News
The Coronavirus Scramble
The virus is causing lots of disruptions in the book world, from
international book fairs to book manufacturingT
he continuing spread of the new coronavirus is
sowing uncertainty across many parts of the book
world. Already, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair,
originally set for March 30–April 2, has been
moved to May 4–7 following an outbreak of the virus in
northern Italy. Reed Exhibitions issued a statement last
week saying its London Book Fair will proceed as planned
on March 10–12 but added that it is tracking developments.
Even as LBF moves ahead, late last week word began
circulating that a growing number of Americans will skip the
fair. A Simon & Schuster spokesman said that “out of concern
for the health and safety of our employees,” the company has
decided not to attend LBF. The spokesman added that staff
that was planning to attend are “looking into alternate means
to conduct meetings with their contacts in the international
publishing community.”
Another major U.S. publishing player, the Ingram Content
Group, said it has decided to curtail travel in light of the out-
break and will not attend LBF. Some American agents said
they are staying home as well.
Several international events featuring Chinese exhibitors
and guests have been canceled, but the Chinese stands at
LBF will be open and staffed by employees from the exhibi-
tors’ London offices. There are also reports that some
publishers, agents, and service companies from Japan and
South Korea will be unable to attend LBF.
The International Toy Fair, which counts more than 30
publishers among its exhibitors, canceled its China Pavilion
during the fair’s February 22–25 run in New York City (see
“Book-Toy Synergies,” p. 6).
At the same time North American publishers and agents
consider their options for LBF, they are also working on ways
to cope with the rescheduled Bologna fair. Most are working to
reschedule appointments, hoping that attendees from other
countries will agree to shift their existing meetings to the new
dates. “It has been hectic trying to reschedule,” said Derek
Stordahl, executive v-p and general manager of Holiday House.
“The goal is to get everyone to move over their appointments
to May and keep things routine.”
At Owlkids Books in Toronto, publisher Karen Boersma
said the bigger question will be “whether publishers decide
that they are not going to go at all this year given the changein dates and the uncertainty around the outbreak of COVID-
in Italy.” She added that her company is making arrangements
for teleconferencing, should remote meetings become neces-
sary: “There were already quite a few publishers and agents
from Asia who had decided not to attend. We were already
working on plans to set up Zoom or Skype meetings with those
partners to present our new titles, and we may decide to
expand those efforts. Long story short: we’re in wait-and-see
mode right now.”
While publishers, editors, and agents grapple with how
best to handle the London and Bologna fairs, publishers’
production and supply chain teams are working on how to
lessen the impact of the shutdown of printing plants in areas
of China where the coronavirus originated. Interviews with
several industry members confirmed that some books printed
in China have been delayed, even as plants there slowly ramp
back up. “Quarto, like many other toy and book manufacturers,
is experiencing production delays in China,” said Ken Fund,
chief operating officer of Quarto, who was at Toy Fair. Quarto
is “actively looking at alternative solutions outside of China
for production,” he added.
“We are reviewing the production status with our printers
of each of our titles, some of which have experienced delays,”
said a spokeswoman for Penguin Random House.
Michael Jacobs, CEO of Abrams, noted that some Abrams
works produced in China have also been delayed.
Simon & Schuster has adjusted pub dates for a few fall titles
in order to accommodate its most-impacted printers, the
company spokesman said.4 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 2, 2020
Visitors on the floor of the 2019 Bologna Children’s Book Fair. This year’s fair
has been postponed to May 4–7 because of the spread of the coronavirus.PHOTOBYDIANEROBACK