RI's publishing sector attracts few

By Hermawan Sulistyo

PHOENIX, Arizona, United States (JP): Chief executive officers or presidents of major publishing houses here are not underpaid, compared to other business sectors. Data shows that in 1995, those who head major publishing companies could reach an average top salary of US$330,000 (Publishers Weekly, August 1996). Research conducted by the magazine also revealed that most of these chief executive officers (CEOs) enjoyed increases in their salaries surpassing the inflation rate.

When we count the total enumerations of selected executive salaries in American book-related companies, the amounts can be staggering. Mark Willes, CEO of Times Mirror, received US$2,032,856 last year. Second and third to his position are Joseph Dionne of McGraw-Hill, with $1,594,325 and Len Riggio of Barnes & Noble, with $1,305,000. Many more CEOs from midlevel companies enjoy no less salaries and benefits.

While these CEOs enjoy the benefits of the ever growing book industry, their Indonesian counterparts suffer from a steadily dwindling rate of book production. CEOs of major Indonesian book publishers barely earn more than $20,000 in annual salaries and benefits. If they do earn more, the company must be operating some other related profit making businesses, such as newspapers or bookstores (which make their profits mostly from selling stationery).

Lower-ranking positions in the publishing world in the United States also enjoy similar competitive salaries and benefits, although there is a wide gap between top executive salaries and, say, editorial salaries. Editors in chief of a big publisher, included in the same category as top CEOs (in companies with annual revenues over $100 million) earn an average salary of $91,233, barely one third of those CEOs, yet still a competitive occupation in comparison to fully tenured professors, who earn similar or even lower salaries.

Yet, someone with a similar position, working for a "first- class" trade publisher in Indonesia, would rarely receive over $10,000 a year. Still, this is a decent salary considering the fact that an editor working for a midlevel publisher (for the Indonesian book publishing world, this means publishers with annual book productions between 50 and 100 titles) may receive only $2,500 a year.

As a logical consequence of highly competitive salaries, editorial positions in the U.S. attract many of the best brains in the country. With their skills and talents, they not only can maintain the quality of the books they produce, but also create better books. In turn, these products would stimulate an increase in consumer interest and their willingness to spend more money on books.

No wonder then that the survey by Publishers Weekly indicated that 86 percent of the executives reported they were satisfied with their current jobs. Only 4 percent said they expected to leave the industry over the next five years. Nearly 30 percent said they anticipated being in the same job five years from now, and 26 percent expected to be in a higher position within the same company.

Again, in contrast to their affluent positions, their counterparts here in Indonesia have to suffer from a stagnant and even decreasing competitive job market. As far as I know, there are only three full-time editors with master's degrees working for trade publishers here. University presses and vanity presses are excluded, since they assume a special function as, presumably, non-profit organizations.

Fresh and talented graduates are not interested in working in underpaid positions in the publishing industry. Commercial, non- publishing sectors are too tempting to avoid. If they want to pursue careers that utilize writing-related skills, they would understandably choose other careers, such as in the mass media. The position of book editor often becomes the occupation of last resort in job hunting. Some talented young scholars or fresh graduates work in the publishing sector until they find other rewarding careers.

As a temporary shelter during a long period of job hunting, publishing houses still offer a good start for building "credit history". With their in-house power, they could get workers' names to appear on the list of credits on the title page, which later makes for a good CV. Therefore, even established trade publishers such as Gramedia permit copy editors to put their names on the title page, a practice that is not common among trade publishers in the U.S.

Mediocre editors would be of no help to a bad manuscript that would otherwise turn out to be a bestseller had it been edited by a good editor. Thus, the situation is like a vicious circle, with no end at all. Underpaid editorial positions attract no interest from the best brains; only the losers and a few scholars considered as "strange and eccentric" end their lives as book editors.

Expect bad products from mediocre editors: books that are not marketable. In addition to this gloomy and non-prospective situation, royalties amounting to only 10 percent of the gross sale price are definitely not enticing for future authors. Fifteen years ago, trade publishers used to publish between 2,500 to 5,000 copies of a scholarly book. Now, only a foolish publisher would make over 2,000 copies of similar books.

It seems that without a political will from the authorities, we may expect a perish or peril situation for the book publishing world here. Unfortunately, there is no hint at all that we are moving to remedy the situation. The book industry is still far from being an important element, beyond sloganistic official statements, in providing access to a better-educated people. Indeed, it is not an exaggeration to state that this industry is even moving backward, toward a hesitant retreat.

The writer is a fellow with the Program for Southeast Asian Studies, Arizona State University.