2024-04-20 09:21:18
The sale of books in English is increasing in Portugal, representing a growth of 33% in this first quarter compared to the same period last year, a phenomenon driven in part by TikTok and which is worrying Portuguese publishers.
According to an article published on Tuesday by Publishers Weekly, as part of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, sales of books in English are increasing across Europe, with the social network TikTok being one of the main factors driving this trend. trend, which translated into 3% of the market volume, in 2023, in Portugal.
This value is corroborated by the president of the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers (APEL), Pedro Sobral, who, based on data from the consultancy Gfk, specified to Lusa that imported books (consisting almost exclusively of books in English) represented 3% of the market value, which means a growth of around 25% compared to 2022.
In the first quarter of this year alone, the sale of books in English already represents a growth of around 33% compared to the same period last year, highlighted Pedro Sobral.
However, the Gfk panel does not measure book sales in ‘online’ channels and in stores such as Amazon, which have a very significant weight, in addition to the fact that it only covers around 87% of the bookstore market, so many sales are left behind. outside this accounting.
Taking this factor into consideration, the calculations extrapolated by APEL indicate that the book in English is currently worth anything between 5% and 8% of the total value of the Portuguese market.
In line with Europe, this trend occurs mainly in the fiction category, although it can also be found in non-fiction.
Effect of TikTok
According to Pedro Sobral, the TikTok effect is one of the main drivers of the phenomenon – “because it brings and gives great visibility to international titles and often even before their launch” –, but it is not the only one.
Direct online access, enabling immediate purchase after discovering the book, also plays “a very important role” here, which is why “the size of the book in English sold outside the Gfk panel is quite significant”, noted the person in charge .
Another factor to consider is the price, since, as a rule, books published in the United Kingdom or the United States “have infinitely higher circulations, because they cover gigantic domestic markets, but they also have this export effect to other countries”.
This “creates an enormous economy of scale, allowing lower prices and which, due to the vastness of the global market they cover, are soon launched in various formats, with different prices, always significantly lower than the Portuguese editions”.
Furthermore, the time that goes from the original edition to the Portuguese edition – which takes into account the translation, revision and distribution times – is enough to justify that some readers prefer to buy the original, instead of waiting for the Portuguese edition.
Portuguese editions with fewer sales
Faced with this scenario, “Portuguese publishers are very worried”, with many titles already seeing lower sales in the Portuguese edition than the same edition in English, which puts “the viability of many editorial projects” at risk, he warned. the president of APEL.
The situation takes on an even more worrying character if we take into account the fact that, “the overwhelming majority”, Portuguese readers prefer the Portuguese edition to the original, if it is available with the same immediacy and at similar prices, he added.
However, regarding the price, Pedro Sobral explained that “Portuguese publishers don’t have much to fight against”, because it is an economy of scale with which it is completely impossible to compete or match that of the English-language market.
“Of course, the editors have been working diligently on shortening the original version and the Portuguese version to close this ‘gap’ and thus lose as few readers as possible, but much more is needed, given this very worrying situation”, he stated.
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Unfair competition
In addition to this, “global ‘players’ like Amazon do not comply with the Fixed Price Law, competing unfairly with Portuguese ‘online’ booksellers and booksellers, and, given the small size of the market, it is necessary to take measures even in the Price Law Fixed, as has already happened in countries like France”, he added.
Recognizing that it is “very positive” to have new generations in Portugal with such absolute command of the English language, Pedro Sobral warned, however, of the possibility of the Portuguese language being faced with “a very important challenge in its future” and argued that the Defense of the Portuguese language must be a priority, supporting Portuguese writers, editors and booksellers.
“If it is naturally necessary to continue to invest in English, whether in school or in higher education, or in the existence of books in English, it is also true that it is necessary to create public policies to defend and promote the Portuguese language, support for writers, editors and Portuguese booksellers and, above all, to books in Portuguese”, he considered.
2024-04-20 09:21:18