The 255 hour, Malaysian based Big Bad Wolf (BBW) international book fair, held for the first time in Sri Lanka concluded on a high note, recently.
In a country where there is a sheer thirst for good books, undoubtedly, it was a thrilling moment for the local book enthusiasts, as these literary events celebrate and showcase a wide range of books.
While the readers got a good opportunity through BBW, looking at it from the perspective of the local book publishers, one could say, having such international book fairs would be a blow to the local industry over their marketability.
The Sunday Observer contacted a few people concerned to get their views on the pros and cons of having such international exhibitions in Sri Lanka.
In his comments, Ceylon Booksellers Importers and Exporters Association Secretary, Pradeep Samaranayake said, The Big Bad Wolf is a remainder book sale which is something new to the Sri Lankan consumers.
“They had a wide variety of books for the Sri Lankan book lover at very reasonable prices.
A remainder book seller buys unsold books from publishers in USA, UK at a very low price, for example, US $ 0.50-1 and re sells in their country at US $ 5-10,” he said.
He said, the Sri Lankan booksellers have been importing remainders for well over 25 years and are selling at their showrooms, and at the book fair at low prices. “For example, the Ladybird pack which was sold for Rs. 15,000 at BBW was sold by Expographic at Rs. 12,500 with a 20 percent discount at the book fair.
Sarasavi stall at Colombo International Book Fair had a separate area where hardcover fiction titles were sold at Rs. 500.
“Makeen Bookshop sold a wide range of cookery, architecture and children’s books at very low prices and gave a 20 percent discount at the CIBF. This type of low prices can be given only for books which are imported as remainders,” he said.
He said, new books such as, the recently released Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Dan Brown - Origin, John Green - Turtles All The Way Down, books which were released in 2016, 2017 and textbooks used by school and university students cannot be sold at such low prices because publishers do not offer them at drop down prices.
He said, most of the consumers are not aware of this and will expect the same type of drop down prices for regular books sold at the bookshops and at the book fair. “By advertising heavily on their discounts 70-80 percent, the BBW has created an impression among book lovers that all books can be sold at the discount, that is where the real danger to the trade is,” he cautioned.
Commenting further, he said, the other disadvantages the local booksellers face is that they cannot re-export the unsold stocks.
He said, once books are imported to Sri Lanka the importers have to bear the loss of unsold books, and they do not have any international markets to sell these books.
“We as importers are always mindful of this fact which limits the range of books we import, whereas the BBW company has several international markets other than Malaysia, such as Thailand, Indonesia, China and Sri Lanka to sell their books at,” he said.
Vijitha Yapa Group General Manager Lakshman Siriwardhana’s personal view was that these kinds of foreign book fairs are not needed to Sri Lanka.
“My personal view is our Colombo Book Fair is much better, as far as the prices and materials are concerned. Also, there were more than 55 foreign participation from India, Britain, the USA, and so on,” he said.
It is quite evident that the local publishers have been doing a good job over the years to ensure that the local readers have access to the latest foreign books.
In the meantime, consumers’ rights to buy good books at a lower price too should be considered.
The Sunday Observer spoke to the organisers of BBW as well to get their comments and they shared the following.
A representative of the organising team said, having 1.5 million books and 20,000 titles, the retailers too were able to purchase, which helps the local industry.
“These are original books from original authors. People got quality books at affordable prices. Huge discounts were given,” he said.
He said, if people had to order it online, they would have to pay a higher price to order them. Almost all the publications were in the English Language, he added.