by Constance Lambertucci
March 2, 2024
Introduction:
Read more here: https://elpais.com/argentina/2024-03-0 ... sis.html(El País) Sales in the sector fell around 30% in January. While publications become increasingly inaccessible: a minimum wage from the South American country buys 13 and one from Spain, 63
There are Argentine readers who return these days to the works they already have in their libraries; others who choose to buy used books; some have borrowed; There are those who choose to download the pirated digital version. But many have stopped buying new copies in bookstores, where sales fell by around 30% in January, according to different players in the sector who estimate an even more pronounced decline for February. The economic crisis in Argentina , which today is the country with the highest inflation, has emptied citizens' pockets and buying books is becoming increasingly inaccessible: a minimum wage in the South American country buys 13 publications while one in Spain buys 63.
Gustavo López, editor at Ediciones Lux , has himself stopped buying works of poetry, novels, essays... “We are also readers and we know what a book costs. Although it is an object of great need, our pockets are not in a position to pay the cost of a book today.” López, who runs a small publishing house, founded in the 1990s in the city of Bahía Blanca, south of the province of Buenos Aires, says that “the last few months have been terrible” for the sector: “Sales fell tremendously and the production costs of the books multiplied. At the last fair we went to, Edita, we normally sell 200 books and this time we didn't reach 60″.
The Argentine Book Chamber (CAL) estimates that the drop in book sales in January was “close to 30%,” according to Juan Manuel Pampín, president of the chamber and Ediciones Corregidor. “The decline is becoming even more accentuated,” Pampín anticipates before the publication of the sector's annual report, which surveys bookstores and publishers in Argentina. The editor conveys the widespread “concern” among his colleagues: “Our industry comes in third or fourth place after paying for food , services, rent, clothing... We are going to find ourselves in a complex situation.” .