A strong year in book publishing both financially and content-wise

Otava’s book publishing business achieved a significantly improved year-on-year result in 2024. Otava Publishing Company’s direct operating profit totalled EUR 13.3 (10.4) million. 

In general literature, sales figures for printed books were slightly higher than in the previous year. Growth in digital book sales has levelled off and is no longer the growth driver it once was.

Printed fiction books in particular sold well, and net sales remained on par with the previous year. Other publishers experienced similar trends in sales.

Otava’s publishing programme was successful in terms of both its scope and content. Otava’s publishing houses received a total of five Finlandia award nominations, three of which were for fiction and two for non-fiction. Pajtim Statovci’s novel A Cow Gives Birth at Night won the Finlandia Prize for Fiction. Pajtim Statovci was also one of the winners of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Finland Prizes. This award was given in recognition of Statovci’s distinguished career.

Kalevi Jäntti’s award for young writers was awarded to Carlos Lievonen for his anthology Vain heteitä.

In April, Otava launched a new project to promote reading and literature when two reading ambassadors embarked on a journey to spread the joy of reading. The new advocate for children’s and young adult literature was Henriika Tulivirta (a library professional and reading activist), while the reading ambassador for fiction and nonfiction was Kirsi Ranin (a book industry influencer and founder of the Kirsin Book Club blog, reading circles and podcast).

The reading ambassadors for Otava’s publishing houses inspire people to read and give them tips for great new books. They visit literary events, and also raise awareness of authors and their valuable work on social media channels.

Classes from all across Finland took part in the second competition, reading a total of more than 35 million pages.

The Star Owl competition was launched in autumn 2023 with the aim of inspiring primary schoolchildren to read. The first winners were announced in January 2024, with the winning class reading a total of 2,394,870 pages. The competition was so popular that it was organised again in autumn 2024. 356 classes from all across Finland took part in the second competition, reading a total of more than 35 million pages – twice as many as in the first year.  

2024 was a successful year for Otava Learning, as both its net sales and result increased on the previous year. Growth was seen at all levels of education, but particularly in secondary education (about 10 per cent).

In 2024, Otava Learning published The Everyday Life of Teachers, an extensive study of teachers’ experiences of their work. The study raised concerns about teaching work becoming so complex that teachers have no time left to focus on their core task. Teachers need more support.

The study raised concerns about teaching work becoming so complex that teachers have no time left to focus on their core task. 

One key solution would be to increase resources – smaller class sizes, more special education teachers and fewer administrative duties would free up teachers’ time and allow them to focus on teaching. Educational materials must also be of high quality, support differentiated instruction, and be accessible to everyone.  

At society level, we must also restore appreciation for teachers’ work.

Otava Book Printing celebrated its 70th anniversary in December. Although Otava Book Printing’s net sales decreased on the back of a fall in volume, its operating result improved. Otava Book Printing produced 3.8 (4.2) million books.

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s sales are growing in the capital region         

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s net sales decreased to EUR 85.0 (85.7) million. The direct operating result improved to EUR -0.3 (-1.2) million. Consumers’ confidence in their own finances has been at a record low, and purse strings have been tight. The bookstore’s most important sales season, Christmas, went well. 

Sales rose both online and in stores in the capital region. However, although customer numbers in downtown Helsinki have recovered slightly, they have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. 

On the other hand, air travel has increased and is being reflected in sales at the airport store.  Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s smallest store is headed for a very good result for the third year in a row.  Holidays and literature go hand in hand – when people have free time, they want to relax with a good book.

Sales of fiction rose at Suomalainen Kirjakauppa. Growth has also been seen in sales of foreign-language titles – in practice, English-language books.

Three stores were closed in 2024.Suomalainen Kirjakauppa had 55 stores at the end of the year.

Sales of fiction rose at Suomalainen Kirjakauppa. Growth has also been seen in sales of foreign-language titles – in practice, English-language books. Consumers are reading an increasing number of books in English. Internationalisation is also contributing to the popularity of English-language books, as we have more and more people in our country whose native language is not Finnish.

Recommendations made in the booktok and kirjatok communities also have a positive impact on sales of English-language books. Booktok is a Tiktok social media community in which people discuss and recommend books.

In fact, there are many ‘booktok books’ among Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s best-selling titles, including Amy Huang’s Kings of Sin series.

Children’s and YA books have sold well for many years at Suomalainen Kirjakauppa, and a further increase was seen in 2024.

Conversations about how to inspire children to read are had in stores every day. Parents and grandparents are trying to find ways to get children to read. It should be noted that children have varying degrees of literacy, and age is not the only factor in determining book recommendations. The staff at Suomalainen Kirjakauppa will find the right books for readers of all ages and levels.

Another good result for Otavamedia

Otavamedia Ltd achieved a good financial result in 2024. Although net sales declined in 2024 on the back of a fall in magazine volumes, the company’s operating profit remained at a good level: EUR 8.5 (11.0) million, or 11.9 per cent (14.6%) of net sales. Streamlining and restructuring helped to maintain good profit levels.

 Otavamedia’s net sales decreased by five per cent to EUR 71.2 (75.0) million. Sales of magazine subscriptions declined, but media sales were up in spite of the tough market. Otavamedia outperformed both the market and its competitors in media sales.

All of Otavamedia’s teams except Erikoismedia moved to Uudenmaankatu in January 2024. Otavamedia had already drawn up a set of rules for multi-location working when moving to Tripla. Now that multiple companies are working under one roof, a shared set of Group-level rules was created for Uudenmaankatu.

In 2024, Otavamedia developed products and services to reach new audiences. There are many different ways to consume media, and people may use several within a single day.  Younger audiences in particular can be reached through video and audio content.

Fuelled by the success of Kotiliesi’s short video service, Toukola, introduced in late 2023, Anna launched its own new video channel, Keidas, in autumn 2024. An inspiring short video about beauty, style and wellbeing is released every weekday. Keidas publishes both journalistic and commercial content. The videos are available for free on both Anna’s social media channels and the Keidas website.

Tekniikan Maailma will also be launching a video service in 2025.

Suomen Kuvalehti subscribers can listen to the entire magazine if they wish.

Suomen Kuvalehti subscribers can listen to the entire magazine if they wish. Subscribers can listen to either individual articles or the entire weekly magazine as a playlist. The audio version is available both online and via the SK app. The user experience has been designed to be as clear and intuitive as possible. Artificial intelligence is used to turn the entire magazine into audio. Using a human reader for a fast-paced weekly magazine would not be feasible.  However, quality assurance is always carried out by humans. 

In addition, Suomen Kuvalehti launched a new podcast in October. This week in politics discusses current news topics in a relaxed and expert manner. The podcast’s popularity exceeded expectations in less than a week after the first episode was released. During the release week of the first episode, the podcast became the most popular podcast in Finland on Spotify.

The magazine Seura, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2024, reached 408,100 Finns every week in print or digital form, according to the National Media Research published in September. The total reach increased by over 70,000 from the previous year, which was the largest growth figure in the entire periodical media.

Otavamedia was successful at Editkilpailu, winning awards in three different categories. Riikka Lehtovaara of Naistenmedia won Magazine Journalist of the Year, freelancer photographer Aapo Huhta won Magazine Photographer of the Year, and Kotiliesi’s Toukola won Video or Audio Magazine Media of the Year. The jury’s grounds were: “Toukola is a beautiful and delicious concept that has managed to build a community around Kotiliesi’s core topics, and especially on Instagram.” Popular short videos support the magazine’s content and have succeeded in reaching an enthusiastic new audience.