Printing in Egypt also lets publishers warehouse stock there and use Egyptian carriers to reach fairs in Sharjah, Algeria, Istanbul or Jordan, rather than relying on costly air freight out of Libya.
Libyan publishers spoke unusually candidly about their financial challenges at the ongoing Benghazi Fair this week. Earlier, TNPS covered the fair’s young novelists. This is the other side of the ledger.
The root problem is paper
The result is that margins have shrunk while prices have held. Most Libyan titles sell for 30 to 50 dinars and rarely top 80, against 100 to 1,000 for imported Arab books. One publisher noted that books have risen less than many food items, which shows both how much the trade is absorbing and how little room readers have.
Every press in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia works with imported stock, so basic printing costs are similar wherever you print. Libyan publishers and bookshops can’t open official letters of credit, so they buy dollars on the parallel market and price accordingly. Ink, shipping and customs move with the same rate.
Where to print is contested
Egypt and Tunisia are often cheaper, thanks to lower labour costs and more choice of paper and binding, including hardcovers, and that suits high-demand titles like university textbooks. Meanwhile, Libyan printers are said to offer higher quality, so academic and institutional work tends to stay home.
Logistics matter more than we might expect
Cairo to Benghazi runs about 100 dinars a parcel, cheaper than some domestic routes, but shipments can take up to 45 days, which is painful with fair deadlines.
Inside Libya, diesel shortages are pushing freight costs up. Printing in Egypt also lets publishers warehouse stock there and use Egyptian carriers to reach fairs in Sharjah, Algeria, Istanbul or Jordan, rather than relying on costly air freight out of Libya.
Publishers keep publishing regardless. Al-Hadhara launched its first fair title, a study of Libyan criminal legislation and Islamic jurisprudence, and a constitutional-law title is also on display.
Their needs are practical: better access to foreign currency, easier import procedures and better shipping services.
The View From the Beach
The cruel reality is that a market’s publishing health is often set less by writers or readers than by FX policy and freight.
Libyan fiction reaches readers via Beirut, its printing often runs through Cairo, and the industry is exposed at every border.
Sadly a story repeated across many emerging markets.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
