Stephen Page
Stephen Page

Faber Chair Stephen Page talks about the evolution of books

Intro

Stephen Page, chair of publishing house Faber, gave a lecture at UWL’s Dr William Barry Theatre, on Thursday 9 November to an audience of students, staff and members of the public.

Main body

Stephen Page stood with Sara Raybould and UWL academics at the event

‘The revolution will be published: rising to future challenges in the book trade after four decades of change’reflected the industry’s history and considered its future growth. 

The event was introduced by Sara Raybould, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience), who confessed her continued love of encyclopaedias despite the advent of Wikipedia, and UWL Professor Film, Media and Design Garin Dowd, who said:

The services of Stephen Page to publishing are difficult to overstate – we are very honoured to have him here to speak to us tonight.” 

Stephen outlined five revolutions in publishing, starting in 1982, when Tim Waterstone opened his first bookshop, kickstarting an explosion of bookshop chains, the professionalisation of publishing and vast amounts of shelf space.  

Then, in the mid to late 1990s, prices became competitive, with books sold in supermarkets. This, and the advent of Amazon, sounded the death knell for many bookshops.

Remembering early discussions, Stephen said:

I thought Amazon was a charming idea, couldn’t see it working really.”

Stephen Page speaking at his public lecture

In 2007, Amazon launched the Kindle “a shop in your hands”, between 2007 and 2012, the industry struggled with challenges around pricing in the face of cheap eBooks.

Stephen said:

However, social media brought a whole new opportunity for books,”

A continued demand for physical books has created today’s dynamic and exciting market. 

After his lecture Stephen spent time talking to many would-be writers. Taking questions from the audience, he told one budding writer: 

Write the book you want to write – the thing that really sings on the page when you read it is the original voice.

Be relentless, persistent and hopeful, because in the end, a lot of writing doesn’t end up being published. Being an indie author is a completely valid way to publish your work.”

Image 1 (L to R): John Saddler - Lecturer in Creative Writing, Stephen Page - Chair of Faber, Sara Raybould - Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education and Student Experience), Garin Dowd - Professor of Film, Literature and Media

Image 2: Stephen Page

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