Фота: Выдавецтва "Янушкевіч"
Belarusian publisher Janushkevich has announced a change in its strategy after reviewing its performance during the first half of 2026. According to a post published on the publisher’s social media, orders fell by nearly one-third during the first six months of the year. The company now sees two priorities: strict cost optimization and retaining its existing readership.
The publisher hopes to rely more heavily on sales of books published earlier.
“We also counted on another approach — amid a decline in our own publishing activity, to rely on sales of new titles released by our colleagues. The infrastructure we have built and developed allows us to do that. It includes the Knihauka.com online bookstore with extensive delivery and payment options, a brick-and-mortar bookstore in Warsaw, and active accounts on the Allegro, Empik and Amazon marketplaces.”
However, the new strategy has met with mixed success. According to the publisher, no Belarusian new release over the past six months has become a major sales hit, with the possible exception of the third and fourth volumes of Silva Rerum by Kristina Sabaliauskaite, published by Viasna.
The publisher attributes the situation to a shrinking readership and declining interest in books.
“In this regard, the book market perfectly reflects the broader crisis affecting Belarusian communities. We are trying to counter this through social media advertising and closer engagement with potential readers. But without new, interesting and high-quality titles that readers genuinely want, nothing will change,” the publisher said.
Price is also a factor.
Another significant reason is the publisher’s designation as an “extremist organization,” which has severely limited its reach inside Belarus. People are afraid, and book circulation is declining. According to the publisher, this has become a very noticeable trend.
Looking ahead, Janushkevich expects to reduce print runs and seek grants and investment, saying its own resources will simply not be sufficient.
“We have several promising new titles in our portfolio, but their fate, as well as that of our future projects, will depend on whether the strategy we have chosen proves to be the right one. We encourage you to subscribe to updates on Knihauka.com, share your feedback with us, and keep reading the books you truly want to read,” the team said.
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