Online sales are the driving force behind physical books

Leap forward in online sales that, the only tool available to purchase for many weeks, may have benefited from the lockdown, going to join definitively (and overwhelmingly) the "physical" channel in the distribution of editorial products. The percentages will become clear only after the forthcoming months.

Recently, the publishing industry has also been the target of economic measures and initiatives (most recently Ministerial Decree 364/2020 of last 30 July, which earmarked € 10 million to support small publishers), as well as a new law to promote reading (which came into force at the beginning of February) and that provides, among other things, a tax credit for bookstores and a (highly controversial) rule that puts a ceiling on discounts on books.

Schools drive publishing

Positive signals come from school book publishing, which, well before the return of students back to class, started to run the printing presses again. Paper books still rule (and promise to do so for a long time) over e-books and this is an excellent signal for children (that learning on paper is better than on digital tools has demonstrated over time), for publishers and printers as well. The road to normal is still a long one but the publishing industry is certainly on the right track.