Book publishers finally see a surge in sales after years of recession

BEIRUT - Alternative Staff

December 2003

Despite the coincidence of its timing with the month of Ramadan, the 48th Arab Book Fair “surprisingly” attracted a high number of visitors according to the fair’s sponsors.

“We were surprised to see an increase in the number of visitors and eventually in the number of boo sales,” said Issam Araqji, President of the Arab Cultural Club, which sponsors the annual event.

Araqji told The Daily Star in an interview that two reasons were behind the increase in book sales was the high number of participating publishing houses totaling 181. “In addition, several publishers offered several new releases.” He said that publishing houses came from 35 Arab countries most of them from Lebanon.

Araqji also said that they arranged for a series of lectures “every evening throughout the days of the fair,” which started in Oct. 31 and will close on Nov. 16. “The lecture room accommodates 276 attendees, but in some lecture like the one in which we commemorated the work of late Palestinian thinker Edward Said, both the lecture room and its neighboring cafeteria were packed,” he argued.

He said that the Lire en Francais, a fair of French books held at the same time in Biel, did not affect the number of the Arab Book Fair’s visitors. “Our activities are complimentary. They attract Francophone readers while those interested in Arab books come to us.”

According to Araqji, some publishers proposed that sponsors of both events merge their activity in next year. “Anyway, the Lire en Francais has a different kind of participant such as the Antoine Library and Virgin Mega Stores.”

But people touring the Arabic Boo Fair noticed the participation of institutions that were not in the business of book publishing. Amnesty International, ESCWA, institutions for the support of resistance and music shops.

When asked about these “nontraditional” participants, Araqji said that music, for example, was a cultural aspect. “The stand that is broadcasting pro-resistance song is cultural also. The only difference is that its kind of music is national.”

People at the fair were noticeably concentrated around the stands of a number of publishing houses. Saqi Books, Nawfal, An-Nahar, al-Adab, Riad al-Rayess Books, Malik’s Bookshop and al-Farabi saw a surge in their sales perhaps more than other houses.

“We definitely have an increase in sales,” according to Kawthar Khreiss, an official standing at the Riad al-Rayess books. Khreiss told The Daily Star that she believed the increase was due to the “signing of books events” that they sponsored.

“Highest sales come when the author of a book holds a signing session,” she said. Khreiss said that she could not provide numbers about the increase, but that such numbers would be available by the end of fair.

Raid al-Rayess Books occupies the stand right at the entrance. Every year, it publishes several new titles while at the same time posting some mottos. “This year, our motto was: We don’t apologize for what we publish,” according to Khreiss, adding that the idea of the motto was inspired by their release of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s Don’t Apologize for What You Have Done.”

Khreiss said that even though their motto this year did not denounce state censorship of books like last year, her publishing house faced troubles with the state censor who ordered that a certain book, Al-Istishraq al-Muharram (Prohibited Orientalism), be put inside an envelople and only sold to adults.

Other publishers were not enjoying a boom in sales. Hatem, who refused to give his last name and insisted and that his publishing house remains unnamed, said that ever since the fair was opened a week ago, he only sold two books.

“People take a look, sometime they read a couple of pages, but leave without buying anything,” he intoned.