Reading matters

The Art Newspaper and Axa Art Exhibition Catalogue Award, which usually takes place this time of year, has been shelved. Set up six years ago to celebrate this important yet neglected area of art book publishing, it had become recognised as a major prize.

It's not clear if insurance firm Axa pulled the plug because it felt that it wasn't getting enough visibility for its sponsorship, but the catalogue award certainly managed to raise the profile of museum publishing. So, what state is museum publishing in?

We've come to expect major exhibitions to be accompanied by publications. Numerous museums produce their own catalogues and books; many others aspire to do so. We take it as a given that such publications help museums to achieve their aims - through promoting an understanding of their collections, disseminating knowledge, raising their profile and generating income.

Museums' publishing and retail activities tend to fall within the remit of their trading companies, which covenant their profits to the not-for-profit mother organisations. The precise remits of these companies vary considerably.

The Natural History Museum (NHM) Trading Company covers retail, catering conferences, consultancy, licensing, touring exhibitions, brand management and utilities.

Others have a narrower focus. At least one of the nationals treats publications as what the tax office refers to as a "primary purpose" of the museum, as opposed to a trading function.

Publishing can cover a range of products from academic publications and exhibition catalogues, to guides and posters. Many mu-seums are particularly good at certain types of publications. John Stachiewicz, publisher and head of media group at the National Trust - the UK's largest accredited museum body - says the trust's strength is trade books, from How to "Cook" Compost, to Treasures from the National Trust.

It's generally assumed that scholarly works, focused on museums' permanent collections, will lose money. Some museums cross-subsidise these; others expect academic outputs to be wholly self-supporting.

Publications and exhibitions are increasingly following research grants: James Aulich's War Posters: Weapons of Mass Communication, published by Thames & Hudson in association with the Imperial War Museum, and Steven Hooper's Pacific Encounters, published by British Museum Press, were both products of Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded projects.

Museum publications are determined by acceptable levels of risk. Publishers need to gauge their market accurately in order to avoid storage costs, and they need to be able to anticipate demand - sometimes it can exceed expectations: Dulwich Picture Gallery's The Age of Enchantment: Beardsley, Dulac and their Contemporaries has already been reprinted a couple of times since 2007.

In the present climate, bookshops and publishers are feeling the pinch and museum publishing has had to become more competitive. Art and natural history exhibitions often produce the best sellers, but there are no hard and fast rules as to what will succeed.

Price is an issue, but there is no research on the relationship between exhibition publications' pricing and purchases. Several publishers are attracted by the prospect of small publications costing under £10. The National Gallery's Velázquez, described as an "accessible introduction", sat alongside its "comprehensive survey of the artist's entire career" at a fifth of the price. The fact that the NHM's Dinosaur Sticker Book retails at £3.99 must contribute to its success.

Pick-up rates - the relationship between numbers attending an exhibition and the number buying a publication - are also unpredictable. Good rates might be in the region of 5-12 per cent.

Rob Carr-Archer, head of trading at the National Portrait Gallery, says: "There's sometimes an inverse relationship - the smaller the show's attendances, the more likely people are to buy a catalogue." This only applies to charging exhibitions: when entry is free, sales are almost always lower. So, niche interests, good press coverage and charging may all combine to attract visitors who actively want to buy the book of the exhibition.

Some publishers say they clash with curators over the kind of publications they might produce. Stereotypically, curators will champion scholarly catalogues that highlight their own research, promote their institution, faithfully record an exhibition and satisfy potential lenders or authors. By the same token, publishers favour "related" books with greater sales potential.

Mary Butler, formerly of V&A Publishing, says generating overseas deals, co-editions and translations is crucial: "We always tried to produce what would be the definitive book on the subject."

Even if museum publishing departments mostly operate like other publishers, there are some significant differences. Kate Bell, former publishing and logistics director at the National Gallery, says a number of factors should be taken into account. "While you may not always have a choice of subject, you do get to think about how best to go about it."

Electronic publishing holds great potential for museums. There are no paper, printing, distribution and storage costs, and it is it easier to update online catalogues and improve their accessibility. The National Trust is currently piloting online property guides, which can be downloaded by room stewards and could be made available to enthusiasts.

Electronic publishing also offers museums other ways to exploit existing content. The National Gallery's Technical Bulletin, which deals with all aspects of the conservation, technical study and care of its collection, is now available electronically.

Ultimately, the greatest value of publications may be the fact that they give iconic exhibitions a permanency that they wouldn't otherwise have. The catalogue to the famous 1974 V&A exhibition, The Destruction of the Country House, 1875-1975, currently sells for as much as £280 on the internet.

The Family of Man exhibition, by photographer Edward Steichen, was first shown in 1955 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The associated book is said to have sold more than 4 million copies, and is still available.

Perhaps those publishers who are so fiercely resistant to the notion that in this "forest-harvesting, paper-wasting age" their products are moribund, and that there is a future for printed books, are right.

Sara Selwood is professor of cultural policy and management at City University and is a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery