 50 Places That Changed British Politics have won the best political books of the year at the Parliamentary Book Awards tonight, at the Houses of Parliament.

The runners-up of the awards – which are curated by bookshops and voted for by parliamentarians – include politicians, journalists and writers such as: Rory Stewart OBE, Chris Bryant MP, Wes Streeting MP, Dawn Butler MP, Alastair Campbell, Philippa Gregory CBE, Polly Toynbee and Robert Peston & Kishan Koria.

Conservative MP Jesse Norman received Best Non-Fiction/Fiction by a Parliamentarian for The Winding Stair, a novel that tells the story of two founders from our modern world and their battle for power, pre-eminence and the hand of the most eligible women in the realm.

Journalist and politician Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE won Best Memoir/Autobiography by a Parliamentarian for Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival, which explores both his mother and his father’s devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War.

Times Radio broadcaster and journalist Matt Chorley won Best Political Book by a Non-Parliamentarian for PLANES, TRAINS AND TOILET DOORS: 50 Places That Changed British Politics, which shares insider knowledge, smart analysis and detailed research to show how politics actually happens.

This year’s winners were selected from a shortlist featuring books from academic and former politician Rory Stewart OBE, former Anglican priest and Shadow Minister for the Creative Industries and Digital Chris Bryant MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting MP, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Brent Central Dawn Butler MP, spokesman for Tony Blair and New Labour Alastair Campbell, historical novelist Philippa Gregory CBE, journalist and social democrat Polly Toynbee, political editor of ITV news Robert Peston and journalist Kishan Koria.

Meryl Halls, Managing Director of the Booksellers Association, said: “We’re delighted to see such a phenomenal range of books winning these prestigious awards. Topics covered by the winning titles include the battle for power, personal experiences during the Second World War, and insider knowledge about how politics actually happens. Big congratulations to both the winning and the shortlisted writers for their insightful and exceptional books.”

Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “Congratulations to this year’s well-deserved winners. These books show the extent of the quality political writing we have here in the UK – a genre which will only become more pertinent as we settle into an election year. We were delighted to welcome parliamentarians, authors, publishers, and booksellers to the Houses of Parliament to celebrate these important works and the longstanding link between publishing and politics”.

Now in their eighth year, the Parliamentary Book Awards were established by the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association to champion the best political writing in the UK and to recognise the important link between the worlds of politics and publishing. The only political book awards curated by bookshops and voted for by parliamentarians, previous winners have included Sebastian Payne, Baroness Floella Benjamin, Michael Ashcroft, Mark Carney, Penny Mordaunt MP, Andrew Mitchell MP, Harriet Harman MP, Nick Clegg, Baroness Jowell, Iain Dale, and James O’Brien.

The award ceremony was held at the Houses of Parliament and featured speeches from BA President Hazel Broadfoot, PA President Antonia Seymour and Dame Margaret Hodge MP, who sponsored the awards.

A call for the government to take urgent action to support rightsholders in the face of mass infringement by Artificial Intelligence Large Language Models (LLMs) has been welcomed by the Publishers Association.

The recommendation forms part of a new report from the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee published today which says government “cannot sit on its hands” while LLMs exploit the works of rightsholders for huge financial gain. The report criticises tech firms for using data without permission or compensation and encourages the government to end the copyright dispute “definitively” using legislation if necessary. It calls for greater transparency for rightsholders to see if their work has been used without consent and for investment in new datasets to encourage tech firms to pay for licensed content.

Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “This report rightly recognises that the benefits of AI do not warrant the violation of copyright law and its underlying principles. As the Committee states, it is not fair for tech firms to use rightsholders’ content for huge financial gain without permission or compensation.  

“The Publishers Association welcomes the prominent call for the government to take action to support rightsholders. We gave evidence to the committee’s inquiry last year and it’s great to see their report backing many of our key arguments – that LLMs shouldn’t use copyright-protected works without permission or compensation, that there should be support for licensing, that there should be transparency, and that the government should legislate if necessary.

