Axing VAT on digital publications could save UK consumers up to £210million and raise demand for epublications, according to new independent research released today that finds “a strong case” for zero-rating. UK readers currently pay 20% more in VAT for ebooks, ejournals, digital magazines and online newspaper subscriptions than their identical printed equivalents, which have…
Published on Monday 8th October 2018. The Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association are delighted to announce that the Parliamentary Book Awards – the only book award curated by bookshops and voted on by parliamentarians – is returning this year, with submissions opening to all UK publishers from today. The awards will be presented at…
The London Book Fair (LBF), in association with the Publishers Association, has opened online submissions for it’s sixth International Excellence Awards. The awards celebrate publishing success in 16 categories representing the best publishing ambassadors, innovative publishing, and ground-breaking initiatives in the industry. Awards are given to companies and individuals across the world and across sectors,…
Publishers have today called for the UK government to use new powers that would allow VAT to be removed on ebooks, audio books and online newspaper and magazine subscriptions in the UK. At the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in Brussels today a longstanding proposal was approved that would allow all member states in the EU…
Published Tuesday 31st July 2018 Eight members of publishing collective the Northern Fiction Alliance (NFA) have joined the Publishers Association for the first time. The NFA was founded in 2016 by four of the UK’s leading independent publishers – Manchester’s Comma Press, Leeds’ Peepal Tree Press, Liverpool’s Dead Ink Books, and Sheffield’s And Other Stories.…
Published Thursday 19th July 2018. The UK publishing industry had a record-breaking year in 2017, with income up 5% to £5.7bn, according to new figures released today by the Publishers Association. The industry is already the number one exporter of books in the world and export income rose a further 8% to £3.4bn in 2017,…
I am pleased to announce that BrambleKids, Fil Rouge Press and SplashMaps® are heading to the New York Rights Fair (NYRF) to exhibit at the UK pavilion. They will be supported by the Department for International Trade (DIT) through their Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP) scheme. The NYRF is a new book fair for the trade…
Applications for the 2018 Young Stationers’ Prize and five Young Stationers’ Awards are now open Now in its fifth year, the Prize recognises someone under 40 who demonstrates noteworthy success in their career; how they have made an outstanding contribution to the sector in which they are working; or achieved success outside their immediate world…
The Publishers Association, as ever, had a busy Fair—from social mobility to copyright, from rights fairs to award ceremonies — we could be found in all corners of Olympia supporting members, speaking for the industry and building relationships with visiting officials. This year, we hosted a number of high-profile attendees to the Fair, including Baroness…
By Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association The unmanageable increase in teacher workload has been well documented over the past few years, leading to reports that schools are struggling to both attract and retain new teachers. With more than 20 per cent of teachers reporting that that they routinely work more than 60 hours…
By William Bowes, Director of Policy & General Counsel The UK government recently launched its Digital Charter, designed to make the UK a great place to operate and innovate in the digital space, while managing the risks associated with the internet. The charter will see new norms established and rules drawn up over the course of the next few years, aimed at making the internet work for…
School textbooks need to save teachers only four and a half minutes a day in order to pay for themselves, according to new independent research which suggests cutting textbook use is a false economy. With the UK school system facing real-term budget cuts of 8% by 2019/20, according to the National Audit Office, textbooks are…
By William Bowes, Director of Policy & General Counsel Login with your PA username and password to view the GDPR toolkit. Data is an increasingly essential tool for all of us involved in the world of publishing. It helps us manage our people, maintain our rights, liaise with authors, get our products and services to…
Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to speak at this important and timely conference. The UK publishing industry is unequivocally world-beating. Of the 9 books to have ever sold more than 100 million copies, 6 are by British authors. To top it off, the Nobel Prize for Literature this year was won by…
The Publishers Association announced today that William Bowes would be its new General Counsel and Director of Policy. William will join the Publishers Association from Cambridge University Press later this year, where he is currently General Counsel and Company Secretary, a position he has held since 2011. He has a particular speciality in copyright and…
The Charles Clark Memorial Lecture is the annual Copyright Keynote Lecture at The London Book Fair, Olympia. This year it took place at 16.00–17.30 on Wednesday 15th March 2017. The lecture addressed the compromise between exclusive rights and reasonable “fair uses” in the digital age, by two experts on the Fair Use doctrine. Judge Pierre…
By Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association Last week the Publishers Association launched a challenge: for every school child in England to have access to textbooks in the main subjects. At a time when teachers are struggling under heavy and sometimes unmanageable workloads, textbooks not only offer a way to reduce the amount of…
An independent survey released today by the Publishers Association, shows that 63% of primary and secondary teachers in English schools could be making more use of textbooks, while one in five don’t use them at all. This is despite the fact that the survey also showed that more than 90% of teachers say they believe…