Publishing Industry Dynamic Despite Fears

By Olga Sharapova

Special to The St. Petersburg Times

Published: May 12, 2008 (Issue # 1372)

More than 70,000 visitors, including traders, bibliophiles and book market professionals, visited the Third St. Petersburg International Book Fair at the Lenexpo exhibition complex on April 24-27.

The fair’s Soviet-style slogan, “Time to read!,” reminded visitors of the legacy of the Soviet reading culture, in which it was claimed that the nation had the greatest number of readers in the world. Foreigners who visited the U.S.S.R often noted that public transport was full of passengers holding books in their hands.

Reading was both encouraged by the Soviet educational system, and simultaneously represented one of the most easily available methods of obtaining inner freedom in an environment of public censorship.

However, the range of books available was restricted by the Soviet state and the production of ideologically acceptable classics was much more widespread than the publication of contemporary authors, newspapers and magazines.

In post-Soviet Russia there are serious concerns about the apparent lack of enthusiasm for reading shown by contemporary schoolchildren and teenagers.

Alexander Sokolov, Russia’s Culture and Mass Communications Minister told RIA Novosti that only seven percent of families read habitually.

In the 1970s, the proportion of families who liked reading was about 80 percent, Sokolov said.

According to statistics, only 23 percent of Russians describe themselves as active readers, while 37 percent of people don’t read books at all.

Russia has fallen to seventh place on the world list of how much time people spend reading.

However, some see the developing Russian book market as having created a new class of readers who follow and enjoy innovations in literature.

Olga Lucass, press secretary of the Livebook publishing house, which participated in last month’s Book Fair, says that young people are the most active buyers of its books.

“We simply aren’t seeing a problem of a lack of reading. About 40 percent of our readers are young people, and they are very interested in news, book exhibitions and the special parties that Livebook regularly organizes,” Lucass said.

St. Petersburg publishing house Limbus Press regularly publishes new authors whom it believes could be interesting for contemporary readers.

Books by young Russian authors that Limbus has recently published include “Russia: Common Carriage” by Natalia Kluchareva, “Sanka” by Zakhar Plilepin, and a poetry anthology entitled “St. Petersburg Poetry Structure.”

Plilepin’s latest novel, “The Sin,” has been nominated for the National Bestseller 2008 award for the best book in Russian.

The winner will be announced on June 8 at St. Petersburg’s Astoria hotel.

According to the editor-in-chief of Limbus Press, Pavel Krusanov, the publishing house focuses on non-fiction and experimental genres. Limbus’ most popular authors include Eduard Limonov, Sergei Dovlatov and Philip Root.

Publishing is a highly dynamic business in St. Petersburg and there are more than 140 publishing houses in the city covering a diverse range of genres.

In total the local book market accounts for about 15 percent of the entire Russian publishing industry.

One of the largest publishing houses by volume in Russia is St. Petersburg’s Eksmo, which publishes books in almost every genre, from crime to modern prose. The titles and marketing policy of the publishing house are oriented toward mass audiences.

According to statistics, middle-aged women comprise the largest proportion of visitors to bookstores and the most popular genres are novels about high society, romance, fantasy and cookery books.

Textbooks and academic literature are also in high demand due to the large numbers of students in the city.

There are more than 170 bookstores in St. Petersburg, including large chains such as Bukvoyed, Dom Knigi, Snark, Top Kniga and ACT. Some are managed by publishers — for example, Eksmo has a majority share in the Bukvoyed chain.

High prices have been cited as a factor in the decline in reading among Russians. Denis Kotov, director of the Bukvoyed chain, said in a television interview that if there is demand for a book and people want to buy more books, prices should be increased.

Classifying books as a section of the entertainment industry, Kotov believes they should not be a cheap commodity because competition is very strong in this segment of the market. However, according to Limbus’ Krusanov, the difference between the publisher’s price and the final cost of a book in the bookstore is vast — more than 100 times greater than the initial cost.

Most Russian readers consider books to be an expensive present, and this is often cited as one of the main reasons for locals reading less than they did in the past. Children’s books and academic books cost from 200-500 rubles ($8-$20), which for some, particularly at the top end of the price range, is prohibitive.

Today’s teenagers and youths may spend more time on the Internet than reading books, but works such as British author J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels have proved extremely popular in Russia. Krusanov believes that e-books will never truly rival printed books, as most authors and readers prefer to have a real book that they can keep.

Some genres however represent a more competitive alternative to printed copies, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, which are often simpler and faster to use in electronic format.

Despite changing trends and falling readership, books retain their treasured status in Russian culture, as demonstrated by events such as the St. Petersburg International Book Fair, which help to improve communication on the book market between publishers and readers.