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Cairo – Since the beginning of last March, Arab countries have taken strict measures to combat the coronavirus epidemic, including preventing gatherings and canceling activities in which many have participated, including book fairs, as around 10 regional book fairs have been canceled or postponed so far, including the Bahrain Gallery, Baghdad Gallery, Riyadh Gallery, Abu Dhabi Gallery and Gallery. Tunisia for the book, as well as international book fairs, which were a means of promoting the Arabic book abroad, translating it and developing the publishing industry.
A number of Arab publishers considered the publishing crisis to exist before the epidemic, but it has been greatly exacerbated today by the suspension of sales, printing and publishing and the cancellation of all book fairs which represent an important platform for the publisher and the reader alike.
Paper and electronic book
Abdo, president of the Egyptian Publishers Union, said in a statement to MAP that the Arab book is suffering a serious crisis after a number of book fairs were postponed due to the epidemic of Corona virus, which has had a great impact on most publishers in the Arab world, especially since the sales map depends on exhibitions.
Abdo explains that Corona has caused a halt to the printing, publishing, sales and marketing movement, whether for individuals or publishing agencies, adding that current indicators predict that the end of the pandemic in the near future is nothing but pipe dreams.
He continues that this pandemic has come to exacerbate the severity of the challenges facing the publishing industry in the Arab world, in particular poor distribution, weak marketing capacities and problems related to shipping and customs, as well as importing paper and printing presses from abroad, all of which are difficulties that will lead to the collapse of the industry unless governments step in to support it.
On the extent to which the publishing sector in Egypt has been affected by this epidemic, Abdo points out that a significant number of private libraries have closed their doors, and several publishing houses have shut down, as is the cases in many others around the world, adding that losses in the sector since last March, when the epidemic began in June, it was estimated at $ 20 million.
Regarding the initiatives launched by the Egyptian Publishers Association to mitigate the impact of the pandemic during the quarantine period, Abdo recalls the “Stay at home with the best friend” initiative, which aims to support culture and reading and encourage Egyptian families to read at home.
On the possibility of the e-book replacing the paper book, Abdo says that there is a growing interest in the digital book, but that the paper book has its own particularity that sets it apart from the electronic book, which is the ease of transporting it. from one place to another and read it anywhere, which the digital book does not provide which causes The reader is not securely attached to the computer screen.
Dalia Ibrahim, chairwoman of the board of directors of Renaissance House for Publishing, said in a similar statement that all industries have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, including the publishing industry, and of course the Marketing activities were significantly affected, as all international and local exhibitions were canceled and all libraries and various outlets were closed for periods of time. Long, which has led to a significant drop in book sales, indicating that the situation is very difficult for a large number of publishers, especially small publishers.
The publishing crisis existed before the epidemic, but today it has been greatly exacerbated by the suspension of sales, printing and publishing, and the cancellation of exhibitions
Ibrahim explains that while the Corona pandemic has had a negative impact on sales, there are a number of other sales methods that we can “pursue to increase sales and reach the reader through electronic sales, this that we have already done in our organization, after the launch of the ‘Nahdet Misr’ application. “Which contains all of our versions of cultural books and children’s books, which we sell through the app to reach the consumer effortlessly.”
She added that the crisis had also affected the habits of many readers, as many of them started to turn to e-books and audiobooks, a global trend that has grown in recent years, but which increased at a faster rate after the Corona pandemic.
“Digital publishing is one of the most effective images right now, but I don’t think it will ever replace paper publishing, because print books still have their fans and there are many of them around the world,” she continues. , adding that eBooks will increase and sales on electronic platforms such as Kindle and Google Play will increase, but it will not completely replace printed books.
And she added: “Indeed, there are a good number of books in Arabic on these global apps, but they need more marketing, as a large number of readers are not aware of the availability of books in Arabic on these global platforms, and the number of publishing houses that supply books from over these sites is still somewhat in proportion to the number of actual publishers in the market.
Therefore, Dalia Ibrahim adds: “We anticipate that it will take some time for readers to realize the availability of content and for publishers to move towards providing books electronically, which may help reduce paper printing and book marketing expenses in a more practical way. “
Regarding the extent of the losses suffered by Arab publishing houses due to the cancellation of exhibitions, the Egyptian publisher says that digital platforms will not be able to compensate for the scale of the losses. Therefore, “We as publishers need to study the current situation, develop alternative plans for exhibitions and discuss the creation of virtual exhibitions, which the Arab Publishers Union has already started discussing with Members. “.
She considers that the time has come for governments to step in to help a large number of publishing houses, but we cannot ignore the heavy financial burdens that governments are currently carrying to support the various affected sectors, in particular the publishing sectors. health and education, in addition to supporting affected temporary workers who have lost their jobs due to the Corona pandemic. Which increases its budget.
Relieve the crisis
Faced with the gravity of the crisis in the publishing industry and the Arab book, the Union of Arab Publishers took the initiative to take a series of initiatives aimed at saving this sector from collapse.
In this context, the Arab Publishers Union recently sent an open letter to the leaders of Arab countries, in which it calls on Arab governments to include the publishing sector in the various support programs that have been followed to support economies of countries, stating that there are “many societal and economic sectors that are directly affected by the industrial sector. Publishing, including authors, translators and researchers, as well as artistic designers, painters and the printing industry of all kinds.
The Publishers Union proposed solutions to help mitigate the impact of the crisis, including “allocating money to buy books from publishers through ministries of education to strengthen school libraries, abolish taxes on the publishing industry and provide incentives to the publishing industry “.
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