Recession telling harsh stories for writers, publishers
It’s a palm-in-the-cheek story how Nigeria’s economy is bashing the country’s literary landscape. Across the country, particularly in cities like Abuja and Lagos, book clubs and associations huddle every week, holding book readings that animate writers’ efforts. Many people agree Nigerian literature is on a roller coaster. But right now the direction of this change […]
It’s a palm-in-the-cheek story how Nigeria’s economy is bashing the country’s literary landscape. Across the country, particularly in cities like Abuja and Lagos, book clubs and associations huddle every week, holding book readings that animate writers’ efforts. Many people agree Nigerian literature is on a roller coaster. But right now the direction of this change is uncertain. Perhaps few people, particularly those in the business of publishing and printing, could have predicted making books will become a different kind of challenge when the economic recession struck.
Printing abroad
Every printer’s dream is probably to have publishers, writers, organisations and a horde of customers approach with a big deal, the kind publishers like Richard Ali (co-owner Parresia Publishers, one of Nigeria’s most vibrant publishing companies) take to Ibadan. This company rolled out in the country in 2013 and produced the works of some of the country’s phenomenal writers, such as Helon Habila, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Chika Unigwe and many more. But Parresia has found it difficult to print in Nigeria since the recession in 2016. Ali explains that the economy has greatly affected the publishing industry relatively. A writer himself (author of ‘City of Memories’ reissued in 2016), he agonises about how the inputs that go into publishing books are imported, particularly paper and ink.
“At this time last year, the price for a ream of paper was about N12, 000. Now it’s almost double the amount. The same thing for the ink where what would have cost N120, 000 a year ago is now over N200, 000,” Ali says, adding that the cost of producing books has basically doubled. And his company (where he’s co-owner) has to transport them. So they have responded by increasing the cover price of their books and market to people who are more likely to buy, as opposed to doing a general kind of marketing.
At some point in 2016, Parresia considered stopping publication for a while. “Since then, we haven’t published any new books. It’s a situation we are studying,” Ali explains.
Some publishing companies print abroad. A typical example is Ankara Press. But Parresia decided to go a hundred per cent local content from inception. Their logic was to give back to Nigeria in every way. Ali expounded that publishing is one of those industries that, in the course of getting a book out, about seven to ten professionals at various levels make an input. So for each book taken abroad, those people lose jobs. So they made the decision to stay local early and have stuck to it. But propelled by the increasing downturn in the economy, Parresia’s resolve was broken and they considered producing in India.
“We printed a thousand copies of a particular book and they were supposed to deliver in April, but the Indians only just delivered the rest of it last week,” Ali revealed. They are paying in US dollars, so they need a lot of naira to make up a single dollar. So a bill of $2, 000 is almost a million naira. In the end, publishing abroad is just as expensive and then there’s the time it takes because the printers like to fill up the container. In this way, they keep jobs waiting until there’s a small container. They then ship everything down to the port in Lagos where it takes a couple of weeks or more to clear the goods.
“So, if you look at it, it’s like the devil and the deep blue sea,” Ali says resignedly. “You publish in Nigeria, the costs are high, you publish abroad, the costs are less, but the stress you go through getting them here makes a mess of it. So, I don’t see us publishing books in India anytime soon. We’ll rather do it in Nigeria, but we’ll need to find out how and maybe publish fewer books.”
The problem is even more glaring when a big-time printer like Onisemus Agado complains. His source of business is usually banks he prints tellers for, organisations and individuals who approach his company for wedding cards, calendars and so on. Lately, business has been harsh, with less clients coming through. Writers now find it difficult to finance the printing of their books. He points his fingers nowhere else than the Foreign Exchange market where the naira continues to grow weak and printing materials keep getting expensive.
Writers’ fate
There’s a certain empathy expected from publishers who hold the fate (even if a percentage) of a book in their hands. Parresia insisted on quality and think, if a writer has taken the time to write a book and given it the very best, we should be able to present it as best as we can to the world,” Ali affirms, adding that it’s the sole reason why they insist on paper quality, proper binding and finishing.
While publishers handle logistics, which also includes brainstorming on marketing strategies and more, writers aren’t left out of the ‘worry’ picture. Onesi Taiwo (author of ‘The Mirror’, an epic poem) describes the present times as trying for a writer, especially those who finance the publishing of their work. For those with ready manuscripts, he says it will delay publishing prospects. “However, this is the time when a writer’s passion and zeal for his or her work should kick in,” he concludes.
“The writer makes money from book sales, so if a book that’s N1, 500 is now N2, 500, the question is, do readers have the money to buy the book at N2, 500?” Ali adds. “I want to believe that book sales aren’t as high as they used to be because the disposable income hasn’t increased and salaries have not been increased. In fact, in this economy, people are being sacked, so I don’t imagine that affects book buying in any way. Consequently readers are not buying books, the writers aren’t writing, so the publishers can’t publish because they don’t get paper. If you don’t buy paper, the printer can’t print. So it affects everybody and the economy is affecting the whole value chain of paper, from those who import it to the publishers.”
