Since 2015, together with several international book industry media organizations from United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia etc., and industry organizations, China Publishing and Media Journal has been publishing Annual Report on International Publishing Trends. This year, CPMJ once again unites The Bookseller from UK, the German Book Information Centre, Börsenblatt from Germany and Books+Publishing from Australia etc., alongside with experts and scholars from the Pace University in US, the Beijing Normal University Institute of Publishing Science, to publish the 4th Annual International Publishing Trend Report. The report contains data and analysis of publishing industry from China, UK, USA, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Russia, Canada in 2017.
In China, the concept of publishing has been redefined and its trans-boundary feature has drawn much attention. In 2017, for the first time in 40 years, nationally new titles have declined in number and the copies in print also have declined, while that of reprint books maintain a relatively quick growth. For the first time, the number of reprint books have exceeded new titles, the copies of which reach 2.4 times of new titles. To some extent, the growth and decline shown in reprint and new titles reflect that in China, publishing industry is experiencing a transformation from pursuing quantity to elevating quality and benefit, which optimizes the market structure and upgrades the original creativity.
On the other side, the publishing industry has offered abundant development space for Internet giants, high-tech companies and large holding groups from other industries. Brands like WeChat Read, Alibaba Literature, Baidu Library have occupied a considerable market share in the entertainment industry, relying on Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu and other large-scale Internet companies. For brands that have entered profit cycle, such as ChineseAll, China Literature, IReader, Migu Reading, their success owe to traditional tech companies' strategic intent over the years and large capital using resources at the right time. In the publishing industry, with the involvement of Internet technology and capital, the product attribute of content is being adopted, and a completely new publishing ecosystem other than traditional publishing is being deeply activated. New companies like iget, and Himalaya innovate the way of reading, listening and selling books and provide tailored knowledge service. Great social effect and economic profit have been produced through full media covered operation and transmission of books.
In United States, Amazon takes lead in the print and electronic book market. In 2017, there're no super bestsellers in USA and the sales of print books from traditional publishers grew only 1.9%, the growth rate is lower than that of earlier 3 years. In recent years, depending on print book sales via Amazon which keeps a double digit annual growing speed, the overall print book sales in USA maintains a growth rate of 2%-3% per year. In the ebook market, Amazon's market share reaches up to 83%, in the meanwhile that of physical bookstores and large supermarkets is shrinking gradually.
In United Kingdom, the average price of books is raised, thus less bestsellers create more income. In 2017, the sales of print books in UK declined by 2.6%, yet the income gained 0.2%, meaning the average book price has been elevated. In 2017, the number of super-bestsellers that reached millions's sales was reduced: fewer bestsellers created more sales, and more non-bestsellers had better sales.
In Germany, over the five years, the number of readers decreased by 6.4 million (17.8%), and only 29.6 million people are still reading. This ratio shows that in Germany, among the population who are over ten years' old, only 44% are still reading, which results in a polarized phenomenon: book sales are reduced, and those who make regular purchases buy more books and thus spend more money in books.
In France, the teaching reform of high schools has given publishers the opportunity to reverse the market. Through 2 consecutive years, from 2016 to 2017, junior high school reform in France stimulated the sales of teaching materials and the growth of publishers' turnover. For publishers, print textbooks have become a major source of the growth of their income. Before the 2019 senior high school new outline comes out, in 2017,the French publishing industry again ushered in a hard landing.
In Japan, due to factors like the declining birth rate and lack of good new books, readers turning to electronic comics, both comic and fashion magazines have suffered greatly. In 2017, the sales of printed comics decreased by 13%. At the same time, fashion magazines whose main source of income relies on advertisements are facing the dilemma whether to transform or discontinue, for fewer readers result in fewer advertisements.
In South Korea, the rate of reading print books keep on dropping while that of electronic books go on rising. Physical bookstores get stuck in stagnation, while online sales embraces its hefty increase. Since November 2014, the South Korean government's strengthened the book pricing system, with law regulating the book discounts should not be more than 15%,which greatly reduced the discounting deal as well as encouraged more than 200 small niche bookstores. To revitalize physical bookstore business, Korean government issued a small and medium-sized enterprise certification system, followed by the supportive regulations and other relevant policies. Also through hosting "Bookstore Day", issuing book coupons and adopting other ways to support the physical bookstores.
In Russia, on the other hand, after mergers and reorganizations of several major publishing houses, two ultragiant publishing groups have formed: Eksmo-AST Publishing Group and Olma Education Publishing & Media Group, and Letter-Aguicus Publishing Group formed by several medium-sized publishing houses. In 2017, audio book market grew by 55% than the year before, and e-books grew rapidly in sales at remote areas.
In Canada, audio books play an important role in the boom of book market. 61% of Canadian publishers produce digital audio books, a rise of 24% on the previous year. The number of publishing houses that produce e-books is increasing. 65%of publishers indicate that each year's e-book sales is increasing in varying degrees thanks to publicity, marketing and the push of market maturity.
From above we can see that in 2017, the publishing industry in many countries has shown a weak tendency. Digital publishing, especially audio books and self publications have become main motivation to elevate the market's growth. Reading print books have been challenged by other entertainment industries that fight over customer attention and spendings. Publishers and newcomers keep on trying new storytelling ways and content sharing ways so as to explore subscriptions of e-books and digital audiobooks as well as streaming services.
Sources: BookScan, publishers.org, authorearnings.com, Börsenverein, Boersenblatt, buchmesse.de, Livreshebdo, BookNet Canada, etc.
（translated by Chen Huiyi)