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Publishing in ... Egypt

       In Al-Ahram Weekly Noha Moustafa finds: 'The economic slowdown over the past three years has brought major changes to the publishing industry', in Publishing in hard times.
       I'm surprised to hear that in Egypt: "About 65 per cent of a book's price is that of the paper, and this has increased in price from between 33 per cent to 40 per cent over the past couple of years". (I actually find that 65 per cent hard impossible to believe -- and even if they just mean 'cost' (to the publisher), rather than 'price' (to the consumer) it seems implausible.)
       Always worth remembering:
However, those people who are still reading in Egypt, even if they are only four or five million out of the total 85 million population, represent a significant market. "Egypt is by far the biggest book market in the Arab world," Bakr said.
       And:
Even in such dire times, there have been increasing numbers of titles published in 2013 compared to earlier years. According to the index published by the Egyptian National Library and Archives (Dar Al-Kotob), registered publications in Egypt until September 2013 came to 6,892 books in Arabic and 919 foreign-language ones. Some 1,667 literary titles were published.
       Sounds like an expanding market to me (yes, total copies sold is different from total titles -- but titles are what count (yes, yes: except for in terms of the bottom line ...)).
       Interesting to hear that the prize-culture has made such a difference (on some level):
According to authors, publishers are more and more eager to publish novels in the awards season. The prizes create a huge opportunity to promote and market their books. However, apart from the very few writers who win literary awards, hardly any of them earn anything from their writings.
       And surely a lot of the changes forced on/embraced by publishers are for the best:
Some publishing houses have tried other trends, such as publishing translated literature, or newly selected titles that click with current reality. New genres have also evolved in Arabic writing, such as horror novels and thrillers.

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