2018 is notable for at least two related phenomena. The year began and ended with big nonfiction titles — Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, and then Becoming by Michelle Obama –that sparked significant demand and had publishers scrambling to print enough hardcovers. That brings into relief a challenge that was present all year and will clearly carry over into 2019: Tight markets for both paper and book printing and binding had publishers juggling all the time to keep popular titles and steady backlist alike in stock. The issues look systemic, but paper and printing shortages were exacerbated by some of the […]
