Egg or chicken dilemma in book industry

Egg or chicken dilemma in book industry

JAKARTA (JP): The local book industry is faced with the
dilemma of the "egg or the chicken" with writers and publishers
not producing many books and consumers reluctant to buy.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said
most Indonesians consider books as low priority items in terms of
their spending habits, partly because of their low interest in
reading and partly because books are expensive.

Speaking at a ceremony to pay tribute to 11 most
distinguished authors and their publishers in the last three
years on Wednesday, Wardiman said the problem of the book
industry is an endless chain, from writer to publisher to
distributor and finally to the consumer.

Writers, for instance, are reluctant to exploit their
potential to the full because they feel they are being underpaid
by publishers.

Publishers are constantly complaining of high paper costs
and, therefore, tend to publish` books that are easy to sell, such
as cheap romance novels. Book distributors and retailers go by
the market, he said, and thus avoid books on local fine arts and
literature which are difficult to sell.

Indonesian publishers have only produced 24,000 titles in
the last 10 years, or about 2,400 a year. This figure includes
translated works.

"Compare this to Malaysia, whose population is far lower
than ours yet publishes some 5,000 titles per year," he said.

Currently, a large share the most popular books found on the
market in Indonesia are translated editions of books originally
written by best-selling foreign writers.

At Wednesday's ceremony, Wardiman awarded certificates and
Rp 5 million (US$2,300) for the best authors selected from a wide
range of local publications issued between 1991 and 1993.

The winning authors were: T. Jacob with his book Masa Depan,
Mempelajari, Menyongsong dan Mengubahnya ("The Future, Studying,
Anticipating and Changing It") published in 1991 by Balai
Pustaka; R.Z. Leirissa with his book PRRI-Permesta published in
1991 by Pustaka Utama Grafiti; Hartojo Adangdjaja with his book
Dari Sunyi ke Bunyi ("From Silence to Noise") published in 1991
by Pustaka Utama Grafiti; L. Sulistyo Basuki with his book Teknik
dan Jasa Dokumentasi ("Documentation Techniques and Services")
published in 1992 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama; B.N. Marbun with his
book DPR-RI, Pertumbuhan dan Cara Kerjanya ("The Indonesian House
of Representatives, Its Development and Mechanism") published in
1992 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama; Umar Kayam with his book Para
Priyayi ("The Upper Class") published in 1992 by Pustaka Utama
Grafiti; T. Bachtiar with his book Krakatau! Krakatau! published
in 1992 by Ganeca Exact Bandung; H.B. Jassin with his translation
of Demokrasi dan Kepemimpinan, Kebangkitan Gerakan Taman Siswa
("Democracy and Leadership, the Start of the Taman Siswa
Movement") published in 1992 by Balai Pustaka; Sadoso
Sumasardjuno with his book Pengetahuan Praktis Kesehatan dalam
Olahraga 3 ("Practicalities on Health in Sports 3") published in
1992 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama; Pardoyo with his book
Sekularisasi dalam Polemik ("Secularization in Polemics")
published in 1993 by Pustaka Utama Grafiti; and Tjiptoningtyas
with his book Wayan Bunter: Dongeng dari Pulau Dewata ("Wayan
Bunter: Legend from the Island of the Gods") published in 1993 by
Bina Rena Pariwara.(pwn)