Bhupendra Khadka
Taranidhi Regmi, 37, of Morang, lives in Kathmandu and runs Sunbarshi bookstore in Dhapasi and delivers literary books to about 90 bookstores across the country within two or three days of its publication. When the Covid-19 infection started to linger a month ago, he posted a photo of himself milking a cow in his home on his Facebook page.
During this time, he was asking publishers which books were going public for the new season, and was promoting some of the books published earlier. He was also expecting to open the market that had been sluggish since last year. However, that did not happen. The world was shaken by the global coronavirus pandemic.
Printed books by authors from around the world did not reach the market and the books that were about to be published got stuck in the printing presses. Thousands of literature festivals as well as book-tours were on hold. As Nepal went into lockdown, all sectors and industries were locked down too. Citizens were seen returning home from east to west and from west to east thinking of an uncertain future.
How would be the world economy now? How do the developed countries of the world revive the collapsed economy? When will the land ports and airports open? At a time when there is a general curiosity about how people can travel around the world, there is a speculation in the economic market that the pandemic may push about 40 percent of the world's population into starvation.
You may think that this is not the time to talk about books but rather to talk about lentils, rice, vegetable or talking about how to earn a living! But, it is essential that we should talk about the mind too. What are people doing inside the house for about a month during the lockdown? It is natural that people spent time with family members.
I also watched movies and read books. The pace of book reading seemed to be such that after reading the books at home for so many years, many people repeated them, many e-books were searched on various sites and on social media. This time, it has been proved that the book is really an integral part of human lifestyle.
World Book Market
According to UNESCO, about 2.2 million books are published worldwide each year. Literary books are valued at 143 billion. According to the American Publishers Association, there is a turnover of 26.23 billion every year (after 2018). The book is widely traded in China, Europe, Japan and Russia.
Similarly, China is at the forefront of publishing new authors and other new books. There are more than 440,000 new books published each year. After that, about 304,000 new books are published in the United States, 184,000 in Europe, 140,000 in Japan and 120,000 in Russia.
According to UNESCO, the current market for literary books is in Central and East Asia. Rising literacy and awareness have also indicated the same.
Nepal's book market
At present, only publishers and distributors are interested in what happens to Nepal's book market, which has been lost in the global book market statistics. Literary books account for only 10 percent of the Rs 4.5 billion book trade which also includes textbooks. It accounts for 75 percent of textbooks and stationery and 15 percent of imported and research related books.
Nepal’s literary book market is small with a total investment of around $2.6 million. Nevertheless, the publishers who have invested in it are not in a position to even pay the rent due to the situation the pandemic has brought. Likhat Pandey, President of the Nepal National Book Dealers and Publishers Association, says, "If the lockdown continues for long, most bookstores will close for not being able to pay the rent."
As Pandey said, book publishers are also in trouble at the moment. Books printed are stuck in the warehouses and the ones ready for printing are on computer files. It is becoming difficult to get money from the sellers due to adverse conditions.
In such a situation, the publication of a new book cannot be imagined and as such it is very difficult to run a publishing house. Many publishers are saying that they will choose an alternative trade if the book market does not open for about six months.
Many may think that it is foolish to talk about books when there is no security of livelihood. But, the book is necessary to keep the society moving and raise the consciousness. It is almost impossible to imagine a home, a school, a society and a person without books in today's developed society. Let's just put it this way, the way books are being read indoors at the time of the lockdown, it also confirms that the book is our indispensable element.
The Ministry of Finance in Nepal has also transferred the budget allocated for the purchase of intellectual property to the Corona Fund during the lockdown. This clearly will have impact on the purchase of literary books by government schools.
Also, it is unclear whether the Rs 6 billion in the President's Education Fund will now be spent on buying and selling computers, furniture and books.However, the market for Nepali books, which has been declining since last year, was also hit by the government's customs duty on imported books. So there is no doubt that the current book market is declining.
New book market in Nepal
Rakuten Kobo, a Canadian multinational company, did well in the global market for e-books and audio-books during the pandemic. Similarly, Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play and others also made a profit in the book trade during this time.
At a time when the sale of printed books is not being easy and the world is advancing in digital technology, it is necessary to find a market for it in Nepal too. I wonder if any company in Nepal will be able to do business as these multinational companies are doing.
A few companies in Nepal have been trying to test its feasibility and some books are being digitized. Publishers in Nepal are thus optimistic about the sale of books from such digital platforms.
If such effort becomes successful, it can bring some relief to the technology-loving and technology-friendly readers. However, about 90 percent of Nepal's readers will need the same printed book that has been giving them the pleasure of reading for decades.
Nepali writer's market
According to the Wall Street Journal, the best-selling book is the one that sells at least 3,000 to 5,000 copies. However, Publishers’ Weekly says that the book, which sells at 1,100 copies every day for about a month after its publication, is one of the top five best-selling books.
Whatever the international rules, good books usually sell for 3,000 to 5,000-6,000 in Nepal. Books by a few authors also sold 20,000 copies. This does not include the sale of award-winning books. However, this will not be the case now.
The best-selling authors will too have some difficulty. Publishers overwhelmed by the current situation brought by Corona and lockdown would not dare to publish books by any random authors. Also, the numbers of writers who write poorly but publish books by investing on their own will be reduced due to financial constraints.
Stories, novels and poems of high quality will be published. While in non-fiction, just as people are reading quality books on religion, history, geography and politics during lockdown, high quality books will be written and published by the publishers on these topics too. After that, it can be hoped that the market for Nepali literary books will become even bigger and wider, even if it may take one or two years for such a time to come.
(Translated by Sangita Swechcha)
Bhupendra Khadka is the CEO of Book Hill publications, one of the leading publishing houses in Nepal.