Inflation rises, consumption falls, the world continues to turn and the Book Fair, despite everything, remains there, firm, with its stands, with its editors, with its titles. How are book sales doing in this edition that has the particularity of a strong recession? In addition to the glamor of the big names, the controversies over canceled presentations and the literary debates, there is the commercial aspect: the numbers. For Sale? Not for sale? Do readers buy, despite the fall in wages? What do the editors say? The realities are dissimilar, but they all agree on something: the fall is notable.
The general fall
“In general, sales are down 25 to 30%,” he says. Martin Gremmelspacher, former president of the Argentine Chamber of Books, director of Bonum, a publishing house founded in 1960 that specializes in topics such as education, neurosciences and religion. “Although we have our own stand and it is larger than last year, we are clearly selling less. The macro numbers also give that 20 to 30% drop,” he adds.
Ignacio Portela He goes to the Book Fair every day. From noon to night. “This is the last week,” she says, somewhat relieved. It is part of Sudestada, which has a magazine, publishing house and bookstore. Here they have their own stand, where they carry out different activities, “which makes the Fair extra,” he says. “When we do signings or conversations it helps a lot with the sale. It fills up; There are lines to sign. It adds a lot to have quality authors who are conveners,” and he adds: “The economy hit very hard in April. The great fall due to all these government measures occurred now. That’s clear”.
“We are 17% down in the number of copies sold compared to last year,” they say from Siglo XXI, which launched a children’s label: Siglo para niños. “It is working very well and that makes us happy,” they say. May has already started, the beginning of the month: there is money in our pockets. “Sales are a little low, but now that people are paid, they are going to come en masse to buy books,” he says. Matias Reck by Milena Caserola. Portela sees that “if before they bought two or three books, now they take one: there are 30 and 40% fewer people and sales.” Still, “the fair is still a bubble for the year,” she says.
For large publishers there are no such treacherous variations. “We are down 20 percent in units sold compared to last year. We still have very powerful events left on the last weekend of the Book Fair. “It’s just a photo and it doesn’t mean we end up like this,” he says. Valeria Fernandez Naya, Director of Marketing and Communication at Penguin Random House. In the case of Planeta, according to her knowledge Infobae Culturethe group’s sales are between 10 and 11% lower than last year, although these numbers can vary greatly depending on the day.
IPS Editions is a surprise. “Despite the terrible economic situation, despite the ongoing recession, the label is doing well. “We are, at this point in the fair, a little above last year’s sales,” he says. Nicholas Bendersky, one of its editors. What’s the trick? “This has a particularity,” he explains, “and that is that we have a unique pricing policy: that they are truly accessible for workers, for students, for young people. So most likely that has to do with the framework of totally sky-high prices and out of reach of any worker’s pocket.”
The collective stands
It has been a long time since what we call independent publishers put into practice that old phrase of Sallust: Union make force. Perhaps the best example is La Coop, a label collective that brings together Añosluz, Alto Pogo, Conejos, Santos Locos, Hwarang, Fera, Audisea, Espacio Hudson, Mágicas Naranjas, Clubcinco, Crack up, Llantén, Ethos, El Cuervo, Dábale Rice, Yuri and Futurock. In the Yellow Pavilion, as usual, they have their stand and exhibit the eclectic catalogue. How are sales here? “Between 35 and 40% down compared to last year,” he says. Marcos Almadaeditor of Alto Pogo.
“We are 40% down,” he says like this, directly, without twists, Hernán López Winne. As director of the Publishers Fair and the Godot label, he knows the publishing industry very well and the panorama that exists at the Book Fair sums it up in one word: tremendous. “Even if I start to look at the numbers from these last few days, probably a little lower as well. One of the causes is that Conabip was not what it used to be. In general, sales to popular libraries rose a lot and this year that fell a lot. I would tell you that the total drop is between 40 and 45%, and I don’t think it will change between now and the closing,” he adds.
Godot is in two stands. One is called Reunión, where they are together with Gourmet Musical, Sigilo, Chai Editora and La Parte Maldita. And also in Carbono, which is a distributor made up of several labels: El Gato y La Caja, Barrett, Gourmet Musical, Sigilo and Chai. “In both cases we are the same: sales are very low,” he says.
Conabip: major drop
Within the Book Fair, and for 19 years now, Conabip has been working with the Libro% Program where popular libraries have the possibility of buying books at half price. This is a public policy that benefits both libraries and publishers, since the other 50% of the book is set aside by the State. They are days and with specific times. But this year it did not have the expected impact. “She was very weak, but at least she was; I celebrate that. With Conabip, the drop was greater: 40 and 45% more or less,” says Gremmelspacher. “The problem is that this year 800 fewer libraries came,” adds Almada.
Less people
“The number of people who came is much smaller than in previous years,” he says. Ignacio Portela. “On the weekends it picks up, for example Saturday went well: it seemed like a day from previous fairs. On Monday there were fewer people again. What worked well was the initiative of the access time at eight, from that time on people enter for free,” says Portela and suggests: “It would be good to bring it forward an hour earlier.”
For his part, Gremmelspacher maintains that “there are times when it is clearly seen that there are fewer people. The eight o’clock opening does bring in a little more people. They tell me from the stand that people are leaving a little earlier, they are not staying too late. Some time before 9:30 there is much less public.” And he emphasizes that “the Fair is trying to do everything possible: giving checkbooks so that people can later. Book prices have been stable in recent months, which has made them much more competitive.
The best-selling titles
What titles lead the lists of the two large groups? Penguin Random House bestsellers are See you in August of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The sorceress of Asturia of Gloria Casañas, feminism of Maria Elena Walsh, animal spirit of the Magalí Tajes and The resentful child of Cease Gonzalez. Planeta’s best-selling books are The happiness of Gabriel Rolonthe second part of the “House Neville” saga, Don’t want anything vileof Florence Bonelli, Recover your mind, recapture your life of Marian Rojas Estapé, wings of blood of Rebecca Yarros and Cora of Jorge Fernandez Diaz.
Among Sudestada’s best sellers are the last two books by Cesar Gonzalez: Fetishism of marginality (Southeast) and The resentful child (Reservoir Books), and all of Juan Solá and Cinwololo. In the case of IPS Editions, the best sellers are: What are we talking about when we say socialism? 14 questions and answers about the society we fight forof Ariane Diaz, Matias Maiello and Jose Montes, Pedology lessons of Lev Vygotsky and The red rosegraphic novel about the life of Rosa Luxemburg in charge of Kate Evans.
The ranking that predominates in La Coop is this: The useless things (Holy Fools) Martina Cruz, Species that disappear (rabbits) of Walter Lezcano, Headlights (High Pogo) Jazmina Barrierthe anthology Dantecas edited by Fera and Whatever happens, everything will be fine (Hwarang) from South Korean Lee Kiho. The following titles stand out at the Carbono and Reunión stands: 50 misunderstandings in science (Godot) from English Brian Clegg and Dorayaki (Chai) from Japanese Durian Sukegawa.
Other books that the editors highlight are How forests think (Hekht Publishing House) Eduardo Kohn, Capitalism explained to my granddaughter (Editorial La Zebra) Jean Ziegler, Plans and papers and unpublished (Editorial La Libre) Leon Ferrari, Argentine roads: essays on the railway (edited by Milena Caserola), Minotaur, an odyssey by Paco Purrua (Moving train) Martin Felipe Castagnet, Caliban and the witch: women, body and original accumulation (Lemon Ink) Silvia Federici and Popular Feminisms: pedagogies and policies (edited by The Collective).
Photos: The Book Foundation
