We will sum up all the results after the victory, and now - a few theses about our market and the life of Vivat this year.
The realities of the book publishing business
1. The book market is alive and it is pleasantly surprising. It would seem that who needs these books now, but no, they do. People read, buy books for themselves, for their children, and for their friends.
2. New bookstores are opening. This is a very powerful manifestation of our optimism because book retail is always a niche and not a marginal business.
3. The interest in buying copyrights does not subside. Sometimes Ukrainian publishers offer such sums to foreign publishing houses as if they do not calculate the profit and risks at all. And this despite the fact that banks do not allow payments abroad. And if they miss it, it is not without problems. Can't understand and comment on it. Maybe you can tell me?
4. The prices of books have increased a lot. In my opinion, about 60%. Although the prices have increased, the reader still needs to get used to the average book price of UAH 300.
5. The e-book rushed forward. I think that the significant growth of electronic content will continue in the coming years. Therefore, we are already trying to buy the rights to almost all books, both for paper and digital content.
6. There is an outflow of qualified personnel. People are forced to find work abroad. Unfortunately, some of them will not return to Ukraine after the end of the war. And that's the problem.
Vivat life during the war
1. For the first time in the years of the publishing house's existence, we have been working away from the office for more than 10 months. This is our common pain. It's good that after covid the team already worked remotely and we have some experience, but not for as long (((At a distance, the general vibe, something common and basic is lost.
2. There are problems with the timing of receiving new products. We print our books in Kharkiv, the printing house works only during the day and according to the blackout schedule. Before the invasion, it worked around the clock. So the terms of publication of books are increasing. But, in the end, we will print all the books.
3. We practically did not reduce the number of items compared to last year, and the total circulation did not decrease. And it's just great! I think we managed to achieve this, in particular, by "exiting" the Ukrainian market of Russian-language books.
4. Interest in Ukrainian authors and illustrators abroad has significantly increased. We sold significantly more copyrights this year.
However, foreign publishing houses are still looking for such books that will be relevant in their market, which is quite understandable.
In conclusion, I want to say that the key word for me this year is sustainability.
Sustainability is the new currency. Undoubtedly, everything will be fine with us in the future, but when it will be "good" is still not clear.
Therefore, it will not work to wait, because it is impossible to wait out the crisis...
You need to live on, move forward, protect people and make plans.
And then everything will really be fine.
