Racing to publish a book on a significant event or trend is no new phenomenon. Timelines are pulled forward—though it still takes a few months to put a book together, from writing the words to stock arriving in bookshops. Recent examples include books on the Thai cave rescue, Christchurch massacre, and forthcoming titles on the 2019-20 Black Summer. It’s no surprise then that with such a globally pervasive event such as the current pandemic, Covid-19 books are already appearing.

In the acknowledgements section of her book about Covid-19, Deborah Mackenzie states ‘this is what the book trade calls a “crash” book. Those are written in a very short time at junctures when a lot of people very much want to know about a certain issue. They are written by people who just happen to know a bit about the topic and are poised to go. That’s the position I found myself in with Covid-19.’ Robbie Egan, CEO of the Australian Booksellers Association, notes ‘This is a normal publisher response—in fact “clustering” occurs in most industries.’ It’s certainly not unusual to want to be the first, to latch onto a trend, and to make sure you’ve got what every other publisher has, too.