LAHORE, Nov 28; Low readership, high prices and commission rates were cited as the major problems affecting book publishing business in Pakistan at a discussion held at the Quaid-i-Azam Library here on Monday.

Income tax officer-turned-publisher Khalid Sharif said authors had to think before writing books because the publishers asked for money for meeting publication costs instead of offering them royalty. The Punjab Textbook Board was also patronizing piracy. Of 400 authors registered with it, 350 were involved in the practice.

He said when he entered the publication business in the 1970s it was possible to publish 1,000 copies of a book. The demand had, however, decreased with the passage of time and only 300 to 500 copies of books were being published now instead of 1,000.

He said publication of less than 1,000 copies increased the per copy cost as the printers charged for a minimum of 1,000. Less number of books were sold due to high price which forced the publishers to raise the price further. Booksellers had also raised their commission from 33 per cent to 50 per cent of the retail price during the past 10 years which discouraged publishers further. Prices of books were low in India because thousands of copies were published at a time.

He said the National Book Council which used to purchase up to 300 books every year had been wound up by the government. The officials of the government organisations purchasing books now demanded up to 85 per cent of the price as commission. Some of the books were published only for sale to libraries as a result.

Publishers Association secretary general Zubair Malik said a very large number of people had turned up at an international book fair organized here last year showing that the desire to read the books was still there. The book sales had gone down mainly on account of high prices. People wanted to read the books because of prohibitive prices. As much as Rs400 were demanded for a copy worth Rs80 or Rs90. The government did not attach any importance to the promotion of book publication business either. The Export Promotion Bureau regretted when it was approached for participation in an international book fair last year.

He said an average 20,000 new books were being published in India every year but it took years in selling 300 to 500 copies of a book published in Pakistan. Government policy of providing free textbooks to school children was also discouraging sales. Buyers’ preference for low-priced ‘local’ editions of books encouraged piracy and discouraged genuine publishers.

The number of publishers was also decreasing because other businesses offered much higher returns on investment. The authors, too, were not ready to write for a royalty of Rs1,000 to Rs2,000. Textbook sales were being discouraged due to preference of guides by the students on the ground that their teachers did not take proper interest in their work.