Publishing Possibilities in the Post-Epidemic Era

by Zhang Feng

Authors using the mobile internet to promote their works through livestreaming became a common phenomenon in China during the COVID-19 epidemic. Many authors are academics and have teaching posts in schools. In the very beginning， perhaps online courses were a matter of expediency for the need of epidemic prevention and control， but technology creates avenues for sharing knowledge on a larger scale. An online class may involve only dozens of students， but open live broadcasts can draw tens of thousands of viewers.

Another emerging phenomenon is writers selling products via livestream. In contrast with established livestream sales that amass tens of millions of U.S. dollars， the economic benefits for writers may not be high， but the value of livestream content plays an important role in national education and popularization of knowledge. More importantly， such endeavors establish new connections between writers and readers. Readers can see the author and interact through various online activities to acquire new understanding of his or her works， and the author conversely learns more about readers needs by receiving feedback.

It should be noted that in contrast to the paid-for-knowledge trend that emerged in China in the past two years， most writers live broadcasts are free. Offering free content not only attracts new readers， but also greatly promotes the circulation of knowledge.

E-commerce platforms are gradually gaining a larger share of book sales， which is considered the biggest change in Chinas publishing industry over the past decade. Online promotional activities have greatly increased sales and driven development of the book industry. But because the prices are kept low， profits reaped by publishers have been dwindling.

At the end of February， Shanghai Translation Publishing House， Chinas leading comprehensive translation publishing company， launched a Tmall flagship store after more than a year of preparation. That day， so many shoppers visited the site that it temporarily crashed. Foreign literature， social science classics， and other genres popular with Chinese readers sold out in minutes. During the epidemic， sales of The Hot Zone， a Western non-fiction title tracking the origin of the Ebola virus， reached 100，000 copies. Using an existing e-commerce platform to build a publishing houses flagship store not only guarantees heavy web traffic， but also helps form the publishing houses brand value. Over the past decade， the prices of books in China have risen significantly， but the paper， printing， and binding have all improved drastically， and some branded publishing organizations have also emerged. In the post-epidemic era， competition in the publishing industry in terms of brands will be more intense， and it is particularly important that the dominant brands establish their own online flagship stores.

Across the entire publishing industry， physical bookstores may suffer the greatest impact of the epidemic. At the turn of the century， e-commerce started pushing Chinese bookstores into large commercial complexes in metropolises. The large stores with beautiful decoration drew customers by offering backdrops for taking photos and socializing. They were also ideal places to hold cultural salons. But such new“landscape bookstores”rely on a relatively simple profiting model involving reduced rent in shopping malls， beverage sales， and cultural and creative products. However， during the epidemic， such revenue streams dropped to nearly zero.

During the shutdown， many bookstores launched “self-rescue”activities. In cities such as Beijing， Shanghai and Chengdu， bookstores promoted “cultural takeaways” in which they urged customers to buy books， drinks， cultural and creative products and other products online. Although earnings from such online sales were relatively meager，“passive” explorations made during the epidemic could play a greater role in the post-epidemic era.

The good news is that cities such as Beijing， Shanghai and Chengdu have successively introduced policies to support physical bookstores to endure the epidemic， and the bookstores that survive are expected to embrace higher-quality development.