Live Reads

Livestreaming can boost book sales，but can it translate into sustainable profits for Chinese publishers，or is it just a short-term ploy for quick cash？

直播賣書火爆的背后，傳統出版業正在經歷變革之痛

Knowledge can change one's destiny. Now， a livestream can do the same fora book. This became especially apparent in early 2024， when one of the country’s top livestreamers，Dong Yuhui， invited Abdulrazak Gurnah， the2O21NobelPrizeinLiterature laureate， to join him on his Douyin （China's version of TikTok） channel.During their 100-minute conversation，more than 110，000 copies of Gurnah's first Chinese-translated series， pricedat218 yuaneach，weresold.

Around the same time， the Chinese literary magazinePeople'sLiteraturesold over 990，000 copiesduringafour-hour livestream，also hosted byDong.Saleskeptclimbing evenafter the stream ended， eventually surpassing 1.2 million copies.

Yet neither of these canholdaflame to Chi Zijian'sTheLastQuarteroftheMoon，another beneficiaryofDong'schannel.Since his recommendation， thenovelhasreached six million copies in print—up from just 6o0，000 before Dong's endorsement， according totheauthor.

Such sales figureshave causedaseismic shock within both the literary world and the publishing industry. And while more publishers are embracing livestreaming to boost sales，it does not always ensure increased profits.Instead， the pivot seems to reflect a complex， and at times begrudging， struggle within theindustry to respond to modern content consumption trends.

In today's China，book-related livestreamseither through partnerships with influencers or self-run channels-have become a mainstream marketing model.Authors provide professional content and works，while streamers play on viewers' emotions to drive purchasing desire together， they work to shift copies.

With their strong selling power and large fanbases，livestreamers can explain contentin vivid，relatablelanguageandstimulateaudience engagementthroughreal-timeinteraction.

“When I buy books through short video platforms or livestreams， a really strong recommendation from the host can give me an \"Because of Yuhui， I've read three paperback books...You have to understand-I'm a houserwife with only a middle school education， and I haven't touched a printed book in vears.\"

instant rush that makes me place an order right away.But when I shop on [online book retailer] Dangdang or[e-commerceplatform] Taobao， I usually take time to read the synopsis and reviews carefully， sometimes even leaving the book in my cart fora while.It's a much less impulsive process bycomparison，\"ChenSasa，motherofa7-yearoldanda frequentbookbuyer forbothherself andherdaughter， tellsTWOC.

Zhou Ran，a book marketing manager at amajor Chinese publishing house，adds that livestreaming is also a powerful tool for gauging consumer preferences.“Since livestream hosts interact directlywith readers，feedback is instant，and the relationship is more personal than thatbetween readers and publishers， making [livestreaming]a more effective way to understand readers，\"shetellsTWOC.

This close bond between influencers and theiraudiences not only boosts the market value of featured books and publishing houses， but also rekindles viewers' interest in literature and inspiresa desire to read.In the comment section of Dong'sbook recommendation videos， endlessfollowerssharetheirfeedbackandsincere appreciation of the workshehighlights.

“Because of Yuhui， Ive read three paperback books，and I'm now planning to get The Temple ofEarth andI.Youhave tounderstand-I'ma housewife with only a middle school education， andIhaven't touched a printedbook in years，\" reads one comment.

In April of this year，Dong even received a special“Communication Contribution Award\" at theprestigiousPeople'sLiteratureAward.As the citation noted，he has“repeatedly brought literature to readers，awakening the deepseated yearning forbooks in countless lovers of literature.”Though it’s worth noting that Dong hadhelpedPeople'sLiteraturemagazine-also the award’s organizer-sell millions of copies.

Livestreamers like Dong have not only helped readers，butalso breathednew life into strugglingpublishers.ABeijing-based children's bookeditorsurnamedWutellsTWOC that hercompany launched their own channel after the pandemic and tried going live twice a week. However， buildinga following proved to be tougher than expected，and the stream results wereunderwhelming. Turning to well-established influencers saved the company from going under.“Now， we mainly rely on influencers to recommend books，”Wu says.

Butimpressive sales figures and cultural buzz don't necessarily translate into good news for all publishers. Zhou's company jumped on the livestreaming bandwagon，but pulled out soon after the costs of maintaining the channel became unsustainable.

