More than 200m print books were sold in the UK last year, the first time since 2012 that number has been exceeded(超过), according to official book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan.
Although the coronavirus pandemic(新冠病毒大流行) caused a series of lockdowns(封锁) around the country－bookshops in England were closed from 23 March until 15 June, and then again from 5 November until 2 December, with differing lockdowns in place around the rest of the UK－Nielson said that print books sales grew by 5.2% compared with 2019. This means 202m books worth £1.76bn being sold in the UK last year, said Nielsen.
At Waterstones, Kate Skipper called the numbers really exciting which gave her huge confidence again. "So many people have turned to books for information and joy through this difficult year," said Skipper. "Our shops were asked to stay shut, but when we were able to safely open again, readers really wanted to browse(浏览) and discover new books," she said.
Kiera O'Brien, charts & data editor at The Bookseller, said book buyers seemed to be "making the effort to go to high street(繁华的商业街区) and independent bookshops while they could, and spending a lot of money in one go." She added that "the growth was very much spread across the board, with no single standout bestseller(畅销书) driving the market upwards."
But Nicola Solomon at the Society of Authors said that despite the strong overall performance, many authors were still struggling. "Book sales are up. We just don't believe they are up across the board," she said. "Big names, series, even some newcomers have done well, but plenty of people have suffered."
The Society of Authors' emergency fund for authors facing financial hardship has given out £1.3m to date, to just over 1,000 authors, and will continue to support writers in trouble as a result of the pandemic.
