A bookstore in Tehran, January 29, 2022 (AFP / ATTA KENARE)
Reduction in print runs and pagination of books, reduction in the number of works published: publishing in Iran is a collateral victim of American sanctions which have led to a vertiginous increase in the price of paper, imported and paid for in foreign currencies.
“As soon as the American sanctions were reinstated in 2018, the price of paper rose, so that publishing suffered a major crisis which could become existential”, explains to AFP Emily Amraï, collection director of Houpa, a house specializing in children’s books in Tehran.
“The devaluation of our currency against the greenback, the price of paper paid in dollars and the increase in the cost of transport also paid in (foreign) currencies has plunged publishing into the doldrums”, adds Hossein Motevali, owner of Houpa .
In a country that does not manufacture its own paper pulp, the price of the book depends directly on the fluctuation of the rial against the dollar.
The CEO of Ofoq editions, Réza Hachéminejad, on January 29, 2022 in Tehran (AFP / ATTA KENARE)
“If a 200-page novel sold for 400,000 rials ($1.6) last year, its price today is 1,000,000 rials ($4.1), most of which is the cost of production”, notes the CEO of Ofoq editions, Réza Hachéminejad.
– “Miracle” –
In addition, publishers are faced with another difficulty: in Iran, the price of the book can no longer be changed once fixed by the publisher before printing, while that of paper fluctuates greatly.
“Between the moment I receive the manuscript, the moment I lay it out and the moment I set the price of the book, I can lose everything if the paper has suddenly risen. And that happens because I am at the thank you for the ballet of currencies”, laments Mr. Hachéminejad.
The unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 from the international Iranian nuclear agreement and the subsequent reinstatement of heavy American sanctions against Tehran plunged the Iranian economy into a violent recession.
An employee of the Iranian publishing house Houpa sorts books on January 29, 2022 in Tehran (AFP/ATTA KENARE)
“Selling books is a miracle today because the majority of customers belong to the middle class and given the economic situation, their priority is to obtain essential consumer goods, such as food,” observes Mr. Hasheminejad.
“I really wonder how people still buy books at these prices, it’s surprising,” he adds.
As the crisis continues to worsen, several small publishing houses have been forced to go out of business.
“Today, many independent publishers, who have published excellent works, have been eliminated from the market”, regrets Ms. Amraï.
Emily Amraï, the collection director of Houpa, a publishing house specializing in children’s books, in her office in Tehran on January 29, 2022 (AFP/ATTA KENARE)
Even large publishing houses have to adapt to survive.
“We give up profits as much as possible in order to keep our readers, we reduce print runs and pagination, we publish digital books to avoid paper and reduce costs,” says Mr. Hachéminejad.
– Running out of stocks? –
But this strategy can only last “a year or two, even for the most solid houses”, he estimates.
“In a few months, when the books stored in the depots will have been exhausted, it will be a shock for the customer when he sees the new prices”, assures Mr. Hachéminejad.
As for the authors, they are just as likely to suffer the consequences of these books with increasingly reduced pagination because they are paid by the number of pages, whether they are unknown or famous.
In Enghelab Street, where all of Tehran’s bookstores are concentrated, Behjat Mazloumi, a retired professor, is struggling to find second-hand books.
A display of books in a street in Tehran on January 29, 2022 (AFP/ATTA KENARE)
“I can no longer buy myself a book. Even street vendors today sell books at a very high price,” laments the sixty-year-old.
Professionals are also worried about young Iranians, especially in rural or disadvantaged areas, whose access to books was already limited.
The shortage of books and their limited distribution, particularly in these areas, could contribute to increasing “social differences among children”, deplores Mr. Hachéminejad.
© 2022 AFP
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