A total 1,143 new book titles were published by 46 book publishing entities in Malta and Gozo between 2019 (632) and 2020 (511).

According to a publishing entities survey held by the National Statistics Office, 57% of book publishing entities were established after 2000, while the remaining 43% had been in operation for over 20 years.

Twenty-nine publishing entities (63%) were not affiliated with any specific bookstore, distributor, or printing press. Eight (17.4%) were affiliated with multiple stakeholders within this industry. 

For both years under review, the most popular publishing language was English, with 63% and 50% of the publishing entities publishing in English in 2019 and 2020 respectively. 

Survey results showed that over 90% of publishing entities engaged three or fewer editors in both years under review. A similar pattern was observed for the engagement of authors, with 76.1% of publishing entities working with three or fewer authors in 2020. 

Trade publications

Trade publications were the most popular type of publication printed and sold by publishing entities, with 475 and 344 different trade publication titles being printed and sold during 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Trade publishing refers to any publishing activities excluding publications intended for teaching in schools and educational institutions. 

The large majority of book titles were available for sale online, the preferred channel used to sell both printed and digital book titles. 

In 2020, 433 book titles (84.7%) were made available for sale through this channel. 

Total revenue generated from sales and licenses of trade and educational books that year was estimated at €3.4 million, a drop of €1.1 million when compared to 2019.

Around two thirds of total revenue (65.4%) was generated from trade publishing sales and licences.

Revenue from the sales of books in printed format accounted for 87.5% of total revenue.