11 Dec 2016

Melanie Laville-Moore on the comeback of book publishing

From Standing Room Only, 12:48 pm on 11 December 2016
Melanie Laville-Moore

Melanie Laville-Moore Photo: supplied

The digital e-book and online book-buying were once confidently given as proof that the publishing industry was as dead as...  well, as dead as the old-fashioned book itself.

Not so. A new report commissioned by the New Zealand publishing industry shows there's been a big increase in sales of both e-books and actual books.

In fact, e-books only account for seven percent of sales in New Zealand. It seems we still have an unaccountable love of print on paper, with authors and publishers contributing almost $400 million to the economy this year.

What is behind this publishing comeback? Lynn Freeman asks Melanie Laville-Moore, president of the Publishers Association.