"I think they have an essential role, really," said Chantal Restivo-Alessi, CEO of HarperCollins International, about physical bookstores during the Global CEO Talk at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday afternoon.
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| Chantal Restivo-Alessi, Ruediger Wischenbart, and Núria Cabuti at the Global CEO Talk Wednesday afternoon. | |
Restivo-Alessi appeared on the panel with Núria Cabuti, CEO at Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, with publishing consultant Ruediger Wischenbart moderating the discussion. Throughout the session, the panelists fielded questions from a group of five international publishing industry journalists.
Expounding on her view of physical bookstores, Restivo-Alessi noted that "people want events," they and crave ways of forming in-person connections. At the same time, bookstores can provide a "serendipity of new discovery" that is almost entirely absent from online sales platforms, as they make recommendations based on past behavior. Perhaps her "biggest pleasure" as a reader, she said, is going into a bookstore with one title in mind and leaving with three books, two of which she'd never heard of before, and it is "fundamental" for the industry to maintain that presence and that service.
Cabuti, whose division of PRH handles Spanish-language, Portuguese-language, and Catalan-language publishing, remarked that booksellers in Spain and many parts of Latin America benefit from fixed price laws, meaning that a book's price has to be the same wherever it is old. That gives "our traditional booksellers an advantage," and is one of the reasons why they remain "a big part of our sales in Spain and Latin America." In Spain specifically, "90% of new books we sell are sold in physical bookshops," and in terms of new-title discovery, physical bookshops are "really where it happens." Additionally, they are a "cultural force" by way of promoting reading and hosting events.
Delving further into Spanish-language markets, Cabuti reported that Spain's book market grew by 10% in 2024 and has grown 4% so far this year, and in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, markets are growing by 5%-15% year over year. Much of this growth, she said, comes from a "positive evolution of reading habits" driven particularly by an increase in reading for pleasure among young women.
Asked about their perspectives on AI, Restivo-Alessi said she believes first and foremost in the "need to protect our rights on behalf of our authors." She also advised taking a cue from the music industry, which Restivo-Alessi worked in prior to publishing, and creating a "viable, monetize-able way" of working with AI companies. Publishers need to have some control over this process, she continued, and "the way to be in control" is to "engage and drive the conversation." The industry should "endorse usage where it makes sense" and "set up clear rules" when it doesn't. AI's potential to help "reinvigorate and support backlist," she added, represents an "incredible opportunity for the entire industry."
Cabuti, meanwhile, said the industry seemed to be in a "FOMO mood" regarding AI, with companies rushing in because they feel they "need to be there." Citing a recent MIT study that found that only about 5% of AI pilot projects produce any measurable return on investment, Cabuti emphasized the importance of figuring out how to use AI most effectively. So far, she said, the focus has been mainly on processes and making things "faster and more efficient." She said the industry has to create sustainable models for licensing content, and as far as generative AI is concerned, "human creativity is not going to be surpassed by AI, at least in the short term."
On the subject of the scarcity of women in executive positions in publishing, Cabuti said there needs to be role models showing men and women that "having women in top positions" is good "for the market and for business."
Restivo-Alessi said that the new hybrid work model that has emerged since the end of the pandemic may lead to more women in senior positions, as it gives women the "opportunity to balance their life a little bit more." At the same time, women should not be afraid of taking on new roles and new responsibilities. "Just go for it," she said. "Men go for it all the time." --Alex Mutter