Emerging from the immediate doom and gloom, the publishers stood up resiliently to the challenges of Covid-19 and the industry is now laden with countless examples of innovation and resilience.

Only a few select publishers (now) are still caught up with complaining about the declining ad revenues and print sales, in reality these issues were very much prevalent even during pre-pandemic years. What the pandemic may have done is slide us all down 5 years forward and asked us all to improvise & innovate. 

Here’s how they have-

“More emphasis on what readers want!”

Catering to the changing moods and idiosyncrasies have become so much more important now. From readers hooked to political memoirs pre-elections, business startups post-Covid-19 and now the feel-good genre nearing the end of 2020. 

Publishers (magazine or books) better keep a tab on their target audience, if they have to match up with their digital customisable feeds.

“Readers are feeling more interactive, really!”

Publishers are increasingly getting cozy with the idea of digital subscriptions, which is why they’ve now adopted the tabloid method. Small snippets or bytes are fed to readers to interact with, if the engagement rate is good… you will certainly have more from the writer. If not, publishers are ready to shake it up and give readers something else to focus on.

The aim is to convert a visiting reader to an active, subscribing reader of the community. 

“A lot of traffic on the digital road”

A surge in subscription conversion rates leading up to May have given up a thumbs up to publishers. It will also free them of the burdensome advertising levies that weigh heavily on them.

Now the focus is on creating a subscription product that’s worth paying for that can be differentiated, a unique product that customers find worth paying for.

“Different set of opportunities for publishers willing to innovate”

Virtual events have been another way in which publishers can leverage their presence and offerings. Many book fairs like Frankfurt and Delhi Book Fair, have been apt examples of this. Publishers aside from having an audience need to target them better, build channels for promotion and present them with relevant content. 

All in all, I believe this push will lead to greater innovations despite the initial existential crisis it posed for the industry.