The FINANCIAL — ‘Book’s XIII International Festival’ in Tbilisi attracted more than 30,000 visitors in 4 days, event organizers claim.
70 publishing houses took part in the festival. Many of them reported a 30% increase in sales compared to the fair organized last year.
“The number of books sold at the fair is the largest in the festival’s history,” Nino Goginashvili, Executive Director of the Georgian Publishers and Booksellers Association, told The FINANCIAL.
Average price of book offered at the fair was GEL 15. The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome Saligner costs 10 GEL, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – 15 GEL, My Name is Red by Orhan Famuk – 20 GEL, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – 6 GEL, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco – 30 GEL.
Among the bestellers were book by publishing house Palitra L. The most popular authors: Frederic Beigbeder, Erich Maria Remarque, Mikhail Bulgakov, Homeros, Jack London, Onore De Balzak.
The number of booklovers in the country has significantly increased, representatives of publishing houses believe.
“Compared to Book’s Festival 2010 the revenue this year is 37 percent more. 2,179 more books have been sold. Even in the period of the financial crisis we had a lot of customers,’ said Tinatin Mamulashvili, Director of Bakur Sulakauri publishing house.
Book’s XIII International Festival was also successful for publishing houses Palitra L and Diogene.
As Tamar Lebanidze, Director of Diogene, says, they sold 35 percent more books than last year.
“The main problem in the market was a lack of translations of the work of modern authors. This year we offered some modern authors. Compared to previous years interest has really increased. We have attracted more and more people and made them love reading,” Lebanidze believes.
“The main bestsellers of this festival were Orhan Famuk and Jerome Salinger,” she added.
“There is demand for all genres of literature. We have many different types of book series which typically sell very fast. But more consumers ask for modern literature than old classics. Book readers are well informed, they know about ongoing cultural processes all around the world. Such readers don’t give us the option of becoming complacent,” said Maia Alidauri, Chief Editor of Palitra L.
According to the publishing companies’ statistics most bestsellers are modern authors rather than classic ones. But the leaders in sales are publications for children – illustrated books, different type of encyclopaedias, cognitive quizzes and games. The main buyers are teenagers and young people.
“In recent times there have been hot discussions about the literacy of the new generation. They are frequently criticised for replacing books with computers. But I don’t agree with that. The number of book lovers isn’t decreasing, but rather it is increasing. Our Book’s Festival shows that,” said Nino Goginashvili, the Festival’s organizer.
“Publications for children are the main priority for most publishing houses. Every parent nowadays is trying to bring up their children surrounded by books and thereby increase their literacy. New generations used to reading from early childhood will love and appreciate books all their lives. They’ve already marked a big change in book reading trends,” she believes.
Discussion about this post