They say that books are the food for the soul of a human being, but what will happen to the fate of the human soul in situations where even enough food for the body is not available on the table?

I know a writer who has not been living in Iran for a long time and constantly posts on his Instagram page: “Don’t eat pizza once and instead buy this book and magazine!” Honestly, every time he says this, I feel like writing a few words of criticism and emptying my heart, but fortunately, I end up regretting it.

Personally, I don’t really understand the contradiction between these two necessary actions, eating and reading. But whatever it may be, it seems that the writer’s friend considers the first one a luxury and unnecessary act that sometimes prevents nourishing the soul. However, news from Iran suggests that many of these book lovers do not even have access to eating pizza once a month, let alone saving money for something more important. Aren’t the buyers of

Publishing Industry Crisis

Books and reading are considered important symbols of a nation’s cultural capital, gradually providing the necessary grounds for the intellectual and psychological development of individuals and, as a result, improving the overall development of a country. For years, there has been talk about the crisis in the book market and the low rate of reading in Iran, with various solutions being proposed. However, in recent years, the high cost and difficulty of purchasing books have added to these concerns, and the economic recession has also brought about many changes and difficulties in the publishing market.

There are various reasons for the increase in book prices, as pointed out by critics, but in general, the impact of sanctions, inflation, and the coronavirus crisis is more significant than others. These conditions have forced many familiar and long-standing bookstores to close down and pushed them towards changing their profession. On the other hand, book buyers – mostly students – have lost the ability to purchase cultural goods such as books and magazines and are unable to include even one book

Paper prices have increased.

It has been about a decade since the price of paper in Iran has been subject to many fluctuations. In recent years, with the sharp increase in inflation rates, these fluctuations have become even more severe. Many believe that this issue is caused by fluctuations in currency prices that unexpectedly change. The rampant growth of inflation rates, fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, and instability in the market for goods, especially imported goods in the printing and publishing industry, including paper, have caused turmoil in the book market.

Therefore, due to the increase in the price of paper and consequently the increase in the price of publishing services, the price of books has increased in an upward trend. Currently, as we enter the new year, publishers have once again expressed concern about the increase in book prices, which is caused by the increase in the price of paper. In the final days of last year (1399), prices in the paper market experienced another upward trend and reached their highest prices in recent years. According to this trend

The price of the book has become variable.

The book used to be one of the items that its exact price was mentioned on the back cover and everywhere it was presented at the same price as the back cover. But since the price of paper is constantly changing, it has caused the price of books to change continuously, resulting in multiple pricing for books. This means that many publishers and booksellers put a new price tag on old books and then sell them. Therefore, it often happens that a particular book has different prices in different bookstores. Just like other goods in the chaotic markets of Iran, they have different prices.
In fact, during this recent period, in line with the rapid change in prices, many books are sold at 50 to 70 percent higher prices than the original price, and book buyers, who are mostly students, have no choice but to buy these books.

Expanding into other markets

Given the increase in book prices, many professional readers have turned to other sources such as libraries, e-books, or second-hand books. While at first glance, the popularity of libraries and buying second-hand books may seem appealing and a suitable option for preserving the environment and trees, the truth is that this will lead to further recession for many city bookstores and make it more difficult to print and publish new books.

Despite the popularity of e-books among readers, many object to the fact that in the second-hand market and even e-books, which are not affected by the rising paper prices, books are still being sold at higher prices than before. Just take a look at e-book selling apps. Many of these users have expressed astonishment at the high prices of non-paper books. Although such objections have remained unanswered so far due to the lack of an effective supervisor on price changes, no one has been able to provide a real reason for this increase in prices.

The struggles of writers and publishers.

The headache of the publishing industry and authors who entrust their works to publishers is not limited to economic recession. For years, subjective control over printing and publishing books has taken hold of everyone, and it seems that there is no motivation to get out of this situation. This problem mostly affects public books, which of course play a more important role in cultural development and improvement of society.

In fact, the sharp blade of censorship and censorship gives every black market a full and full record to the writer and publisher to take the work from ear to ear and introduce an imperfect thing to the market. This happens more in the translation section, which has become a source of more mistrust and disappointment. The process of obtaining a license for a book has also become a tedious process that sometimes requires the patience of Noah and Job. In these circumstances, publishing a book does not seem to be a very profitable job.

On the other hand, writing in Iran has turned into an unpaid and incidental job that has no financial

Lack of importance of books among officials

Perhaps it can be said that the main problem in relation to books and reading in society is that the issue of books has never been taken seriously and has never become a cultural concern. In many cases, even reading itself has caused concern for some people. Therefore, when officials themselves are not readers and do not care about books, it can be certain that the situation of books in society will not improve.