Book publishers, sellers hit hard as readers prefer E-books

Aurangabad, May 6:

The bookstore business did not recover even after the unlock was announced. Now with a second lockdown, the publishers, distributors, authors and sellers have been hit hard as regular readers have been away from purchasing books for the past one year. Publishers say that it will be difficult to reconnect readers as majority of readers now prefer E-books and online reading.

Books are a means of exchanging ideas and building creativity. Books are also needed to cultivate positive thinking. Books, novels and poetry collections for children to the elderly are introduced every year by new writers. Publishers also support new writers to increase their enthusiasm for writing. However, this year the book industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the number of e-book readers had increased during the lockdown period and the trend is now catching up in the city. In the last one year, the book business has suffered a setback. The publication of books is stalled and the sale of old books is hampered. This has broken the chain of publishers, sellers, authors and distributors. Giving more infromation, Saket Bhand of Saket Book World said, "Sales of the most widely read Marathi, English and Hindi books have also been adversely affected. Book fairs in Delhi, Jaipur, Bhopal, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata are closed. The rules were relaxed after unlock. Yet the fact remains that the readers are not coming to book stores." At present, the book shops are closed and readers are not ready to purchase books due to fear of Covid-19. As a result, booksellers across the city have lost millions of rupees. To revive this business, publishers have decided to reconnect readers by providing quality books at discounted rates.