The writing and publishing industry, like most industries around the world, is still reeling from the impact of Covid-19. While it may seem like people being indoors would result in higher book sales, many physical bookstores have been forced to close.
The old-fashioned discovery of titles is a thing of the past, and online stores are experiencing a resurgence. Essentially, the pandemic has forced the stragglers to get with the times, at least according to Fooz Molhama, the founder and head of Riyadh-based publishing company Molhama.
Molhama has put out bestselling titles consistently since its founding in 2018. Many of these have been ebooks, and in keeping with the trend, everyone in publishing will now have to take these into serious consideration. E-courses, blogs, and audiovisual articles have also significantly contributed to Molhama’s success.
“One of the biggest takeaways from the Covid-19 pandemic has to be the reminder that we have to evolve with the times,” Molhama explains. “It has been in countries which are still reliant on bookstores for sales where Covid has hit the publishing industry the most. The only way to survive is to embrace the trend of electronic books and audiobooks. Evolution has been on the horizon for some time; now, it is inevitable.”
This is one of five insights shared by Fooz Molhama on how we can overcome the Covid-19 setback.
“We have to adapt, both in the way we think of publishing and in our consumption,” he says. “Readers are still king; we just have to figure out how to get new material to them.”
“Innovation and evolution will be key. Technology is your friend. That’s where your readers are, so it’s where you should be.”
“Now, more than ever, we need to tell our stories,” Fooz Molhama goes on to say. The need is more significant, as are the opportunities. Publishers might have to suffer a bit to stay afloat, and it will be difficult to accept that we can no longer browse for books in person. In the long term, however, evolution is always for the best.