Proactive Investors - Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BLPU) is set to surf the wave of the fantasy genre further with the release of seven new Sarah J Maas titles slated from early next year and a propulsive new author in the space, Samantha Shannon.
The fantasy genre continues to surge ahead of expectations for independent publisher Bloomsbury.
The publisher rebalanced its dividend in October to be more evenly weighted throughout the year, with its latest trading update anticipating a rip-current in sales in the second half, which have continued to bloom.
Book spending rose to £4.3 billion in 2022, according to Statista, as a surge during the Covid-19 pandemic, which was not expected to last, nevertheless has, with yearly consumer spending on books peaking since 2019.
The publisher is known for discovering Harry Potter author J K Rowling, who was famously rejected by 12 other publishers.
Bloomsbury published Rowling's first book, 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone', in 1997, since when many more authors have entered the market, particularly in the digital space following a rise in self-publishing.
Finding hidden gems has become even tougher in a saturated market, where publishers including Bloomsbury now only accept agented submissions in the fiction genre.
Bloomsbury still continues to experience growth in fiction, with the 15 titles by Sarah J Maas among its bestsellers this year, all the while diversifying into academic publishing.
Penny Scott-Bayfield, Bloomsbury’s chief financial officer, said in an exclusive interview that the next Sarah J Maas title, 'House of Flame and Shadow', will be released on 30 January and that the publisher will release a “further six titles with her after that”.
Bringing new authors on board is “a key part of what we have done”, said Scott-Bayfield, who hinted that Samantha Shannon could be the publisher’s next big author in the fantasy genre.
Shannon’s book 'The Bone Season' was an instant Sunday Times bestseller and the author has since embarked on another string of titles, 'The Roots of Chaos' series.
As the fantasy genre continues to deliver for Bloomsbury, with Maas set to release the 'House of Flame and Shadow' in the first quarter, which is already open for pre-orders, the publisher said in a trading update last week that it expects trading to exceed full-year expectations.
“Fantasy does better when things are tougher,” Scott-Bayfield said. “There is that escapism.”
“Sarah J Maas is an exceptionally strong author,” she added, describing a “significant” expansion in the author’s market since she moved into adult fiction after beginning her career in the young adult market.
"She is reaching a new audience who come in through one series and buy another.”
Scott-Bayfield added that the “front list title” the Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac “is a bestseller in UK and US”.
Following the latest post-pandemic boom, Bloomsbury's example suggests that pre-pandemic predictions that books, or fiction, are dying markets, were wrong.
The company said this month that it expects sales to top £274 million and profits to exceed £33 million for the year to 29 February 2024.
“It speaks to the strength and balance of our portfolio,” Scott-Bayfield said, highlighting “very strong growth” in the fantasy market, within its consumer division, in the past five years.
“We’ve seen exceptionally strong trading in the second half.”
Book sales have recently been propelled by BookTok, which didn’t exist at the time of the original Harry Potter series.
The publisher's bullish predictions for the fiscal year follow “exceptionally strong trading” within its consumer titles division, particularly noteworthy being American fantasy author Sarah J Maas’s opus.
Bloomsbury, Maas’s global publisher since 2012, reported “excellent growth” in the author’s backlist titles.
Bookseller Waterstones’ book of the year, 'Impossible Creatures', part of a trilogy by Katherine Rundell, also made the bestseller list, with her novels appealing from ages eight to 80, according to Scott-Bayfield.
Bloomsbury, which was founded in 1986 and floated in 1994, has a unique strategy of publishing both consumer and non-consumer books, spanning fiction, non-fiction, academic and professional titles.
Scott-Bayfield said the publisher’s diversified strategy had proven to be very successful, with consumer demand for books growing while academic institutions increased their shift to online learning.