Reading down the publishing business

The old publishing industry is vanishing forever and is rapidly being replaced by online reading. The process had begun more than a decade ago. But the virus has delivered what could well be the coup

At the height of the second wave of the virus, a friend who has written a book asked me to help find a publisher. So I suggested a few names thinking that everyone was working from home, there would be a quick response, without the usual fuss that publishing houses like to make.

I was wrong. The author is still waiting for a reply. So a few days ago he called me again.

I rang one or two of the editors and asked what the problem was. The virus, and the consequent lockdowns, they said, have almost wiped out the publishing business