Publishers in a bind over cheap books

Publishers in a bind over cheap books

By Fitri Wulandari

JAKARTA (JP): People don't read enough books because they are
expensive. Publishers don't produce enough books because demand
is low.

While this may be oversimplifying the problem, Indonesia's
book publishing business has been caught in this kind of vicious
cycle that has forced dozens of publishers to close shop in
recent years.

The quest for making books affordable to the masses, critical
if Indonesia as a nation hopes to stay afloat in the increasingly
competitive global world, remains illusive to this day.

While many book entrepreneurs have simply given up, the few
publishers that have remained admit that they are caught in a
bind between the need to produce books that are affordable to
most people, and the need to survive as business concerns.

"Book publishing is not a lucrative business. Unless you have
some idealism about public education, you won't survive," says
Petrus Damianus Subagya, marketing manager of book publishing
company PT Grasindo.

A country with a population of more than 210 million people
should be a mouthwatering prospect for any industry, including
book publishing.

Yet, statistics provided by Alfons Taryadi, chairman of the
advisory council of the Indonesian Book Publishers Association
(IKAPI), in his book Buku dalam Indonesia Baru, sums up the
appalling situation. Indonesia publishes a mere 4,000 new titles,
mostly reference and general books, every year. On average, each
title sells only about 3,000 copies.

That is hardly enough for a nation as large as Indonesia.

The economic crisis, dating back to 1997, has made the
condition worse. Some 200 publishers have closed shop in the last
four years. Now, there are only 400.

Subagya says those that survive are mostly publishers with
strong capital, or are efficiently managed, or have other
businesses to fall back on during the lean times.

In the quest for making books more affordable, the initiative
remains with the publishers, and probably the government, to get
Indonesia out of this chicken-and-egg situation, rather than with
the people.

People's low spending on books and poor reading habits in
general are variables beyond the publishers' control, as are
volatile paper prices.

But Subagya says heavy taxation and an inefficient
distribution system for books -- two factors that contribute to
the high cost of making them -- are variables that can be
controlled.

Subagya believes that book prices could still be reduced, if
there were a strong will, particularly from the government.

But don't expect much from publishers, who are already
operating on very thin margins. "We don't really make money in
this business," Subagya says.

Book prices could be reduced if the government eliminated or
cut the tax components and applied special prices for paper
procured by publishers, and postal rates for shipping books, he
argues.

Currently all books -- except for school textbooks, holy books
and religious books -- are subject to a 10 percent value-added
tax (VAT). This is on top of the various taxes already levied on
materials, such as paper and printing materials.

Imported books are also subject to a 10 percent tariff, on top
of the regular VAT.

"We could cut our prices by 10 percent immediately if the
government waived at least the VAT. It's not much, but at least
it could entice the public," Subagya said.

IKAPI chairman Arselan Harapan concurs that the government
holds the key in the quest for making books affordable,

The government should establish a clear-cut policy that covers
all aspects of book publishing from taxes, export-import issues,
publishers, distribution, libraries, to writers and editors,
Arselan says.

Murti Bunanta, from the School of Librarianship at the
University of Indonesia in Jakarta, believes that the problem,
and hence the solution, is far more complex.

"It involves many aspects: book publishers, writers,
bookstores, government policy, social and cultural conditions,
etc," Murti says.

If books are to be made less expensive, then it should not be
at the expense of writers, she said. "They too have to live."

Eriyanto, a media analyst and writer from the Information
Study Institute (ISAI), says there is very little economic
incentive for aspiring writers because the rewards hardly match
the time and effort expended.

Although writers are supposed to receive 10 percent of the
royalties for each copy sold, they rarely get their fair share
for various reasons, including being cheated by publishers, he
said.

Writers too are in a dilemma because they know that their
publishers are hard-pressed for money, he says.

Arselan of IKAPI says that while the government and book
publishers are grappling for ways of making books affordable, the
community must not simply stand idle.

Making inexpensive books is not solely the responsibility of
publishers or the government, he says.

"Why can't companies set up libraries for their employees, or
real estate developers build a library in each housing complex?"
Arselan asks.

(This one should be made in a graphic illustration)

Where the money goes for a book that retails for Rp 20,000:
Cost (paper and printing), 30 percent, Rp 6,000;
Commission to bookstores, 35 percent, Rp 7,000;
Value added tax, 10 percent, Rp 2,000;
Writer's royalty, 10 percent, Rp 2,000;
Overhead costs, 10 percent, Rp 2,000;
Profit, 5 percent, Rp 1,000

Source: Petrus Damianus Subagya of PT Grasindo