“We are both private and bear the burden of government surveillance. This is a statement from a publisher who has been active in the field of publishing for years. According to him, the publishing industry, specifically independent publishing in Iran, does not receive government subsidies or financial aid, but is heavily controlled by the government and faces censorship and inspection.”

What was said is part of the problems in the publishing industry in Iran. The monthly magazine “Khat-e-Solh” also addressed the issues in this field, with an interview with Flamac Barda’i, the director of Negar-e-Tartib, and asked him about these problems and obstacles. Mr. Barda’i also responded to Khat-e-Solh’s questions by saying that in his belief, “the hand of the publisher should be open. The hand of the publisher, the author, the translator, and anyone who wants to speak their mind. It is not justified that just because the government provides subsidies, it has the right to do whatever it wants. No. I do not believe under any circumstances that the government or any institution or individual has the right to impose censorship.”

You can read the detailed conversation of the monthly magazine “Khat-e-Solh” with Flamaq Barda’i in the following.

Mr. Bardaee, in your opinion, have publishing conditions improved in the post-coronavirus era?

I have no measure or standard to say whether conditions have improved or worsened. But considering my own situation, things have not gotten better.

Based on what you said, how do you evaluate the current conditions of publishers?

Publishing has always faced numerous challenges in Iran and these challenges continue to persist. The current situation with COVID-19, as you mentioned, has created difficulties for many professions, including publishing.

But publishing has always had problems. If I want to name these problems, the first one is censorship. Also, we have never had a significant population of readers and no special effort has been made to make society more book-oriented, so the situation has not changed. Additionally, the addition of more modern entertainment fills the free time of those who used to read books, and as a result, they are less inclined towards books.

In your opinion, what is the main problem with publishing in Iran? Financial issues or lack of oversight by responsible institutions?

Financial issues are the reason why we do not have a large population of readers. You can see the book’s circulation right now. A few days ago, I called a friend whose book we have published to tell them that we want to reprint their book. They asked how many copies? I said a thousand. They were surprised. The problem is not just the lack of readers in our population, but also the fact that no effort has been made to address this issue and promote reading. Another problem is censorship, which affects our work.

What is your intention behind censorship, excessive monitoring by responsible institutions? Could you provide a bit more explanation?

Yes. When a book is about to be printed, a wide and long machine will inspect it, an inspection that sometimes is less and sometimes more, but with intensity and weakness, it has always existed. This issue has been present since the time of the king and is not specific to recent years. This problem has been ongoing and continues to this day.

واکسن COVID-19

Since last year, the government has been supporting the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine.“سلام، من به دنیا خوش آمدید”

Hello, welcome to the world.

Raw materials such as paper, zinc, and printing supplies have become scarce. Is this situation still ongoing?

Yes, the situation is still the same and ongoing. They are reducing the supply of paper and materials, and the discussion of purchasing books by the Ministry of Culture and the National Library has been cancelled. At least in the past year or less, such an incident has not occurred. In the past, they used to buy fifty or one hundred copies of some books, which has completely stopped as far as we know.

که به بازار اجازه دهد

In your opinion, is it better for the government to intervene and provide raw materials in the printing industry, or to allow the market to operate freely?“سلام دوست عزیز”

“Hello dear friend”

What do you mean by completely private publishers?

In my opinion, if being private meant having their hands open everywhere, then yes it would have been better for them to be private. But we are both private and we tolerate government supervision. If everything in our society had the right shape and form, then yes it would have been possible for it to be private and everything to be free. But that’s not the case. You know that the government provides subsidies for many consumer goods. It could have also been considered as a cultural commodity (if we want to use this term) and be subject to this issue. But we do not have this government subsidy in the financial sector and as you say, we are private and free, but at the same time, we are heavily controlled by the government. Meaning, in the field of publication, we are strongly faced with censorship.

We are private in terms of consumer goods, but in terms of the result, which is a cultural product, we are under the supervision of the government.

It means that if it is supposed to be private and not receive financial aid from the government, then the publisher’s hand must be left open. Is that correct?

