Publishers booking solid gains

Publishers booking solid gains

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung

The country's publishing industry bounced back last year with the
publication of some 6,000 titles, exceeding the previous record
of 5,000 titles set in 1997.

Awod Said, a spokesman for the Indonesian Publishing
Association (IKAPI), said over the weekend that the increase in
the number of book published reflected an increased willingness
to read books on the part of the public.

"We predict that this year we will publish some 7,000 titles,"
Awod told a press conference to mark National Book Day 2004 here
on Saturday.

Of the total number of titles published this year, PT Gramedia
from Jakarta accounts for about 45 percent, or some 3,000 titles.

Indonesia suffered a serious economic for a number of years
after 1997, which resulted in a decline in purchasing power. This
in turn affected the publishing industry.

Between 1997 and the start of last year, the largest number of
titles published in Indonesia was in 2002 with 2,700 titles.

Awod said that the growth of the book publishing industry
could also be gauged by the increasing number of IKAPI members.
The association now has 565 registered members compared to 450
last year.

However, around 40 percent of the publishers confine
themselves to producing Islamic religious texts.

Awod said that two titles, Jakarta Under Cover by Moammar Emka
and the biography of noted Muslim preacher Abdullah "Aa Gym"
Gymnastiar titled Apa Adanya (Just the Way I am), had sold more
than 100,000 copies last year

IKAPI considers a book that sells more than 5,000 copies to be
a best-seller.

Mula Harahap, a publishing executive, said the encouraging
growth in the book industry was partly the result of an increase
the number of book lovers around the country, who have frequently
organized book discussion.

For example, he said, a youth group ran a bookstore on Jl.
Juanda in Bandung and used their profits organizing book
discussions.

"This did not happen when I was young 22 years ago," he said.

But he admitted that reading was still constrained by the lack
of purchasing power of most of the country's people.

In observance of National Book Day, IKAPI will donate books to
local libraries and reading groups.