Cheap books sell best at Jakarta Book Fair

Cheap books sell best at Jakarta Book Fair

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Is it the cover or the content of a book that makes people eager
to buy it? Or could it be the discounted price?

The latter seems to be what is attracting visitors to the
ongoing Jakarta Book Fair 2003 at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium
in Senayan, Central Jakarta, as seen on the fourth day of the
event on Tuesday.

Large numbers of people were seen at the booths of book
publishers or distributors which displayed signs offering special
prices. The discounts offered range from 20 percent to 80
percent.

This phenomenon can also be seen during the regular book fair
held by Gramedia group at Bentara Budaya in Jl. Palmerah Selatan,
Central Jakarta, which is always packed with young people because
of the discounted prices of comics and popular novels.

Hanafi, owner of family publishing business Setia Kawan, said
that only a small number of visitors intentionally came to look
for particular books. Most of the books displayed are on Islamic
teachings.

"But the kind of books that are selling well are those on the
discount shelves," he told The Jakarta Post, pointing to the
table which displayed various kinds of book with a 50 percent off
sign hung over it.

Elvis Iskandar, head of marketing at pioneer publishing
company Balai Pustaka, admitted that displaying books on Aceh in
an eye-catching place was a good strategy, but he did not expect
the books to sell well.

"We brought 20 copies for each of the five titles, but now we
only have four to five copies. Buy now before the books run out,"
he told the Post, adding that the company may reproduce old books
that are still in demand, including books on Javanese manuscript
and wayang (shadow puppets).

The books on Aceh published by Balai Pustaka are published
between 1983 and 2001, and the subjects cover the struggle of the
Acehnese for independence during Dutch colonial rule back in the
1800s, Aceh's old kingdom, as well as on Acehnese heroes Cut Nyak
Din and Teuku Umar.

Although publishing company Sinar Harapan produced many books
on Aceh, including Aceh Menggugat (Aceh claims) which was
published in 2000, the sales were not significant, said the
company's head of promotion Sukardi.

Bona, a freelance photographer, bought four books on military
history and the biography of the late Gen. A.H. Nasution, who
escaped the massacre of Indonesian generals in a 1965 aborted
coup which was then blamed on the banned Indonesian Communist
Party (PKI).

"I'm interested in great military men and their history," he
said, claiming that he and his father had collected a large
number of such books although they do not have a military
background.

But buyers like Bona are rare, since only a small percentage
of people have good reading habits. Even if they do, they may not
have the necessary buying power.

Publishing companies argue that the high prices are
unavoidable due to the high production cost, since they mostly
use imported paper.

In Indonesia 5,000 new books are published every year, fewer
than Malaysia, which publishes 10,000 new books for its 24.5
million residents -- about one tenth of the Indonesian population
of 215 million.

Such conditions also force writers to publish their own books,
because not all publishing companies dare to pay them in advance
as there is no guarantee they will sell.

All in all, the book fair, which will be open until June 1,
offers a new experience for book lovers as there is the chance to
meet the book authors and to consult experts on reading for
children.