Sarah J. Maas fantasy novels bring record profits for Bloomsbury

Rising demand for Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy novels has enabled Bloomsbury Publishing to record another record year of revenue and profits.

House of Flame and Shadow, the latest title in Maas’s Crescent City series and his 16th book with Bloomsbury, became a #1 New York Times bestseller after its release in February.

The sequel continues the adventures of a half-human girl named Bryce Quinlan and her friend Hunt Athalar, who fight against the Asteri, a race of divine conquerors who rule the planet Midgard.

Its popularity prompted further purchases of titles from Maas’s backlist, including those in the Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Nigel Newton, chief executive of Bloomsbury, described the New York-born author as a “publishing phenomenon, whose books “have captivated a huge audience”.

He said his novels have been supported by major promotional campaigns and word of mouth, especially on social media channels.

Analysts have attributed the success of Maas’ titles to ‘BookTok’, where social media influencers use TikTok to promote new works and writers.

As a result, total sales of the New York-born author’s books increased 161 percent in the 12 months ending in February.

This helped Bloomsbury’s overall turnover rise 30 per cent to £342.7m and pre-tax profits rise 63 per cent to £41.5m.

Other recent top sellers have included impossible creatures by Katherine Rundell, bone season by Samantha Shannon and Tom Kerridge pub kitchen.

The Harry Potter novels also remained highly sought after, with Sorcerer’s Stone becoming the best-selling children’s title in the UK for the first time in over two decades.

Trading spell: Bloomsbury is best known for publishing the Harry Potter books

Demand for these titles offset falling sales of Bloomsbury’s non-consumer books, which were affected by the return of the higher education sector to more normalized levels.

However, the London-based company said it is “well placed to capitalize” on the international growth of post-secondary education.

He pointed to World Bank estimates that the number of higher education students globally will accelerate from 220 million in 2021 to 380 million in 2030.

For the current financial year, the group expects trading to be “slightly ahead” of forecasts, although it does not expect Sarah J. Maas to publish another title.

Russ Mould, chief investment officer at AJ Bell, compared this absence to “a famous band saying they’re going on hiatus: disappointment now, but the potential to make even more money when they return.”

He added: “It’s the waiting period that will test investors’ patience, and not even news that current trading is ahead of expectations can stop the share price from falling.”

Investors responded negatively to the possible absence of a new Maas novel, sending Bloomsbury Publishing shares down 6.3 per cent to £5.62 just before midday.

Bloomsbury also announced that its chairman, Sir Richard Lambert, would resign following its annual general meeting on 16 July.

Subject to shareholder approval, he will be replaced by John Bason, who was chief financial officer of Associated British Foods, owner of Primark, for 24 years until April 2023.

Lambert was editor of the Financial Times, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee and director general of the Confederation of British Industry.

Newton said Lambert had been an “exceptional chairman” since joining seven years ago and had “helped Bloomsbury achieve a lot during his tenure”.