How Publishing is Operating in the Time of Corona
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Mar 25 2020
Understandably I’ve been getting a lot of questions from authors about what’s happening in publishing during the time of Corona. Like everyone, all of publishing has gone into isolation and everyone is working remotely. It’s certainly a whole new world, at least for editors. For many agents, it’s business as usual.
Things have changed and as of my writing, we are all still adjusting. Most importantly though, we are all still working and trying to maintain a level of normalcy. This means we are reading submissions, looking to buy new projects, offering representation, publishing books and hitting bestseller lists. All things that happened at BookEnds in the first week in isolation.
Too Early to Tell
It’s too early to tell the full impact of the Coronavirus on publishing. Certainly, there’s a lot of speculation and a ton of concern, especially when it comes to small businesses–bookstores, publishers, and agencies. At this point in time though, publishers are still publishing books to their original schedules. Release dates aren’t being moved and, most importantly, editors are buying and reading with an eye toward building their lists.
Keep Moving
We don’t know where we’ll be when we are out of isolation and we don’t know where publishing will be. Sadly these aren’t things we can control. What we can control however are our own activities. We can still send out submissions, agents are. We can still push forward in our work, editors are. We can still read and write and fall in love with books and find a place for them to be published.
In these uncertain times, people need books more than ever and agents and editors need to find the books we can all fall in love with.
In case you missed it: Jessica did a video on the BookEnds YouTube channel about publishing during tough times!
Thank you for this uplifting message! If I can add to this positivity, so many friends and family are ordering books to fill the time! ❤️❤️❤️
So true, books are needed now more than ever! Thanks for a positive and matter-of-fact message today. Keep safe and healthy!
FWIW, I’m reading more than ever, and finally writing again. Between the cold weather keeping me indoors, and the coronavirus keeping me home, I am finding more pleasure in books than I could have imagined just a few short weeks ago. I am saying that from the point of view of a woman who has always loved to read. Now it is seriously helping me to “Stay calm and soldier on.”
So uplifting! I’m following your blogs and YouTube channel now more than ever! <3 <3 <3
this inspires me , thank you for your insight !
Thank you for posting this. In light of all the book fair and conference cancellations and other sad publishing news, this is very encouraging.
And yes…books are needed more than ever!
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My book release date has been pushed back — from fall 2020 to spring 2021. In fact, the publisher decided to postpone many of their titles that were scheduled to release this year, because of printing plants closings in China and other factors due to the current situation. So I wouldn’t say all is normal in publishing.
I’ve heard from quite a few people they finally have the time to read more.
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