Contemporary Issues in Philippine Book Industry

Reading books is not one of the Filipinos’ favorite pastimes. Nor is buying books included in their meager budget.

This unpopularity of books to the majority of the Filipinos is the reason why major movers in the industry—the publishing houses, booksellers, government agencies, and the authors—are looking for possible innovations to increase the interest of the public on book-reading and -buying.

The Print on Demand technology is the latest trend that both writers and publishers are eyeing to revolutionize the Philippine book industry and the Filipinos’ outlook towards nonschool-book reading.

It is a new kind of printing service where books are printed based only on the quantities demanded by the author starting at a minimum of 50 copies. It uses a digital printing technology where books are directly printed from a computer.

“With the Print on Demand services, books-printing is now faster and easier so more books can be printed in a shorter period. If the printing process are easier and faster, more writers will be inspired to write and publish their own books and the readers will have a variety of choices,” Tony Oros, Marketing Officer of Central Books said.

Central Books is a company that offers the Print on Demand service since 2005. They use a digital machine for printing and offers the author seven to ten days of production schedule.

“The beauty of this service is that in 7 days you can already have your book published at almost the same price [of the other publishing houses]. And because titles are often self-published (the writers do not have publishers), after you finish your lay-out, you can directly print your book,” Oros said.
He added that in the “old” way of printing, at least a month is needed to finish the production process. Even the quantity required for a title is higher starting from a minimum of 1000 copies.

“In a way, new writers are encouraged to write their own books and try to publish them even at a small quantity at first. Unlike in the old process where they have to publish at least a thousand in the first printing, in Print on Demand, they can print at least 50 copies only. If they get a good response from the readers, then they can demand for more copies,” Oros said.

Ma. Asena Galang, Project Development Officer of the National Book Development Board (NBDB), cited the Print on Demand technology as an affordable and easy means for authors, especially the beginners who are unsure of finding a publisher, to print their own books.

She gave an example about an old “balikbayan” who came back to the Philippines and wrote his own book here. When he returned to the USA, he already had his own published book and distributed it to his relatives there.

Prof. Marra Lanot, a UP Film professor and poetry books author, also apply the same Print on Demand idea, they call it “Poetry on Demand,” in her latest poetry book. However, her book is not self-published because Anvil Publishing, a major publishing company in the country, is managing the publication of her book.

“My publisher said that even if the cost is a little higher at the start (because of the smaller quantity printed), in the long run it will be cheaper because you will no longer pay for the distribution cost, review costs and promotions,” she added.

Lanot said that in the new process of Print on Demand, the authors will have a bigger role in the book-production aside from writing the manuscript. They will also help in the promotion and distribution of their books.

“Before, I use to be a book author; now, I’m a sidewalk vendor,” Lanot said in jest. She said that she’s already asking her friends from the newspapers to help her in the promotion. She even looks for people who are interested in buying her book.

“So instead of becoming frustrated that your book does not sell, since the National Book Store doesn’t display them anyway, then why not sell your own book,” she said.

The only problem that Galang sees with Print on Demand is the possible decline in terms of quality of the books printed in this faster and easier printing technology.

“Most of them (the books printed using the Print on Demand) are self-published. Unlike before that authors have publishers who supervise the editing of the book, the authors are by themselves now so they have to be more responsible,” she said.

She added that this new trend in printing could be the reason why some books, even textbooks, have grammatical and factual errors.

However, Oros believed that writers know if their books need more editing or not. He also said that reviewing/ editing services that charge at a minimum price are available for them anyway.

In the end, Lanot believe that as a book writer, it is still the responsibility of the writers to maintain the good quality of their books.

“In this trend, if Print on Demand can be really called a trend since it is still on its experimental [stage], if you really want to reach the readers through your books, then you must do your roles as an author so that your books would sell,” she said.