, Nova Weetman, chef Neil Perry, Hannah Kent and Amani Haydar. Penguin Random House was publisher of the year, the Harry Hartog chain won the retailer award, and Melbourne’s Avenue Bookstore was bookshop of the year.
“The industry has taken enormous confidence from what has happened. People chose to read books in a way I was thrilled by.”–had helped bring new readership into the shops, significantly boosting trade and introducing a whole new generation of readers to reading.She said despite a slight softening of the market this month – often the case in June, apparently – “we have won back a lot of lapsed readers”.
Egan relished the strong sales growth and welcomed the gradual diminishing of supply chain issues, but said staffing was still a problem. Election campaigns were usually a drag on trade, he said, but that had not been the case this year.“Generally, the industry is holding up well and feeling positive. We have laid bare the fallacy that online is the only way to buy books. Once we were able to open up, sales at bricks-and-mortar shops bounced back.