There has been extensive discussion recently about Cheng Da bookstore’s decision to close all of its branches.
Now, with the ongoing campaigns for the Taiwanese presidential election, I hope that every candidate could pay attention to books, promote reading and provide a boost to both publishers and booksellers.
In a recent trip to South Korea, I, along with several members of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation, learned something about the state of the country’s publishing industry and the effectiveness of its fixed book pricing system.
During a visit to the Korean Publishers Society (KOPUS), the publishers mentioned an interesting campaign, “I Want to See the President’s Love of Reading,” which was launched during the country’s presidential election in 2017.
The campaign’s organizers hoped that the presidential candidates, by purchasing and reading books, could set an example for the public to follow, while generating policies favoring the publishing industry and thinking of ways to elevate reading culture more broadly.
Previously, in an effort to provide book recommendations and stimulate discussion, KOPUS and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy had together launched “Book Lovers of Parliament,” a recurring event that ran from 2013 to 2015.
Each iteration saw authors, members of parliament and government authorities invited to participate in conversations designed to increase parliamentary awareness of reading and culture-related issues. Sixty members of parliament participated in the monthly event, which was repeated 16 times over the two years.
In 2014, after 10 years of development, South Korea implemented a fixed book pricing system, and the policies have now been in effect for the better part of a decade.
According to this system, books are generally not discounted within the first 18 months of publication. At most, they are discounted by 10 percent against the recommended retail price; if freebies or other incentives are included in a promotion, the additional discount is limited to 5 percent.
After the 18-month period has passed, prices can be reduced, but this requires a reprint, a change in the book’s ISBN or that a new list-price sticker be attached to the book. However, the maximum discount rate remains unchanged.
The fixed book pricing system was accompanied by a coordinated set of measures, including the establishment of a supervisory board responsible for inspecting violations and ensuring reasonable prices.
These measures caution readers that price wars only encourage inflated pricing and remind them that discounted prices do not always represent the best deals, as seen in Taiwan, about four decades ago, when eyeglasses and chandeliers were initially priced exorbitantly and then subjected to heavy discounts that at times approached 70 percent or 80 percent. Having a clear and fixed pricing can spare consumers the trouble of comparing fluctuating prices, allowing publishers to focus on quality over quantity, instead of engaging in cutthroat pricing.
The implementation of the fixed book pricing system led to an increase in annual book sales in South Korea from 2018 to 2020, and the nation’s three major channels, Kyobo, Yes24 and Aladin, saw their combined revenue increase from US$1.07 billion to US$1.32 billion per year. In addition, about US$3 billion in sales was generated in the e-book market.
Elsewhere in the industry, the number of independent bookstores trended upward: In 2015, there were only 97 independent bookstores in operation across the country; by 2020, this number had increased to 634.
According to the 2020 KOPUS survey of 1,001 bookstores and publishing companies, 67.3 percent of bookstore and publishing company owners were overall satisfied with the system and believed it benefited the entire industry. Happily, the Constitutional Court of Korea recently confirmed its legal validity.
Former US president Barack Obama is well-known for being an avid reader, and many are curious to learn which books line his shelves. Julianne Buonocore, moderator of The Literary Lifestyle blog, said that her community eagerly anticipates Obama’s much-publicized annual picks.
With Taiwan’s presidential election in full swing, one can imagine candidates browsing independent bookstores, grabbing some titles and sharing their literary loves. Would that not be great? So simple a gesture could provide a significant lift to publishers and booksellers, while representing a refreshing change from the usual political tit for tat and squabbling.
Jerome C. Su is the chair of Bookman Books Ltd and an adjunct associate professor at the Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation at National Taiwan Normal University.
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