According to Publishers Lunch (subscription required), there’s a risk that book publishers may have to scramble to find new printers if the bankruptcy of LSC, the largest printer in the US, takes a bad turn. Later this month, LSC’s assets will be auctioned off, and the new owners may choose not to assume LSC’s existing contracts. If such a worst-case scenario were to happen and new contracts could not be re-negotiated, then publishers would have to find new printers and move book inventory out of LSC’s facilities within three months. This would be particularly bad timing for publishers, given that fall is peak printing time for holiday releases and promotions. A representative from Penguin Random House said such a situation would “leave millions of printing jobs for PRH’s books unfinished, whether half-printed, unbound, unjacketed, or unshipped.” Unfortunately, printing capacity is already under strain due to the pandemic and not likely to improve in the short term. Quad, the second largest printer in the US, is still in the process of selling off its book-printing business.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
