Jonathan Lewis, Managing Director – Gomer Press
Fittingly, Gomer’s new bi-lingual eCommerce website, built by Firsty, was launched on World Book Day – 7 March. Managing Director Jonathan Lewis expressed delight with the site’s “brand new modern look” and its ability not only to make customers’ purchasing experience quick and easy, but also to give them more information on which to base choices, such as sample text pages and the ‘look inside’ functionality.
He added that “the new website will enable us to move into the market of selling eBooks. All new titles will be produced as eBooks, and our older Welsh classics will also be converted over the next few months.”
Jonathan is the great-great grandson of John David Lewis, who founded Gomer Press in 1892 and two years later published the first title, its 350 pages typeset by hand, letter by letter. Gomer is now the largest publishing house in Wales, producing about 120 new titles each year, many of them in the Welsh language. The printing and binding side of the company continues to expand, with much of the focus now on high quality casebound books. “A hardback, full colour, coffee table book is not going to be replaced by eBooks,” Jonathan remarked, echoing a sentiment now being expressed by many in the book industry.
App creation is also on Gomer’s agenda. “We have certain children’s characters who have a big following in Wales. We would love to develop an app on the character Sali Mali – most Welsh speakers read about her in childhood, and an app would ensure she remained popular with children.” The company is also considering creating app versions of its children’s textbooks.
Gomer’s authors, who include some of the most eminent writers in Wales, are keen to exploit the new technologies. “They want to develop their work further than just books.” Jonathan said. “They are excited about the opportunities the new technologies provide and in future works want to take into consideration the whole host of possible spin-offs.”
And therein, perhaps, lies the secret of Gomer’s success over more than a century in book publishing and printing – its ability to combine the old and the new in such as way as to ensure it meets the needs of its loyal and growing readership stretching across all ages.
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