2005 Book Market Outlook -- El-hi Fuels Some Optimism

"The sheetfed market for books is a slowly dying beast," Hawley says. "Overseas competition has ravaged the four-color book market for coffee table, art and juvenile products, and will very quickly work its way through the medical and school markets."

The aforementioned rise in enrollments will translate into increased textbook sales, but Quebecor World's Clarke points out that it will be somewhat offset by the utilization of non-print and Internet-based instructional materials. On the consumer end, a bolstered economy will fuel the success of adult trade and juvenile book sales, while an increased marketing emphasis by the publishers of religious titles bodes well for that sector in 2005.