The second round-up of the week has an interesting common thread. Each of the three stories represents the end of an era in some way. The first is more an item of amusing good riddance—an amuse-bouche in every sense. Simon & Schuster has announced that it won’t be pushing authors and editors to paste puff quotes on their covers.
ALLi News Editor, Dan Holloway
This has always been a part of the industry I have hated, in large part because I am so rubbish at networking that the necessity of blurbs has felt like another nail in my coffin (that said, I have always been delighted to give people whose work I love a round endorsement).
The Digital Evolution of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The other two stories are more interconnected, more serious, and each in its way a fascinating insight into a changing landscape (as well as an opportunity for much personal nostalgia). The UK high street retailer WH Smith and the hallmark statement of intellectual seriousness, Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB), feel very far apart.
Each is, of course, a key part of the publishing landscape. EB didn’t just sit on every school and library shelf; it was, in many ways, at the forefront of innovation. Its door-to-door salespeople were the book world equivalent of Avon, Tupperware, or Ann Summers. The way it was sold effectively brought the serial or part-work format to knowledge culture.
In 2012, the printing stopped. EB moved digital. And the move has been so successful that it is now considering an IPO (initial public offering) at a valuation of around $1 billion. Do read Mark Williams’ fascinating piece on what this evolution and pivot can teach.
Uncertainty for WH Smith’s Future
The trajectory is less positive for WH Smith. The chain is looking to sell its 500 retail stores. This is potentially a big deal for books because, while there has been much snobbery about the store’s book offerings (especially when it was voted the UK’s Book Retailer of the Year), it has done a huge amount to create new readers over the years, such as collaborating on the Richard and Judy Book Club, one of the largest collective reading endeavors around.
The location of many of its stores has also led to it becoming synonymous with a whole genre: the airport novel. Whatever comes next for the retailer, it will be sad if it doesn’t involve books.
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