Society

Gloomy year for HCM City publishers

The number of books published this year in Ho Chi Minh City reduced by almost half, Tuoi Tre (The Youth) newspaper reported.
The number of books published this year in Ho Chi Minh City reduced by almost half, Tuoi Tre (The Youth) newspaper reported.

City-basedpublishers Tre (Young), Van Hoa-Van Nghe (Literature and Art-Culture),and Tong Hop (General) told a recent conference that they published atotal of 3,197 titles this year. Their turnover was also down by sevenpercent.

Though reprinted titles were up seven percent, thenumber of copies fell by 35 percent. The number of copies of originalVietnamese titles and translations fell by nine and three percent.

Young publishing house, the most successful this year, reported marginally higher profits though turnover shrank by 3 percent.

Anexecutive from Fahasa, a joint stock book distribution company, saidsales of literature and reference books fell this year due tocompetition from e-books, and this would be a continuing trend.-VNA
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