“Publishers have long embraced the benefits of AI in their work and share the committee’s ambition for a positive vision on AI, where the myriad opportunities are embraced but rightsholders and human creativity are respected, permissions are sought, and licensing is supported. This report is a call to action for government at a pivotal moment for the UK’s approach to AI.”

Ruth Howells

Director of Communications

rhowells@publishers.org.uk

The Publishers Association has today announced that Catriona MacLeod Stevenson will take on the expanded role of General Counsel and Deputy CEO, effective immediately.

In this role, Stevenson will work closely with the CEO to drive forward the Publishers Association strategy and take on a deputising role for overall organisational leadership. She will maintain her current leadership and responsibilities in the association’s legal and content protection & enforcement work as General Counsel. 

Catriona joined the Publishers Association in 2020, following roles at IFPI and Bristows Law Firm.

Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association said: “It is a testament to Catriona’s achievements and incredible work at the PA that she has been offered this new role and set of responsibilities. We are heading into a really important year for publishing, with AI continuing to be a focus, and a General Election on the horizon. I look forward to working with Catriona to drive the PA forward, and to ensure the publishing sector continues to thrive”.

Catriona MacLeod Stevenson said: “I am immensely proud to take on this additional role and continue my work at the Publishers Association in this capacity. Dan is an exceptional leader and it is a privilege to work alongside him. This is an unprecedented time for UK publishing across all sectors. Our collective industry response and the shape and execution of our strategy is vital. I am grateful to our members for their belief in me and our talented team, and their support for our work to champion UK publishing.”

The Publishers Association and Booksellers Association are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2023 Parliamentary Book Awards. Now in its eighth year, the awards recognise excellent political writing across three categories: Best Non-Fiction/Fiction by a Parliamentarian, Best Memoir/Autobiography by a Parliamentarian and Best Political Book by a Non-Parliamentarian.

Publishers were invited to nominate titles and authors for the awards, with booksellers selecting the shortlists. Voting is now open for parliamentarians to decide the winner in each category and will close on 17^th January, with winners presented with their awards at the Houses of Parliament in February 2024.

This year’s shortlist is:

Non-Fiction/Fiction by a Parliamentarian

• Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart (Jonathan Cape)
• Code of Conduct: Why We Need to Fix Parliament – and How to Do It by Chris Bryant (Bloomsbury Publishing)
• The Winding Stair by Jesse Norman (Biteback Publishing)

Memoir/Biog by a Parliamentarian

• Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival by Daniel Finkelstein (William Collins)
• One Boy, Two Bills & a Fry Up by Wes Streeting (Hodder & Stoughton)
• A Purposeful Life by Dawn Butler (Torva)

Non-Parliamentarian

• But What Can I Do? by Alastair Campbell (Hutchinson Heinemann)
• NORMAL WOMEN: 900 Years of Making History by Philippa Gregory (William Collins)
• An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals by Polly Toynbee (Atlantic Books)
• BUST? Saving the Economy, Democracy and Our Sanity by Robert Peston & Kishan Koria (Hodder & Stoughton)
• PLANES, TRAINS AND TOILET DOORS: 50 Places That Changed British Politics by Matt Chorley (William Collins)

Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “The Parliamentary Book Awards aim to spotlight the very best in political writing, and the last year has offered some of the most influential books yet. This years’ shortlist is really varied, with something for everyone. I look forward to seeing the results of the voting next year, and welcoming Parliamentarians, authors, publishers, and booksellers to the House of Commons once again in February, to celebrate these important books.”

Meryl Halls, Managing Director of the Booksellers Association said: “The Parliamentary Book Awards is such a unique event in the awards calendar and booksellers love being part of the shortlisting process. The Awards highlight the huge range of opinions across the political spectrum and this year’s shortlist is no exception. I’m hugely looking forward to the ceremony in February and can’t wait to see which titles Parliamentarians pick as the winners.”

The Parliamentary Book Awards were launched in 2016 by the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association to celebrate the best of political writing and acknowledge the important link between politics and the book world.

Members of the Independent Publishers Guild are to get more support for their sustainability work via the Publishers Association’s Carbon Calculator, a powerful tool that helps publishers measure and reduce their environmental impacts.

