Read all about it: books are back thanks to COVID

Australians are getting back into books as a result of the coronavirus lockdowns.

Books are back thanks to COVID

Australians are getting back into books as a result of the coronavirus lockdowns and online book retailer Booktopia is benefiting.

For Booktopia, sales of physical books have been up at least 70 per cent year-on-year since the pandemic hit locally.

“You can’t call it an essential but it was very much in demand. And not only for Booktopia in online sales — in the beginning, bookstore sales were going crazy,” Booktopia chief executive Tony Nash says.

Nash says that lockdown reading trends have come in waves. Initially people were buying a lot of nonfiction but as the restrictions wore on, puzzles and adult colouring became more popular.

“Then once reality set in and people were getting into the rhythm of working from home or assessing what they wanted to do next, a lot of self-education, self-help, career development, skills, cooking, baking — anything that was nonfiction — lifestyle kind of titles did really well,” he says.

“I think people were getting a bit bored of their cooking and whatever their bulk, stock standards were; people were thinking ‘Gosh, we’ve got to do better than this’.”

Mr Nash says physical books are also gaining popularity because people are already spending so much time on their devices in other areas of life.

“COVID-19 is proof of it: with the pandemic, they could have easily downloaded a book and had it within seconds and started reading it, but no, they were ordering physical books,” he says.

Australia’s pervasive use of social media during the pandemic has meant that trends have become more widespread than they may have been otherwise.

“The internet and social media and the way that we operate now has gone into full use,” Nash says.

“Even Facebook, which was getting a little tired before the pandemic, and those of us that are in our 40s, 50s, 60s had had enough of it.

“All of a sudden people had a huge comeback as people were locked down and finding a way to stay connected.”