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)