A Plot Twist Confounds Publishers
Months ago, in what now feels like another era, publishers planning their 2020 schedules hoped to avoid releasing books in the fall, typically the industry’s biggest season. Editors and writers worried that new releases would be lost in the deluge ( ) of political news leading up to the presidential election, so publishers jammed some of their biggest titles into the spring.
Now, a reverse exodus ( ) of sorts is taking place. Publishers are pushing back the release of dozens of books to summer and fall, in hopes that by then the coronavirus outbreak will be waning ( ), bookstores will reopen, and authors will be able to tour ( ) and promote their work.
Some of the most anticipated ( ) titles of the spring have been delayed by weeks or months.
“Bookstores are shuttered ( ), everyone right now is worried about their health and their livelihoods ( ), there’s so much anxiety,” said writer Laila Lalami, whose new nonfiction book, “Conditional Citizens,” was scheduled to come out from Pantheon in April, but has been moved to the fall. “It makes sense to postpone it until there’s a bit more clarity ( ), until we know what’s going to happen.”
Some publishers are even moving books to next year.
Such moves are a gamble, given the uncertainty surrounding the course ( ) of the epidemic and the economic crisis. Some publishers worry that the situation could be even worse in a few months, if more warehouses and distribution centers close, and if publishers have to confront ( ) reduced capacity at printing presses.
Paper shortages could also become an issue, as more paper stock gets consumed making cardboard ( ) for deliveries of essential products.
“For authors, it’s really tough,” said Daniel Halpern, the publisher of Ecco. “You work on a book for two or three years, and suddenly you find it coming out in a plague. There’s so much unknown, and there’s so much changing every hour.”
Publishers who are delaying books now, in hopes that ( ) they can sell more copies in the future, are facing revenue ( ) shortfalls ( ) in the meantime ( ).
Artists in every field, from musicians, dancers and opera singers to actors and television writers, have seen their livelihoods and income disrupted ( ), or in some cases evaporated ( ), as theaters, comedy clubs and studios have closed in the face of ( ) the epidemic. In some ways, the publishing industry is better positioned than many other businesses to weather ( ) the impact of the coronavirus. Books are in a way an ideal medium ( ) for this moment: Reading is a solitary ( ) act, and people who are sheltering ( ) in place ( ) may turn to books for escape, solace ( ) and connection.
But the longer the economic and public health crisis lasts, the harder it will be for publishers and book retailers to keep their companies afloat ( ).
There’s a growing fear that the temporary closure of bookstores around the country may in many cases become permanent.
延後出書時間 全球疫病讓出版商措手不及
幾個月前（現在覺得當時就像另一個時代），規劃2020年時程的出版商希望避免在秋天出書，而秋天通常是出版業的大旺季。編輯和作者擔心，新書訊息會被美國總統大選投票前大量的政治新聞淹沒，所以出版商讓一些重磅新書通通擠在今年春天出版。
而此際，出版商可謂正大舉往反方向行動。出版商把數十本書的出版時間推遲到夏天和秋天，寄望屆時新冠肺炎疫情已見緩和，書店重新開門，作者得以巡迴宣傳新書。
今年春天最受矚目的一些新書，已延後數周或數月問世。
作家萊拉．拉拉米的非小說新書「有條件的公民」，原定4月由美國萬神殿圖書出版，但已延到秋季。拉拉米說：「書店都關了，眼下人人都在擔心自己的健康和生計，非常焦慮，把出書時間延到情勢明朗些、我們知道接下來會怎麼樣的時候，合情合理。」
有些出版商甚至把出書時間延到明年。
這是在冒險，因為疫情和經濟危機會如何發展，誰都說不準。有些出版商擔心，如果有更多倉庫和配送中心關閉，而出版商又必須應付印刷廠產能降低，情況會在幾個月之後變得更糟。
紙張短缺可能也會成為一個問題，因為會有更多庫存紙做成硬紙板，用來運送必需品。
艾科出版社創辦人哈爾朋說：「對作者來說，情況很不堪。你寫了兩、三年，突然發現要在瘟疫期間出書。很多事難以明瞭，很多事每小時都在改變。」
出版社現在推遲出書是希望未來賣掉更多書，但已同時面臨營收不足。
各個領域的藝術家，從音樂家、舞蹈家、歌劇演唱家到演員和電視編劇，生計和收入都受到衝擊，甚至斷絕，因為電影院、喜劇俱樂部和製片廠都在疫情中關閉。在某些方面，出版業比許多其他行業更有條件挺過疫情衝擊。書本堪稱度過此刻的理想工具：閱讀是獨自從事的行為，而且居家避疫者可藉閱讀尋求逃避、慰藉和連結。
不過，這場經濟和公共衛生危機持續愈久，出版商和書店就愈難撐下去。
人們日益擔心，全美各地書店暫時關門，其中許多只怕再也開不了門了。
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