The hope of the Philippine book publishing industry amid stagnant readership

April 23, 2020

The readership trend in the Philippines has been moving on a plateau for a decade. The National Book Development Board’s (NBDB) past annual readership surveys show that in 2017 readers made up 80% of the total population, unchanged from 2012 and slightly declining from 83% in 2007. The start of that decade saw readership slump from 93% in 2003 when NBDB conducted the first of the quinquennial census. 

Given this low appreciation for reading in the country, have you ever wondered what will become of our local publishing industry, one of the powerful instruments to unlock the country’s vast creative potential? 

The challenges of the publishing industry

Source: NBDB 2017 Survey

“The flat growth in readership is affecting the industry,” said Ruth Valorie Catabijan, business development manager at Saint Matthew's Publishing Corp., one of the leading publishers of textbooks and children's books in the Philippines.

While the majority of Filipinos are readers, the flattish readership trend is presenting difficulties for publishers to attain its expected level of growth. 

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that the value added — the economic contribution based on goods and services produced — of book publishing in 2017 stood at P1.85 million, very far-off from the Book Development Association of the Philippines’ conservative projection of P4.16 million and more so from the “aggressive” forecast of P9.71 million as laid out in the industry group’s 2015-2030 roadmap.

Among the biggest dampeners to growth in readership especially of print books, Catabijan said, is the rapid advancement of tech solutions that are giving non-reading sources of information and entertainment a boost in terms of low-cost accessibility, straining the book sector to compete harder for attention in the global entertainment culture. 

A comforting fact, however, may come from that most Filipinos are still used to consuming printed books, as drawn on by the NBDB from the 77% of reader-respondents who said they have read a printed book in the twelve months prior to the interview. 

Nevertheless, demand for printed books has not been lucrative enough that anyone would notice that books no longer dominate the shelves at bookstores where these items are expected to be the main offering. 

“Overall, the sales of print books of local publishers is slow and getting a return on our investments takes a while,” Catabijan added. 

IP to breathe life into the book industry

Given the need to stimulate the local appetite for reading, copyright protection, with its promise to spur original and creative content, becomes a key strategy to vitalize the book publishing industry.

“We need more authors, more publishers, more bookstores, and more original content that can attract the interest of readers,” Catabijan said. “In filling this demand, copyright emerges as a powerful tool in encouraging our writers to produce more vibrant stories and content that could pique the many interests and curiosities of readers.”

Source: Saint Matthew’s Publishing

Besides stirring content production, the copyright system provides writers and publishers an additional revenue stream through licensing agreements. Appreciating this significant benefit of copyright helped Saint Matthew’s post its first deal with a foreign publisher for the sale of the rights of locally authored titles in the former’s portfolio. 

“We achieved this as our strategy shifted from merely retailing books to selling content.  This has become one of our objectives when participating at international trade fairs and publishing fellowships. This just excites us with what copyright protection and management can do in boosting our competitiveness worldwide,” she added.

Saint Matthew's is one of the two publishing houses which participated last year at the Publishers Circle Initiative's one-week pilot test training where publishers from developing countries learned from the experiences shared by established contemporaries in more developed countries.

Publishers Circle is a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) initiative which the Philippines, through the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), is member of. The initiative harbors a comprehensive action plan to promote the publishing industry. 

Celebrating reading, literary creations this World Book and Copyright Day

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization chose April 23 to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day yearly for the significant events that unraveled in the world of literature on this day; Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso dela Vega passed away while many other widely known authors such as Maurice Druon, Halldor K. Laxness, and Manuel Mejia Vallejo were born.

The purpose of this day is to promote reading, publishing, and the protection of book writers’ intellectual property through copyright awareness.

“Books are a magical portal for transformation. You sit there for a few hours, absorbed in a different world, then once you have come to the last page and closed the book, you cannot but notice that you are looking at the world around you with fresh eyes and a different soul,” IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said. 

“If reading can transform a man, imagine what it can do to a nation. What the reading public needs is a more diverse spectrum of genres and original content to support their interests and keep them inspired and curious. Copyright is a powerful tool that can give us that,” he added.

Source: IPOPHL

IPOPHL is a staunch advocate of reading, being a consistent partner of the NBDB in promoting books in various events and a participant in WIPO's Publishers Circle.

On supporting writers and book publishers, IPOPHL holds seminars almost on an annual basis to capacitate these book industry players in developing and implementing their own IP management and protection program for them to fully realize the fruits of their works. A related development is the re-accreditation of the Filipinas Copyright and Licensing Society as a collective management organization for the text and publishing sector.

Specifically in February this year, IPOPHL made the much-anticipated Big Bad Wolf Sale more special with its presence at the event to offer advice to book writers and publishers on ways to protect their works. This was part of the IPOPHL and BBW partnership sealed in December 2019 which ultimately aims to promote reading and raise copyright awareness across the country.

“IPOPHL is continuously looking for ways to support the work of our book publishers and writers, especially amid the COVID crisis which has driven educational institutions and independent instructors to operate online. The exodus to online platforms may exacerbate illegal copying of educational content from textbooks, a perennial activity that harms publishers and which our Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights intends to focus on for 2020," Barba said. 

“Working closely with all relevant stakeholders, IPOPHL aims to come out with a mutually acceptable policy on this subject towards improving the copyright system as a whole. Many of the copyright policies and implementing rules and regulations we have completed, such as Fair Use, would involve the publishing sector. As such, we call on them to provide their input during the consultation process for us to come up with the right balance between furthering their growth and promoting public accessibility,” Barba added.