Major bookstores offer wide selection of imported books

Major bookstores offer wide selection of imported books

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite their limited stock of imported books in English,
several bookstores in Jakarta provide a comprehensive selection
of current titles and bestsellers, allowing you to maintain your
life-long passion for reading quality books.

Just mention the bestsellers you desire, for example, J.K.
Rowling's Harry Potter series, or Robert T. Kiyosaki's Rich Dad,
Poor Dad, Spencer M.D. Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing
Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and Your Life. All are
available at major bookstores across the capital, and can be
found as easily as at any bookstore in other metropolises, such
as Singapore, Tokyo, Toronto, New York and London.

As in other countries, select bookstores in Jakarta are slated
to release simultaneously the fifth book of the Harry Potter
series, The Order of the Phoenix on June 11, 2003, to meet local
market demands.

"Based on a business deal with an overseas publisher, we will
not release the book until June 11, 2003," said Lili Christianty
of Gramedia publishing house.

Several bookstores in Jakarta cater to the expatriate market,
especially international bookstore chains like Times Bookstore
from Singapore and Kinokuniya from Japan.

Major local book suppliers like Gramedia, Gunung Agung and
Limma also provide imported books and special publications
catering to expatriates, professionals, students and housewives.

Gramedia and Gunung Agung are local bookstore-stationer chains
with branches in most major cities in Indonesia, with branches
usually located in shopping malls and plazas, and are varied in
terms of the titles and the quantity of books available. As for
genres, they commonly offer a selection of paperback bestsellers,
self-help books on business, computers and health, travel guides
and maps, cookbooks, fiction, non-fiction, and books on graphic
arts and interior design.

If you are looking for a specific title but, for some reason,
would prefer to stay at home, you can order a book via the
Internet. The Gramedia outlet in Taman Anggrek Mall and Limma
Bookstore in Kemang are among those bookstores that offer online
book sales at www.gramediacyberstore.com and www.limma.co.id.

Just go to the website, choose the book you want and click
"send". "Once you have settled the payment, either by credit card
or by cash on delivery (COD), your book will be delivered to you
without delay," said Limma's Assistant to Managing Director Rani
Mita.

Periplus Bookshop, one of the major retailers of imported
books in Jakarta and a regional publisher to boot, has outlets at
the Grand Hyatt and Aryaduta hotels, as well as at Villa Kemang,
Plaza Kampung Kemang, Plaza Kelapa Dua and Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport.

Periplus regularly holds various events to attract customers,
such as a Best Buy Product campaign, which offers a particular
title at a special price. "We also hold book signings by authors
and artists," said Hanna Yakin, marketing manager of Periplus
Bookstore. An average minimum discount of 10 percent is available
for customers who purchase books in bulk, she added.

Aksara Bookstore, located on Jl. Kemang Raya II, has a wide
range of fiction and non-fiction books, as well as books on art
and design, architecture, home design, children's books,
politics, religion, cooking, food and beverage, music, film,
photography, business and travel.

"We try to offer a pleasant overall experience for people who
visit our bookstore, in terms of atmosphere and services. And we
are proud that we have always received high ratings from our
customers in regards these two points," said Adinda Simandjuntak
of Aksara Bookstore.

The bookstore has a bi-annual sale in February and from June
to July, so time your book-buying spree during these months and
find select titles sold at discount prices.

Aksara also has a membership program that entitles members to
a Rp 100,000 voucher for every Rp 1 million spent on purchases
within six months.

At Times Bookstore, you will find a solid selection of
children's and business books. "We try and target as broad-based
a market as possible, with emphasis on the family," said Times
Bookstore's Operation Manager Michael.

Here, the bookstore offers current bestsellers, like One
Minute Millionaire by Mark Hansen, and sell books at competitive
prices ranging from Rp 100,000 to Rp 500,000.

Times also offers bulk discounts on a case-to-case basis and
can also arrange delivery for bulk orders.

In addition to its outlet at Plaza Indonesia on Jl. Thamrin,
Times Bookstore also has outlets at Plaza Senayan and Pondok
Indah Mall.

You can also browse through QB (Quality Buyers) World Books at
its first branch on Jl. Sunda in Central Jakarta, or its other
branches at Plaza Senayan Level 3, Jl. Iskandar Muda or on Jl.
Kemang Raya in South Jakarta. Excluding the Plaza Senayan branch,
all QB bookstores have a cafe where you can relax and sip a
refreshing juice or have a light lunch.

QB World Books stocks about 75,000 titles, and offers a great
range of genre and special-interest books, such as screenplays,
writer's guides and even a small selection of American comic
books. If the title you want is not in stock, QB staff can order
it for you directly through their distributor, if it's available.

Become a member, and QB will keep you updated as to the latest
releases and reviews in an electronic weekly newsletter, and as
an added bonus, you'll get 10 percent off at select restaurants
and cafes across the city.

QB also holds special events, such as film screenings on
weekends, exhibitions at the gallery in its Kemang branch, book
signings and informal book and film discussions -- all announced
via email.

Compared to locally published books, imported books have now
become much more expensive due to the weakening of the rupiah
against the U.S. dollar since the onset of the economic crisis.

This has prompted some bookstores to offer book rental
services. At Limma Bookstore, for instance, you can take out
imported books from the library -- but you'll need to become a
member first.

In a bid to make imported books more affordable, particularly
text books for university students, publishers like Gramedia have
signed special deals with foreign publishers such as McGraw Hill
and John Wiley and Sons, both of the U.S. David Colander's The
Economics published by McGraw Hill, for instance, costs only Rp
130,000 (US$15.5) per book, compared to its retail price of over
Rp 200,000. Gramedia also offers bestseller titles in Indonesian
translation.

Although Indonesia may not be known for its literary culture,
bookstores now abound throughout the capital with a wide range of
titles and services, that any bookworm is sure to find the right
store to satisfy their literary appetite.