THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The booming popularity of audiobooks, e-books and e-commerce platforms for purchasing ever since the pandemic outbreak has crushed the hopes of hundreds of traditional booksellers and second-hand booksellers in the state. The pandemic and lockdown and the subsequent introduction of online classes have made the path of revival practically impossible for them.
According to market experts, the book industry, which has an average turnover of around Rs 30 crore annually, has suffered a severe loss since last year. Besides books for general reading, the academic/ textbook industry is also on the verge of a crash. In addition to hundreds of small and medium booksellers, there are around 70 major retail book shops in the state. They had recorded hardly 10 per cent of their annual business in the past financial year.
Struggle for survival
Sudheer N E, who has been in the book industry for the past 35 years, said the revival of the traditional book industry is far from easy. “Retail booksellers are in a deep crisis because the sale has dropped and most of the shops are not updated too because of several reasons, ranging from financial crunch to logistic issues. Several small local shops operating at tourist spots have been shut down. There were a couple of shops at Fort Kochi and the customers were mostly tourists.
After the pandemic started, they had to shut business and look for other jobs for survival,” said Sudheer, the branch manager of Prism Books Pvt Ltd.According to him, academics being restricted to mere exam preparations and no additional reading has weakened the industry further. “Because of the pandemic, there were no book fairs — one of the main sources of revenue for publishers in the state. There were no children’s book fairs either,” he said.
Online shift
With the future looking bleak, many bookstores are gearing up to launch their e-commerce platforms and home delivery of books to survive. “Last financial year, we had 65% less business and the promotion of e-commerce by the government will adversely impact traditional book stores in the state. The stores are not accessible to the readers. We are getting plenty of enquiries daily which shows people are reading more,” said Chithrasenan N E, manager of Modern Books, which opened 40 years ago.
He said that the pandemic has put the brakes on library supplies. “A section of the booksellers survive on library supplies. Now, libraries are shut and the government has stopped purchasing books for libraries because of the pandemic,” said Chithrasenan. He said that many people would lose jobs as the store owners will not be able to manage the staff like before anymore. “We are also planning to launch an e-platform to facilitate buying books from us for our customerS,” he added.
NO FLAIR FOR FAIR
Every year, 10 major book fairs were being organised in the state, in addition to hundreds of other book fairs happening at district levels. “School fairs were a major source of income for many small vendors and publishers. Its absence is going to hurt the reading habits of children. Even if the booksellers launch home delivery through online platforms, it would cover only 10 per cent of the readers,” says Sudheer.
Second-hand sellers hit hard
Around 40 second-hand booksellers in the state capital are in deep crisis as back-to-back shutdowns have adversely impacted their business. Nishad N, who runs a second-hand bookstall at Palayam, said they are in deep crisis. “I have been in this business for the past 15 years and a large section of the people depend on us for buying academic books. We cater to engineering and medical students. This academic year, we started with a low business. There is no public transportation and people are unable to come out to purchase books,” said Nishad. “A section of the customers are hesitant to buy second-hand books because of the pandemic and all this is impacting our business,” he added.
e-books, audiobooks make a move
Kerala Publishers and Booksellers Association president Ravi Dee Cee said e-book sale has gone up during the lockdown across India. “People above 45 years have started accessing e-books which is a good thing. We got over one lakh, new subscribers, during the lockdown period. But the book sales via shops have dropped. This has affected the livelihood of hundreds of traditional booksellers.” said Ravi Dee Cee, managing partner of DC Books. He said the sale of Malayalam books has boomed during the lockdown. “The subscription of Malayalam audiobooks have gone up. We have started four studios for making more audiobooks which are in high demand,” he added