“People might find it perfectly reasonable to spend 20 yuan ona cup of milk tea，” Zhou observes，‘but hesitate to pay the same amount for a book-partly because the market is flooded with clearance sales offeringbooks for 9.9 yuan，often with dubious copyright status.\"

Multiplenews outletsand media think tank studieshave revealed that lowprices on e-commerce platforms can lead search algorithms to favor pirated books，boosting their exposure and profitability.Asaresult，pirated editions oftencrowd out legitimate versions—a classic case of “bad money driving out good.” Still， for consumers like Chen，who has bought books through all mediums，pricing remains the most influential factorin whether she makesapurchase.

The livestream boom has further prompted e-commerce platforms to put more pressure on publishers to lower prices to attract consumers. This friction came to a head in May 2024，during thelead-up toJD.com'sannual mid-year“618\" shopping festival.At the time， the e-commerce giant pushed publishers to sell theirbooks at 20 to 30 percent of their original price，prompting 10 prominentBeijingpublishers， including Tsinghua University Press and PekingUniversity Press， to issue a joint statement refusing to participate in theirdeep-discount scheme.

“For many publishers——like us——the costs， including royalties，are quite high，” Zhou explains.“When platforms keep driving down pricesandraisingcommissionfees，there'sbarely anyprofit left forus.\"

Although JD.com eventually adjusted its promotion strategy，allowingpublishersmore autonomy in deciding which books to discount and by how much， the tension persists over fair pricing and the competitive pressures of e-commerce platforms.

Meanwhile， thispricing waralso hasadirect impact upstream，influencing the number and type of new books publishers are willing to invest in. Qin Yin，an editorat a top publishing house in Beijing， told Economic ObserverNetwork in May last year that the high upfront costs of publishing new works mustbe recouped through sales.This

Children listen to audiobooks in Anhui on World Book Day，a sign of digital publishing gaining ground in China （VCG]

isespecially true for some imported books，where publishers must also pay copyright royalties. In addition， licensing agreements typically only last three to five years，creatinga tight timeline for many publishers.If the book underperforms—selling less than 3，0o0 to 5，000 copies during the termthe publisher is almost guaranteed to lose money， according to Qin.The result is that many publishers are turningto lower-cost alternatives，such as public domain works or reprints of previously successful books.

Behind these struggles lies a more concerning fact：China's book market， despite its pivot to influencer-led sales，has been stagnant.In 2020， China's book retail market experienced its first decline since 20o1.According to OpenBook， a Beijing-based publishing industryresearch provider， the overall book retail sales further declined by 1.52 percent year on year in 2O24.Physical stores， majore-commerceplatforms，and vertical sellersall reported losses.Even the profitabilityof contentdriven commerce （formerly short-video commerce）， which was once at the helm of online sales，has decreased significantly.

Yang Wenxuan，managing editor of Huawen Tianxia Books，equated maintaining the health of the publishing industry to nurturing a tree， in an opinion piece for the industry newspaper ChinaPublishing TodaylastDecember.“Neither influencers nor group-buying communities want topromotenewtitles...they'reallharvesting fruits ratherthanplantingseeds...Withthecostofonline traffic so high now， plantinga tree is genuinely hard，\"Yang wrote.“Each livestream session often requireshundreds of thousands，even millions，in investment.\"

He added that，“While some publishing houses are seeing outsize growth， it’s merely a redistribution of market share.The overall pie of the book market is shrinking and being re-divided. One company's gain comes at the expense of another's decline—or even demise.\"

With the rise of e-books，reading apps， audiobooks，and short video platforms，all competing for readers'eyeballs，printed books are no longer the primary medium for acquiring information or entertainment as they once were.

The latest China National Reading Survey， releasedinAprilthisyear，showsthatthedigital reading exposure rate in China exceeded 80 percent for the first time in 2024.Among those digital readingdevices，reading onmobilephones accounts forasmuchas 78.7percent.Meanwhile， the country's overall digital reading revenuewas 66 billion yuan，with the user base reaching 670 million.With paid downloads and subscription models， e-booksare often more competitively priced than print editions，and platforms frequently run promotions to further lower costs.

In this rapidly changing digital sphere， the ways books are being consumed will be constantly changing.Whether the livestreamed booksales boom will remain is yet to be seen. Zhou's company has decided to give livestreaming another shotamid shrinking sales—this time experimenting withpersonalaccounts instead of theofficial corporate channel to potentially lower costs.

Dong， the top streamer in the book field， on the otherhand，sells more consumer goods than books nowadays.Duringarecentlivestream，featured productsincluded hisbest-selling item，TheLast QuarteroftheMoon，swiftlyfollowedbythick-cut milk toast，anti-dandruff shampoo for teenagers， and summer slippers.

Chen last ordered books froma livestream in April 2024—a five-volume series from Peking UniversityPressviaaWeChatchannel.Tothis day， their spines remain uncracked.