Independent publishers and academic presses gathered at yesterday’s (25th February) IPG Conference to discuss challenges and opportunities in the market amid “a very turbulent and alarming landscape”.
The government’s AI consultation was top of the agenda, while indie publishers voiced their concerns about the UK’s economic outlook and the shrinking children’s books market.
From book bans to declining literacy levels and increasingly complex EU laws, there was a lot of ground to cover on the first day of this year’s event, which was held at The Shaw Theatre in London.
Setting the tone for the day, Kate Wilson of Nosy Crow, Karen Phillips of SAGE Publishing and Bella Lacey of Granta Books spoke about the challenges faced by independent publishers.
The panel, chaired by IPG chair and Edinburgh University Press CEO Nicola Ramsey, also discussed the opportunities available for indie presses, reflecting the conference’s “Going for Growth” theme.
Meanwhile, Lacey, managing director and publishing director at Granta Publications, said that independent publishers are operating in “very alarming times”. From uncertainty around US tariffs to concerns about the UK’s economic outlook and the knock-on effects of Brexit, independent publishers are faced with “a very turbulent and alarming landscape”.
The changes to National Insurance coming into effect from April and the threats presented by AI also top the list of concerns for indie presses, while low rates of reading for pleasure among children continue to raise alarm bells across the industry.
The changing media landscape is also putting pressure on independents, according to Lacey, with fewer opportunities for coverage creating barriers to reaching readers – an issue further compounded by changes in the ways readers and publishers engage with social-media platforms.
Independent publishers are also facing “more familiar” pressures as they strive to acquire the right books, find new readers, and work to retain their authors in the long-term.
Lacey said: “It’s unsettled times, but I also feel that we can be just really creative and inventive about how we reach our readers, and if we’re very clear and focused about what we’re publishing and why we’re publishing it, then we’re able to be very direct in our messaging. We just need to return all the time to our key principles, which is to invest in really good talent, trust in our teams and know the marketplace as well as we can.”
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Meanwhile, Wilson spoke about a shrinking children’s book market in the UK, with birth rates plummeting, parents facing cost-of-living pressures and literacy levels among children declining. Books being banned is also a concerning phenomenon for publishers like Nosy Crow, and Wilson said that she is “entirely confident as the publisher of some of these books that this will grow”.
However, Wilson explained that there is growth in some key markets for children’s books, highlighting Brazil and China. Moreover, she said that some books are more effective in getting children and young people reading, noting the increasing popularity of graphic novels. “These are very visually literate children,” she explained. “We’re finding that what is working are shorter books with greater illustrative support.”
Addressing the academic publishers in the room, Phillips, the executive vice-president of SAGE Publishing, spoke about the threats to higher education funding. After years of financial pressures faced by UK universities, she said that higher education institutions are reaching a “crunch point” in 2025, with tightening budgets set to affect resources for academics, students and university libraries.
Wilson also spoke about the “administrative burden” faced by publishers selling into the European Union. She said that a tool is in development by the supply chain to help publishers with regards to the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), claiming that six publishers have committed to funding the development of this tool.
The EUDR was the subject of another talk at the conference, with Lisa Faratro of CPI offering publishers advice on how they can comply with the regulation, while acknowledging that “there are still many questions that most publishers, most printers and most mills still have about how they’re going to apply it and ensure that it stands up to interrogation from authorities”.
The session also featured insights on the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), with James Dunphy of Durnell Marketing and Simon Palliant of Gardners advising publishers on how they can prevent disruption to supply by meeting the requirements set out by the regulation.
Artificial intelligence and copyright featured heavily on this year’s programme, with Will Crook, head of policy and communications at Publishers’ Licensing Services, providing updates on the government’s AI consultation, and tech expert Ed Newton-Rex discussing the need for increased regulation. Crook outlined the three objectives of the consultation: improving the control rights holders have over their works while also boosting access for AI developers, and increasing the transparency of AI models.
Out of the four options that are available to the government, its preferred option is a package of actions – the third policy option available – comprising a “data mining exception which allows right holders to reserve their rights, underpinned by supporting measures on transparency”. This aligns with the EU’s copyright exception, which the government acknowledges is “still being developed” and leaves much to be desired when it comes to protections for publishers.
Crook said: “As I and many of my colleagues have pointed out to the government, the EU’s had this for around four years now and there’s been no suitable technical protection measure found.”
He also outlined the lack of impact assessment looking at the effect this policy option will have on the UK’s creative industries.
The conference featured more conversations around AI and the ways it is being used by publishers and authors. A session led by Rob Burleigh of Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing explored how the publisher is using an AI platform to reach its customers in new ways.
The day came to a close with a call to arms by children’s author Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who spoke about the decline in reading for pleasure among children and publishers’ responsibility in addressing this issue.
The Waterstones Children’s Laureate said he was thinking about reading as an “anchor” for children, and not just as an “escape”, highlighting the benefits that reading has for the mental health of young people.