I say in both cases that the publisher’s hand must be open. The publisher, the author, the translator, and anyone who wants to speak their mind. It is not justified that just because the government provides subsidies, it has the right to do whatever it wants. No. Under no circumstances do I think that the government or any institution or individual has the right to impose censorship.

From an economic standpoint, there was a discussion at the time. About twenty years ago, when they were giving subsidies on paper, there was a debate among publishers that these paper subsidies would cause publishers – in their own words – to grow like a greenhouse. It wasn’t a bad thing. Now imagine that four publishers also come and work for this government subsidy. In my opinion, it’s not a bad thing. At that time, I wasn’t in favor of these discussions either. But well, these discussions happened and the paper subsidy was among the first things to be cut. Nothing strange or unusual happened. Neither did the private publishers who were supposed to make a lot of profit, make a lot of profit, nor did anything else happen. The same situation continued and one knot after another was tied. In the end, paper became more expensive and some publishers left the publishing industry cycle and were unable to sustain themselves.

Has the circulation of books increased in Iran?

I think the number of book titles has increased. But I don’t think the circulation has increased. Maybe the issue is the total number of titles and their circulation. Yes, the number of titles multiplied by the circulation may have increased. Our population, the number of publishers and authors has also increased. But compared to before the revolution, the circulation has decreased. Before the revolution, we had five thousand and three thousand circulation numbers. Now, such numbers in one print are exceptional and dreamlike. Now, circulation numbers of two hundred, three hundred, and at most five hundred are very common. I’m not saying there aren’t books that are printed more. But they are very few.

تر دوست دارید

You mentioned increasing the book titles. What kind of book titles do you prefer more?“من می‌خواهم به دانشگاه بروم”

I want to go to university.

Do they have the highest sales? There is a discussion about the fact that authored and reference books do not sell, and publishers are looking for popular books to have sales.

The issue of popular books and publishers working in this field has always existed. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance should announce the statistics on which titles sell the most. The fact that we have a shortage of authored books has always been an issue. In many fields, we do not have experts who can write books. Therefore, we are in great need of translation, and we do translate, which is not a problem. Every society that lacks something will import it. In some fields, we may be self-sufficient, but in most fields, we rely on translation. This does not mean that everything that is published is popular. For example, in literature, translation is common and this is the case all over the world. Literature is transferred from one society to another through translation. However, in many other fields such as psychology, technical and scientific fields, philosophy, and others, the reality is that we either do not have experts or we have very few. Therefore, we use translation and there

How much has online publishing and illegal publishing markets damaged book publishing in Iran?

Illegal publishing has always existed in Iran. There have always been individuals in Iran who would print books under the table or with blank covers and sell them. This issue still continues, and it may have even gotten worse. Some people now convert books into PDF and share them online.

But about online publishing. Although online publishing has started in Iran, it has not yet gained much momentum. Despite many efforts in this field and several powerful institutions pursuing this issue, books are being made available online, digitally, or even in audio format. This is happening all over the world and is not exclusive to Iran. Although it may be a barrier for paper books, it is not a problem and perhaps in the future there will come a time when paper books will be phased out.

Do you think that online publishing can help with issues such as a shortage of book readers?

No. It doesn’t matter. The shape of the book is not the issue. Many people who don’t read books do so not because they don’t have access to them. They are not in the habit of reading books. I don’t think whether a book is paper or digital has any relation to the increase or decrease of readers.

Do you fundamentally believe that the issue of publishing and books is important for governance and is a matter of concern, and that it deserves credibility?

When they censor books with such wide, long, and intense devices, it means it is important to them. But this importance has a negative impact on them.

If there is any point at the end that you think has been left unsaid, please let me know.

The last point I mentioned, I hope is clear. The percentage of censorship used in the field of books in Iran is higher compared to other fields (such as theater, media, and cinema). They point fingers at things written in the book and ask you to remove them. This is while in none of the other fields I mentioned, they ask this of you. Therefore, it seems to me that this field is more important for the government; now why that is, I do not know.

Thank you for the time you have given us in the monthly publication of the Peace Line.