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The results of a survey in which 292 publishers from 16 Arab countries participated in the recent survey on the effects of the epidemic on the publishing industry in the Arab world showed that the publishing industry in the Arab world is threatened with collapse: 74% of sales have declined, 75% of activities have ceased, and 34% of employees have been made redundant. Haitham Hafez, head of the Professional Development Committee of the Arab Publishers Union, explained that the percentage of sales of Arab exhibitions amounted to 53% of total publishers’ sales, which shows the extent of the damage suffered by Arab publishers following the cancellation of exhibitions this year and stresses the need to work to find quick solutions to the crisis in organizing exhibitions. In the next step, the percentage of sales of paper books through electronic platforms was 15 percent and the percentage of e-book sales 10 percent of their total sales.
It is clear that these percentages do not sufficiently compensate for the sharp drop in total sales, and 56% of publishers are ready to participate in the next exhibition season in the traditional way, even in the absence of a drug for the corona virus. are emerging, and this indicates an embarrassing situation that the publisher is going through and 77% will participate. In virtual exhibitions, 23% will not participate, which is also a high percentage, 51% do not have electronic platforms, while 33% have electronic platforms, 57% of companies need to technical assistance to establish a private platform, 70% sell on other platforms and 30% The percentage change in sales of paper books in the second quarter of this year and 24% of the change in e-book sales during the second quarter of this year.
75% did not try to extend the contracts, while 7% extended the contract for one year, 3% extended the translation contract for one year, which would have a negative impact on the production of the publisher, and 25% cut production by 50 to 75%, while 24% stopped production altogether. And 1% increased their production rate and 2% would not be affected. 91% of respondents believe that the movement in sales and reading has been affected by current economic conditions, which makes all of us publishers and readers needing government support to stimulate and encourage people to read.
Through the questionnaire, it is clear that 50 percent is the percentage of public publishing, followed by 35 percent of publishers of children’s books and educational materials, which is a percentage that should be emphasized, as the percentage of children’s books is developed compared to the rest of the publications and it has been increasing for years and the majority of the productions of the Arab publishers are divided. Between 100 and 250 numbers represent 74% of the survey results, and more than 1000 numbers represent 18%. The drop in sales during the first and second quarter of the current year was 3-74% compared to the same period of the previous year, so we can see a significant drop in publishing reality Arabic for this year and 75% of respondents were forced to stop dealing with the perpetrators. And, of course, this will affect the movement of intellectual and literary creativity in this critical period.
The percentage of those who had to stop dealing with designers, linguists, translators and paper dealers was between 50 and 67%, which could seriously and seriously affect jobs related to the publishing industry , and high unemployment rates in them, and so we’ll find a drop in the general publishing industry as well as 50% of Businesses will mix the old-fashioned return to work and work from home.
In order to overcome the effects of the epidemic, the head of the Professional Development Committee of the Arab Publishers Union explained that the Arab publishers have submitted several proposals to overcome the effects of the pandemic, including: tax exemption, assistance with rents, exemption from license fees for the current year, the purchase of books directly from the publisher and the granting of loans on favorable terms with the advantages of the State. Support the purchase of paper, organize exhibitions at short intervals, for example every two months, to get readers used to it, reduce the number of days of exhibitions and try to reduce the price of the book so that it be accessible to all, and support the publisher and purchase the distinguished product for the benefit of government agencies and contract with electronic platforms, and convert paper products to electronic to keep pace with development, and work on the ‘electronic publishing in addition to the paper edition and direct communication with customers, through social media sites and sell directly without waiting for the date of the holding of exhibitions and come back to life naturally by taking preventive measures, by reducing costs and signing agreements with national and international shipping companies, organizing virtual exhibitions and creating a fund Project financing for ur support editors.
Journalist writer from Morocco.
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