Book retailers cannot afford to rent a space large enough to display all their titles, says publisher U Myo Aung, owner of Pyi Zone Publishing House.

U MYO Aung, owner of Pyi Zone Publishing House and member of the Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association, came into the publishing industry as a journalist in 1977. In 1996, he became a book publisher specialising in non-fiction titles – political science and other “practical” books that inform the reader and improve their knowledge.

He has seen many changes in the publishing industry and says that while the market has developed here in the past decade publishers still struggle to survive. Those who do make a go of it face the prospect of low sales and slim profit margins – most books sell for just K1000, with about 20-30 percent going to the publisher.

“Today, on the average, a book will have a print run of about a thousand copies and these will take about six months to sell. Book prices are also very low,” he says. “Because of the low profit we make on books, Myanmar publishers cannot spend money on marketing and advertising to introduce and inform readers about the books we have published.”

Distribution is also a challenge, he says, and one area where the conditions in the industry have declined.

“Difficulties in distribution are faced by almost all publishers in Myanmar at the present time,” he says.

Previously, publishing houses would print flyers advertising books that would soon appear on the market and then mail these to both distributors and bookstores across the country, who would then place orders with the publisher.

The publisher would send the ordered books to distributors and bookstores Via Parcel Post (VPP) from post offices. But, due to the lack of reliability, the VPP service was discontinued in 1990. This has shifted power away from the publishers, who he says are now “at the mercy” of distributors.

“From that time, publishers have had to rely on the distributors in Yangon for the lower Myanmar market and, for the upper Myanmar market, on distributors in Mandalay,” he said.

The internet could give more power back to publishers, U Myo Aung says, but he also admits the potential is largely unexplored.

“In the age of internet, the way of buying books or placing orders could change due to new technology,” he says. “Book retailers should collect data on consumer preferences regarding books so they can stay ahead of their competitors.”

Some publishers have their own retail outlets, which ensures that titles are made available to the public independent of distributors. Pyi Zone Publishing House, for example, has one retail outlet in Yangon and another in Mandalay and also operates a mobile bookshop for markets outside of those two cities.

But even here there are difficulties, he says, as income from sales struggles to keep up with rising rental costs and staff salaries. Many publishers cannot afford to rent a space large enough to display all their titles and are unable to keep a wide selection of books on display. Staff are often not interested in books, lack motivation and do not have the knowledge required to answer customer queries.

“As the result, the role of publishers in Myanmar cannot reach the level equal with the high rate of literacy in the country,” he said.

In many countries public libraries provide authors and publishers with valuable income, particularly for books that are not popular with a mainstream audience. But U Myo Aung says in Myanmar – which has an annual education budget of US$97 million – public libraries usually do not have the budget to purchase new titles.

“Most of the public libraries do not have the funds to buy publications that are on sale in stores. Instead of buying the books, they ask for donations. As a result, though there are many libraries and library associations in Myanmar, they cannot be regarded as potential markets by publisher,” he said.

The potential for better times in the publishing industry is there, however, particularly given literacy rates. According to UNESCO figures from 2005, Myanmar’s literacy rate is 89.7 percent.

Also, other sectors in the publishing industry have fared better than book publishing, such as journals and periodicals.

Of the approximately 150 journals in the local market, those specialising in news, sport, current affairs and fashion have been particularly popular in recent years.

U Myo Aung says that regardless of which publishing field you intend to work in – journals, magazines, general works, novels, school texts – it’s important to do your research and have at least a basic understanding of business principles.

“Before you work as a publisher, you must analyse what kind of books you want to publish, in order to be skilful in your ‘round’,” he says.