The Carbon Calculator has been developed by the PA with the help of sustainability and software experts, and it is now licensed for free use by all IPG members. The Calculator is the only tool of its kind that is specific to the UK’s publishing sector and enables organisations to assess their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in various areas of their work and highlight areas for improvement. In due course the Calculator will allow publishers to benchmark their efforts and analyse the progress of the industry as a whole.

The IPG’s licensing of the Carbon Calculator from the PA extends cross-publishing cooperation on the urgent issue of sustainability. The sector’s collaboration has led to the launch of the Sustainability Industry Forum, bringing together six industry bodies to join forces on projects, share best practice, reduce duplication of efforts and improve transparency and accountability. 

Providing access to the Calculator also marks the next step in the IPG’s work in this area via its Sustainability Action Group, which has delivered resources including a Zero Carbon Toolkit and set targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that were generated by the award-winning Book Journeys Project. The Sustainability Action Group is now steering research into ways to reduce emissions during the end-of-life treatment of books and scoping the potential to print books closer to markets.

Amanda Ridout, founder and CEO of Boldwood Books and chair of the IPG’s Sustainability Action Group, said: “Sustainability is a critical concern for everyone in publishing. We are pleased to be helping IPG members step up to its challenges, and happy to have worked with the PA to facilitate access to the Carbon Calculator. Measuring environmental impacts is the first step to reducing them, and this is an important catalyst for the changes that everyone in publishing needs to make.”

Dan Conway, chief executive of the Publishers Association, said: “Licensing the Carbon Calculator to IPG members is a great example of publishing’s collaboration on sustainability issues and our shared commitment to improvements. By working together to map carbon footprints and share resources and ideas, the PA, IPG and our fellow trade associations can accelerate progress and help all our members lead the way on responses to the climate crisis.”

Hello! First up can you tell us a little about your current role in publishing? What does your usual day look like?

My typical day can include sending reprints and new titles to press for printing, checking new books when they come into the office, running costs and estimates for the sales team, and checking in on the other departments to check that everything is on schedule for new books about to be printed and published.

I also provide administrative support to the rest of the production team, such as maintaining databases and requesting and organising files. We also work closely with the design team to confirm what the final book will look like.

How did you get into publishing and how would you describe your journey to your current role?

I studied English Literature at university and knew that I wanted to work with books in some capacity but wasn’t sure what! During and after university, I worked in a bookshop and that’s where I first started noticing I was interested in the packaging of a book, as I was quite picky about what I thought looked good and what didn’t. This was also where I learnt more about different publishers and imprints, and I started looking for roles in publishing.

I started researching different departments and thought that production would suit me as I am organised, enjoy working on multiple projects at once and collaborating with others. I started as a production assistant in June 2021 and was promoted to production controller in April 2023.

If you’re thinking about working in publishing, I’d recommend looking through all the different departments and seeing what suits you or interests you most…Staying up to date with publishing trends and new books is also really useful as it shows you have a pre-existing interest in the industry.

How would you describe the publishing industry and what do you enjoy most about working in publishing?

My favourite thing about publishing, but production more specifically, is being able to see how books are created from conception to the final product. There’s a tangible satisfaction when you’re able to hold the book and understand the work that each team has put in for it to be made.

What don’t people know about the publishing industry?

That there are so many different roles which cater to vastly different skill sets and interests!

What advice would you give someone who is considering a career in publishing?

If you’re thinking about working in publishing, I’d recommend looking through all the different departments and seeing what suits you or interests you most. It’s also good to research different publishers, to see what they’re doing and if their books interest you. Staying up to date with publishing trends and new books is also really useful when you’re applying and interviewing as it shows you have a pre-existing interest in the industry!

And, finally, how would you describe a career in publishing in three words?

Rewarding – You get to see the physical results of everyone’s hard work when the book is made.

Motivating – It’s great getting to work on new and exciting books and knowing that you’ve played a part in their production.

Engaging – You’re always learning new things on the job as no two books are the same!

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This interview with Anna Howarth was written for Work in Publishing Week for publishers.org.uk.