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Because of our location and status as a Commonwealth nation we generally fall under the Commonwealth rights section of most internationally published books. These books are mostly distributed from publishers based in the UK.
Books that land in SA are thus usually bought in in Pound prices, or alternatively US Dollar prices for books bought from international rights distributors. This means that books are immediately affected by the exchange rate - Rand goes down, book prices go up.
But this is not the only factor affecting books. We've also noticed something we refer to as "the Amazon effect", where due to the retail giant's negotiation power they receive really good discounts from publishers.
The problem is that the publishers, to make up the deeper discounts that Amazon needs, upped the recommended retail prices of certain ranges of books in order to keep their own businesses turning a profit.
Any retailer who is not Amazon got hit by this increase in book prices. So at this point we have increased Pound/Dollar pricing combined with exchange rate issues pushing up the price of books. This is not all.
Because of our location on the planet, most books arrive by sea freight (and some cases air freight), adding an additional cost.
Add customs and import costs, local warehousing and distribution costs and the costs required for a bookshop to run and you end up with a staggering amount of money for a book. For years now we have been concerned with the rising cost of books and have looked at various ways to make books cheaper locally.
There are a couple of ways that immediately spring to mind:
• Abolish VAT on books. 14% of R300-odd rand isn't a lot, but it is a start.
• Increase the customer base. Even in the international arena the idea of "buy bulk and save" applies. Local distributors can get better pricing on volume transactions, so if the size of the market here grows significantly enough, it can affect the book prices in the long run.
o The size of the base is directly linked to the literacy levels of the population as well as the socio-economic position of the population. This is a development issue that is plaguing the country.
o We also have to invest in the future readership market of the country. Fostering a love for books and reading from an early age on will ensure that we do not see a dwindling book buying market in the country in the years to come.
That's why I stick to selling non-fiction. The value proposition is better. I can justify asking someone to pay R500 for a business book, or a pretty cookery book. Because there is long-term value in it. I cannot justify R300-odd on a fiction novel that is at most 2 days' reading pleasure.
