2. Book: A set of a written, printed, illustrated, work
consisting of pages glued or sewn together along
one side and bound in covers, It can also be a
bound set of blank sheets for writing or keeping
records in usually fastened together to hinge at
one side
A non-periodical printed publication of at least 49
pages excluding covers. The UNESCO dictionary
defines it as collection of sheets, papers fastened
together and protected by a cover which forms a
genuine unit.
3. Trade: A basic economic concept that involves
multiple parties participating in the voluntary
negotiation and then the exchange of goods and
services. The advent of money as a medium of
exchange has allowed trade to be conducted in
a manner that is much simpler and effective
compared to earlier forms of trade, such as
bartering.
According to Collins dictionary, it is the business
of buying and selling
4. Booktrade
A commercial activity involved with the
distribution and availing of books to the end-
user/customer at a profit. The book trade deals
with the distributive element in the publishing
industry. In booktrade, the bookseller acts as a
link between the publisher and end user.
5. Book trade or the marketing of books requires the
application of appropriate marketing techniques to
sale products to the consumers. Book publishers
operate in an industry where the choices and
decisions on the marketing strategies are crucial
for the achievement of sales targets. Kotler (2004)
says, marketing calls for more than just
developing a good product, pricing and making it
available to target customers.
6. To sell books effectively, requires a good
knowledge of the market, its size, preferences,
buying behaviour and the nature of competitors
operating in the market. According to Smith (1990)
the trading aspect of the book business is the life
blood of the entire book industry.
7. The first publisher was a printer as well as a
bookseller.
The market was new and small, books were
produced on order for a select circle of the elite,
the intellectuals and students in search of
knowledge
Technological advancement led to the growth in
demand for books. Books were produced in
different catalogues and specialization was
introduced in the publishing industry.
8. The trade in books dates back to ancient times. The
early poets and orators recited their effusions in
public to induce their hearers to possess written
copies of their poems or orations. They were taken
down vita voce, and transcripts sold to the wealthy
enough to purchase. Scribes were, in fact, the
earliest booksellers, and supplied copies as they
were demanded.
The spread of Christianity created a great demand
for copies of the Gospels and other sacred books.
9. Book trade grows with increase in of national
markets.
Problems facing national markets include
fluctuation in the exchange rates.
A fall in exchange rates for developing countries
means an increase in the same for developed
countries.
For every gain, there is an exactly equal loss
and vice versa.
10. Multinationals in industrialized countries have
expanded. Thus making publishing a truly
international business.
The power of multinational publishing
companies in the developing countries is strong.
11. DTP has revolutionized publishing both in
industrialized and developing countries.
The new technologies being a brain child of the
developed poses a challenge to the developing
countries These technologies require trained
personnel and infrastructure.
New online databases/bibliographic and
reference services concerning books are
available in a number of countries.
12. A policy can be defined as a set of guidelines of
how a particular a role is to be carried out. It spells
out how organizations relate to the outside world.
Initial publishers sold directly to institutions
rendering book sellers out business. A policy
takes care of such problems by ensuring that
books are bought from booksellers.
13. Language is linked to colonial heritage.
The language of the colonizer generally became
dominant in colonies.
The colonial language naturally became the
main language of intellectual life and books.
It was used for government, the legal system,
commerce, politics and education.
Colonial language remains dominant and in
some countries controversial.
14. In Africa, Western languages were retained after
independence for both political and demographic
reasons.
A proliferation of local languages makes the
choice of a primary language very difficult.
In some cases, indigenous languages were
spoken by very small populations.
15. Many indigenous languages had/some have no
written forms.
In the developing countries, language is a
powerful force, sometimes leading to civil unrest.
(Politics of language)
In India, there was a continuing opposition to
using Hindi as the sole national language.
16. English dominates all other international
languages, in commerce, politics and intellectual
life.
In book publishing, English dominates scholarly
and scientific publishing and much of political
analysis.
In India, almost half of books are published in
English.
17. In Indonesia and Malaysia, indigenous languages
were used as the main medium for education and
publishing.
A number of problems related to language have
been encountered although the countries have
succeeded in developing indigenous languages.
18. The bulk of books published in the world are
written in Western languages, especially the
scientific and technical books.
Many developing countries import most of their
books from abroad, almost always in Western
languages.
19. Most translations are from the major Western
languages into other languages.
Major Western (international) languages are:
English, French, German, Russian.
In 1983 out of 55,618 titles translated, 41,740
were in the four international languages.
Arabic was the largest source language from a
developing country with only 322 titles.
148 titles were translated from Chinese into
other languages.
20. The growth of the world book industry has not been
uniform some parts of the world are more developed
than others. Just as the world economies have been
classified according to development, so has the
book industry. The world structure can be put into
three.
Developed World Book Industry
Oriental Book Industry
Developing Book Industry
21. The developed book industry covers the
technologically advanced countries which
include America and most of Europe.
They still control about 60% of the world book
industry.
Oriental - Covers Asia including Japan and
China.
Developing book industry covers most of Africa
excluding S. Africa, Brazil and other parts of S.
America.
22. This industry covers technologically advanced book
industry. It controls about 60% of world book industry.
The development of book industry is at the centre of
book production. America for example, is the world’s
leading producer of books but not eh world’s leading
exporter of books. America has a self sufficient market
for books produced.
The UK and France are the world’s leading exporters of
books. They are able to produce enough books for their
domestic market. The UK exports most of its books to
Anglophone and Francophone Africa.
23. Covers Asia including Japan and China.
This industry produces books in their local
languages with a few foreign editions produced
under license. The oriental market is self
sufficient.
24. Covers most of Africa excluding South Africa,
Brazil and other parts of South America.
Developing country i.e. most of Africa and parts of
South America, depend on imports to sustain their
book demand except Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and
Ghana who are able to meet their primary and
secondary book market demand. These countries
depend on import for their treachery book market.
25. Despite the structure of the world book industry,
every country has an obligation to its population to
satisfy their demand especially for educational
books. To be able to do this, a country must fulfill
two objectives:
Produce books necessary for each situations
needs at affordable prices.
Have a distribution network, well streamlined to
enable products of the industry reach consumers
at the right time, place and condition.
26. For the industry to meet its objectives three
related factors are necessary:
The existence of a growing and prosperous
market.
the availability of books which could meet the
demands of the market.
An efficient distribution system; from producer
(Publisher) to Consumer.
28. Very small
Constantly eroded by widespread photocopying
and lecturers issuing own study packs to
students.
Most academic books in Kenya are imported from
India, UK, US and South Africa.
Disciplines with wide use of academic and
professional books are: Engineering, Medicine,
Pharmacy, Law, Management and Business
studies, Information studies, etc.
29. A significant number of Kenyans take UK exams
for professional and vocational qualifications
such as ACCA, Higher National Diploma (HND),
Association of Bankers, and therefore have to
use imported books.
Professionals on PSSP degree programmes
also pay for key books on business,
management and computer for themselves or
their sponsors.
The academic and professional market is
estimated at KSh 240 Million per annum to local
publishers.
