Editorial: Sustaining the market for publishers

In a free market, if there is insufficient demand for a good or the service is terrible, the provider goes bust. Unfortunately, in economics, nothing is ever that simple.

There are many reasons why the market and competition might not work, fully or partially. This happens when the good or service you are supplying – or its cost – cannot be justified by normal rules.

Take street lighting or parking for the disabled. Sometimes there are social principles at stake, which mean that normal market rules cannot be applied, and that no one would be able to provide at prices that merit their effort.

This is why the plea by Maltese publishing houses for ‘a sustainable future’ is one that bears careful consideration.

Let us put this into some context. The value of books imported into Malta has gone up from €8.4 million to €9.3 million, according to the National Statistics Office.

And the Malta Book Festival being held in November will cover the largest area it ever has so far. So the problem is not reading per se.

The ones cited by the Times of Malta – BDL Books, ĊAK Ltd, Horizons, Kite Group, Kotba Calleja, Merlin Publishers and Midsea Books – represent three-quarters of the sector, and they are facing challenges that many other segments would identify with: rising prices for materials and logistics; online sales challenging local sales, etc. So far, there is nothing there that would not make the reader shrug and turn the page.

The real issue is the publishers’ claim to be keeping Maltese literature and publications alive, which covers everything from schoolbooks to research and literature.

We are now no longer just talking about a sector that cannot compete with the lower costs and economies of scale of other companies.

We are talking about a sector that is dedicated to a limited market that is made all the more precious because of its very size.

Melitensia, whether written by Maltese or foreigners, and whether in English or Maltese, provides the continuity between tradition and the future. It captures our culture and honours our language, while laying the foundation of who we are today and tomorrow.

Of course, books can be printed overseas. But the point is that these might simply not be feasible from a cost point of view.

Whether publishing houses need or want to make a profit or not, the issue is simply that if they were not there, many publications would never see the light of day.

Who will publish books in Maltese with a limited print run, research about issues like emigration decades ago and migration now, textbooks and exam papers that our children depend on?

This is not about sustaining the profits of their owners or the jobs of their staff. It is about the need to value what they provide and to invest in the sector’s survival for the good of us all.

The big question is how would it work? In an ideal world, the government could go beyond the €120,000 Malta Book Fund and offer fiscal incentives, or it could subsidise authors, works or publishing houses.

This could distort the market and competition: not all books deserve to be published and not all publishing houses will necessarily survive.

It would only work – and this is the key – with the robust oversight of a group of people with integrity. And as we know all too well from recent history, such groups are harder than ever to find.