The book market survives in difficult circumstances

According to experts, by the end of the year, the volume of book sales in the Russian Federation may be reduced by 20% compared to the same indicator of 2019 pre-pandemic year. This is due to a decrease in the level of income of Russians and an increase in the cost of books by 25% due to the rise in price of paper and printing services.

As the editor-in-chief of the Novoye Literary Review publishing house, literary critic Irina Prokhorova, explained during a press conference at the OSN, the Russian book industry has chronic problems and problems associated with recent events:

“There were many problems in the book market even before the sanctions. If we talk about recent events, then it should be recalled that some publishers and foreign authors refused to cooperate with Russia. So, Stephen King and Joanna Rowling said that they no longer give the rights to distribute their books on the territory of the Russian Federation. All this affected part of the market. As for my publishing house “New Literary Review”: we translate a lot of non-fiction literature, moreover, academic literature. Yes, some publishers said they would not cooperate, but the other part continues to cooperate, for which we are very grateful to them.”

In addition, according to Irina Prokhorova, printing houses faced such problems as imported paper and equipment:

“Honestly, in March-April 2022, there was some panic, as many were afraid that everything would stop altogether. But in a strange way, we somehow survive, we continue to publish … Somehow, while the market is getting out … In this regard, I want to remind you that the book market in Russia arose in very difficult conditions: in the late 80s – early 90s, too there were problems with paper, it was stock, it was very lacking. But somehow we managed, and I hope we can do it now… At least as long as the printing houses continue to work.”

Another participant in the press conference, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education Oleg Smolin, noted that the problems of the book industry have another sociological side:

“I have been actively following the sociology of reading for a long time. I must say that in the post-Soviet period we experienced a reading crisis. Let me remind you that many believe that in the Soviet years we were the most reading country in the world, which is probably impossible to prove, but it is absolutely certain that we were one of the most reading countries. In the late 80s, we really became one of the most reading countries in the world. Moreover, it is interesting that serious literature was read in large quantities in our country, while in most other countries, detective stories, women’s novels and similar literature were read first of all. There was a sharp decline in the early 90s; Around 2012, a certain rise began, but, according to sociological data, even now we have not reached the level that we had in the early 1990s. And in the late 90s, let me remind you, we read and published about 3-4 times less books in terms of the number of citizens compared to other European states.

In general, according to Oleg Smolin, the problems of the book market are connected not only with the rise in price of books, but with the unwillingness to read them:

“We are well aware that modern children, compared to my generation, have gone far, far ahead in terms of mastering modern technologies, but, alas, they are significantly behind our generation in terms of the quantity and quality of literature they read.”

However, as Oleg Smolin emphasized, a significant increase in prices for book products, of course, also has huge negative consequences:

“Prices for book production are rising, while citizens’ incomes are falling. This year, as you know, pensions and the minimum wage are indexed by 10%, but, according to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, prices should have risen by 22-23% at the beginning of the year, and now the President of the Russian Federation is talking about 14%. As we understand, this is still not 10%, which indexed pensions and salaries, especially since these 10% were added only from the middle of the year, and prices rose significantly in late February – early March.

One of the ways to overcome the crisis in the domestic book industry may be, as suggested by Oleg Smolin, to reduce the taxation of literature related to education, science and culture. Maybe even to zero.

“Another possible way out is subsidies to publishing houses, but again, in my opinion, not to everyone, but to those who publish literature related to education,” says Oleg Smolin. “Unfortunately, I must say that the State Duma has not done anything lately time to improve educational activities. On the contrary, last April a law was passed, I would say, on anti-enlightenment, and on July 1, a government decree was adopted in accordance with this law. There are a lot of restrictions on educational activities, but there is not a word about its additional support. And we really need this support now, since the level of enlightenment of Russian citizens, as sociology shows, has fallen sharply compared, for example, with the “damned” era of stagnation. When 35% of citizens think that the Sun is a satellite of the Earth, and another 30% believe that genes contain only genetically modified plants, in such a situation, it seems to me, the state should have taken care not how to limit educational activities, but how help her.”

As Irina Prokhorova noted, “unfortunately, now almost all over the world the number of the reading public is decreasing, since today there is a triumph of visual culture”, that is, people prefer to watch “pictures” rather than read large texts. But one should not rest on the fact that “we are the same as everyone else”, since there are exemplary exceptions to this sad rule. So, according to her, today the most reading countries in the world are Finland, Sweden, France, Slovenia. And the secret of the continuing interest in books there is simple: a large number of good bookstores with affordable (at prices) books for the general population.

Sergei Ishkov.

Photo by Moskovskaya Pravda