Kamrun Nahar Sumy | Published: 00:02, Aug 20,2022

A file photo of Amar Ekushey Book Fair at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka. — Sourav Lasker

Publishers of academic and creative books, who have already braved two years of rough water during the Covid pandemic, are now faced with a fresh hard time due to the hike in paper and ink prices as well as printing and binding costs.

Many publishers fear that there will be fewer titles this year than in the previous years because of high costs of book production.

There will also be fewer new titles and reprints in the next Ekushey Book Fair in February 2023, they said, adding that book prices will be high too.

 Mowla Brothers owner Ahmed Mahmudul Haque, who thinks that creative book publishing houses are yet to grow as an industry, said that the survival of publishing houses primarily depended on the sales of books during the Ekushey fair.

Publishing houses, especially the small ones, were hit hard by the Covid outbreak while high production costs this time could put them in peril, he said.

‘There are about 200 professional publishing houses for academic and creative books, generating a business worth around Tk 1,000 crore yearly. Some 4,500–5,000 people are directly involved in the business,’ said Somoy Prokashon owner and editor Farid Ahmed.

Farid noted that paper and ink prices and printing and binding costs had mostly started to increase since June this year.

Paper prices have shot up in the past few months, he said, adding that publishers generally use locally produced 80GSM offset paper which now costs Tk 2,800 a ream, up from Tk 1,700–1,800 in April.   

‘The price of one pound of locally produced black ink has recently gone up to Tk 700 from Tk 500 while printing and binding costs have increased by about 50–60 per cent,’ he further said.

Besides, he noted, the labour cost has swelled because of increase in the prices of essentials and fuel oils.

Power outages have also compounded the situation, he said, concluding that all this might push up the prices of creative books by about 50–60 per cent. 

Earlier, on June 28, Iftekhar Ahmed, assistant general manager of Partex Paper Mills, said that paper prices were on the rise because of increasing pulp prices on the international market.

He went on to say that high dollar conversion rates and increased freight charges also forced them to raise paper prices.

Some publishers said that they had already decided to publish and reprint some selected books to avert losses. They also anticipate fewer buyers because of the soaring cost of living.

‘A book which used to cost Tk 300 would now cost about Tk 500,’ Md Monirul Hoque, the owner of Ananya Publishing House, said.

‘We used to publish some 100 titles a year. This time, we may publish only 10 which may sell well in the [next Ekushey] book fair,’ he further said.

Publishing company Bhashachitra owner Khandakar Momenul Islam said that his house could not publish some good books on films and journalism because of the Covid outbreak. He will not be able to publish the books this time too if costs do not come down, he despaired.

‘We have become selective also about bringing out reprints as the cost of reprints will go up by 25–30 per cent. Only important and bestselling books will get priority,’ the Mowla Brothers owner Ahmed Mahmudul Haque said.

Publishers pointed out that the main buyers of academic and creative books are students and middle-class people. They feared that sales could go down because of the rocketing living cost.

‘The cost of publication keeps rising while the number of buyers is decreasing. Readers do not want to buy books if they are costly,’ Bhashachitra’s Momenul Islam said 

‘Prices have gone up in all spheres of life. It will, therefore, be difficult for students to spend much money on books. The publishing houses will be in trouble,’ Prakriti Porichoy owner Firoz Ahmed said.  

He, however, said that not all houses would face the crisis, adding that the publishing houses on the government’s book procurement list are less vulnerable.

If books become costly, some of them, especially those that would sell well could be pirated, some publishers feared.

‘Titles in high demand could be pirated. In such a situation, the original publisher will lose money and writers would be deprived of their royalty,’ said the Mowla Brothers owner.

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Editor: Nurul Kabir , Published by the Chairman, Editorial Board ASM Shahidullah Khan on behalf of Media New Age Ltd. Hamid Plaza (4th floor), 300/5/A/1, Bir Uttam CR Datta Road, Hatirpool, Dhaka-1205. PABX: +8802-9632245-48. Fax: +8802-9632250, E-mail: [email protected]

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