RI's publishing sector attracts few

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.