Why Is the Cost of Books RIsIng?

Whether you are a new author or a reader, you have probably noticed that the wholesale and retail cost of books is rising. The publishing business is facing many of the same pressures that other industries are experiencing. Most of the problems boil down to supply chain issues.

The average person doesn’t realize what happens in the background of publishing. COVID wreaked havoc on three main areas of the publishing industry and now everyone is suffering the consequences.

The first area is staffing. It has become more difficult to find and keep good workers since 2020. Wages on the supply side tend to be lower, and it has become difficult to staff those jobs.

The second problem is shipping delays and the increase in shipping costs. Most of the world’s paper is manufactured in China. This means that paper must be shipped to other countries. According to the Wall Street Journal, shipping prices from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased 50%-75%. This means that paper prices around the world increased since shipping is added to the print/paper equation, which in turn impacts the wholesale cost of printing a book. This is exacerbated by the additional cost to ship books to distributors and consumers. Most use FedEx or UPS to ship books and both companies increased shipping costs by about 6% in 2022.

The third problem is a shortage of print plants. Many have been shut down, so there are fewer places to print books. Most printers have been given paper allocations from paper mills. Some months the printers receive their full allocation and some months they do not. Without paper, many of these printers have slowed printing and, in some cases, closed plants due to a lack of projects and revenue.

Publishers are working hard to solve these problems. Many publishers are looking at their backlists and determining if digital printing is the best way to go. Traditional and hybrid publishing companies usually create larger print runs for bookstore availability. These companies are considering reduced upfront printer runs. Reduced printer runs also cut down on warehousing/inventory fees. This solution makes Print-onDemand a better solution but also a more expensive solution. Print runs decrease the wholesale price of books.

While some of these problems may not be long-term, the publishing and printing industries are working hard to make publishing easier and shifting the consumer to more digital products. Will it be possible for readers to decide to read from an e-reader or computer rather than from a physical book in their hands? Education will be helpful, but my gut feeling is that physical books are here to stay.

Juliet Clark is a six- time author, speaker and podcaster who has spent the last twenty years helping authors, coaches, speakers, and small businesses all over the world build expert audiences. She started out as a mystery novelist and is best known or her books Gypsy, Granny Heist, and Dead by Dawn, and Pitchslapped. At age 46, she received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is an avid hiker and golfer.