News

On Thursday 8th October, experts from across government and research sectors will examine the impact of artificial intelligence on the publishing industry at a virtual event hosted by the Publishers Association.

In the third year of their ongoing partnership, the Northern Fiction Alliance and Publishers Association are joining forces for a series of online workshops designed to upskill and inspire small publishers. The three workshops will cover how to break into the audiobook market (23 September), maximise title visibility online (1 October), and hire a Publishing…

The invoiced value of UK publisher sales of books, journals and rights/coeditions combined rose to £6.3bn in 2019, 4% higher than in 2018 and 20% higher than in 2015. The Publishers Association’s new figures show growth in both print and digital sales income. Exports remain crucial to the success of the industry, with export sales…

The Publishers Association announced today that it will be refunding smaller members’ fees for the three-month period they were in lockdown in recognition of the huge difficulties many small businesses have faced.

7 in 10 children said that listening to audiobooks makes it easier to understand the content of a book, according to new National Literacy Trust research.

Annie Callanan, CEO of Taylor & Francis, has been elected as the new President of the Publishers Association. Annie succeeds Peter Phillips, CEO of Cambridge University Press, who remains an Officer of the Publishers Association.   The Presidency transferred at the Publishers Association’s Annual General Meeting, which was held virtually, yesterday (Thursday, 14 May 2020). David…

Following the announcement that plans to scrap VAT on digital books, journals and newspapers will brought forward to May 1 2020, a comment can be found below. Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association said: “We’re delighted that the government has taken this step to significantly fast-track the plans to scrap VAT on ebooks and…

Celebrate reading with #MyThreeBooks. From today join the #MyThreeBooks campaign by sharing a book you loved as a child, a book you love right now, and a book you can’t wait to read. We believe that publishers have an important role to play in keeping people entertained, educated and informed while they socially distance by…

Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association said: “The escalation of the coronavirus situation is causing a range of very significant challenges across publishing businesses. We are doing everything we can to support the industry at this extraordinarily difficult time. We have established a page on our website and are issuing regular member briefings. We…

Dan Conway, Director of External Affairs at the Publishers Association, looks at the importance of trade deals in Brexit negotiations and how various scenarios could affect the UK publishing industry. The UK book industry has reacted with resilience to the regulatory and political uncertainty of recent years. The Publishers Association’s latest market statistics indicate that…

Following the announcement that VAT on digital books, journals and newspapers will be zero-rated from 1 December 2020, find our comment below. Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “We are delighted that the Government has decided to zero-rate VAT on digital books and journals in the Budget. It’s fantastic that the Chancellor has…

Ruth Howells, Deputy Director of External Affairs at the Publishers Association, looks at whether the Government will decide to axe the reading tax and make digital VAT history this week: As the UK’s new chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivers the Government’s long-awaited Budget today, the UK publishing industry will be watching and listening…

No.10 Downing Street has joined the celebrations for World Book Day 2020, hosting thirty school children from Southwark to help ‘Share a Million Stories’ and celebrate reading for pleasure. Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell and children from Charles Dickens Primary School in Southwark for the event this week. Cressida Cowell…

The Government should make protecting the UK’s gold-standard copyright regime a top priority. Intellectual Property laws that are fit for purpose must be pre-requisites for all future UK trade deals, finds a report released today by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Publishing. The APPG, chaired by Andrew Lewer MBE MP, makes a number of…

James O’Brien, Rachel Reeves and Ian Murray beat David Cameron, Jess Philips and Melvyn Bragg to take home awards. Eclectic winning titles shine light on the pioneering women of Parliament, the nuances of modern political debate and football fandom. London. 26 February 2020: James O’Brien, Rachel Reeves and Ian Murray were announced as the winners…

The Publishers Association has appointed Catriona MacLeod Stevenson to the role of General Counsel. Catriona has over 13 years’ experience in advising copyright and brand owners on wide-ranging legal issues. She joins the Publishers Association from the legal team at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the trade association which represents the global recorded…

Today UK Research and Innovation launched its public consultation into its new Open Access policy. Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “Publishers support expanding Open Access for publicly-funded research. The best way to achieve greater openness is through a partnership involving researchers, funders, publishers and the wider academic community and we have repeatedly…

The most comprehensive overview of the UK publishing workforce ever recorded has been released today by the Publishers Association, showing that the number of women in senior leadership roles and representation of LGB+ staff are high within the industry, but there is still progress to be made in areas such as socioeconomic diversity, regional diversity…