When Oliver Iorkase (author of a play, ‘The Journey to One.’) was given the cost of production for his manuscript many months ago, the price of a ream of paper rose from N8, 000 to about N12, 500 in the space of two weeks. So, from about N500, 000 for a thousand copies of books, it became N800, 000. “And my book was less than two hundred pages,” he says, adding that the price of ink also went up because most of the materials used are imported. As the dollar gained on the naira, the story went from bad to worse. “Now I hear a ream is almost N17, 000,” he adds.
However, not many writers have a book that’s as flexible in the market as Iorkase. ‘The Journey to One’ is a play and so has the potential of being staged. He admits that if it were a prose work, it will be difficult for him to break even in sales. It will mean a book of about 150 pages will be selling for about N3, 000 or more, a sum he believes an average bookshop may reject. His book currently sells at N1, 500 with little profit. The magic therefore is to publish more copies in order to make profit. But this will require a higher amount, which will likely run into millions.
As far as Iorkase is concerned, printers, publishers and writers are part of an economy and everyone, including the government, has to plan with the facts on ground. Eighty per cent of the materials used in printing are imported. “How come we aren’t producing paper?” He queried. “We can sort that out. Electronic copies are also an option that can be explored. But how many online bookshops are really functioning in Nigeria?” He points out the decreasing numbers of bookshops across the country. If there’s low demand for books and cost of production skyrockets, there’s very little to be done. More bookshops imply more demand.
“I learnt about someone who sells fairly used books and makes a lot of money. They are foreign books and he buys them at discounted prices,” Iorkase narrates. The man said the books are cheap abroad and he brings them to Lagos. Plus, the price is low and the quality is good, and Nigerians don’t mind buying used books. This becomes a big problem for Nigerian publishers. They have to compete with used books, while their competitors make money from both new and used books. So, bookshops are also suffering from a drop in sales, Dauda Abubakar (Sales Representative for Booksellers Limited in Abuja) confirms.
Textbooks/Newsprint
Chikezie Chiedu (The Executive Director, Kawuriz and Manilas Publishers located in Onitsha) is uneasy in his swivel chair. His company was established by his father in 1986 and since his father’s demise, he has been in charge, his dream, to take the publishing house which thrives on academic books, to greater heights. But now the future looks hazy.
Like several others, Chiedu has the data, and already knows how much the economy has dealt a blow to his business. “For example, a binding gum that we used to buy at N15, 200, hiked to about N30, 000 when we bought it last December. That’s about a hundred per cent increase,” he says, adding that if this is to be reflected on the product, it can put one out of business because people can’t buy. The company has been unable to sell much of its stock and he worries that parents, due to limited funds, are beginning to prioritise with textbooks at the bottom of their list. “Paying school fees is now simply the priority,” he explains.
Chiedu is looking nowhere else but at how the government can find a way out concerning Forex. This, he opines, is what will stabilise the market. “But somehow, when you blame the government, you have to also understand the crash in price of crude oil, which is Nigeria’s winning product, where we get majority of our Forex. However, the government has to be innovative. In education, publishing is a priority, because if pupils and students can’t afford books, it means very soon it will affect the impartation of knowledge. You can’t develop a country’s economy without education,” he says.
The story doesn’t end here. Newspaper companies have also suffered since the recession. Like many other businesses in their league, they have scrubbed the surface to survive. Some have sacked workers and more continue to find the payment of salaries difficult.
A frontman in the business department of one of Nigeria’s newspaper organisations explains the dilemma faced by the sector this way: “Basically, the cost of production has gone up, in some cases, by almost 200 per cent. The matter has become so serious, to the extent that even when you have to buy printing materials, government policy on newsprints makes it difficult,” he says, adding that the policy needs clarification because newsprint is categorised as a finished product, meaning as far as government is concerned, print media houses are in the business of importing finished products. But the reality is different. They import newsprint and have to process them, print and go through the normal production process. In other words, as far as they are concerned, newsprint is a raw material and not a finished product. So government has to review the existing policy. In this way, in sourcing for Forex when they are importing raw materials, they get to benefit from some concessions given by government. Without this change in policy, when they are importing these so-called ‘finished products’ those concessions are not granted. In addition, tariffs also differ between finished products and raw materials used in production. So they need the government to re-categorise the issue of newsprint and accept it as it is-a raw material in the business.
“Another thing is that we are in an industry protected by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in formation. We feel the government should have, by now, given some concessions to media houses, especially those of us who are into importing of raw materials, such as ink and plates. Government can give us access to Forex right from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) based on yardsticks agreed upon,” he says, adding that the worst case scenario now is how people are forced to buy from the ‘black market.’ “There’s a limit to which we can pass the buck to readers in terms of newspaper copy rates and also to clients who place adverts.”