Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) German and French independent publishers suffer minimal impact from globalization and modern chainstores and survive thanks to help from government law and subsidies, independent publishers from Germany and France said Tuesday.
French independent publishers are doing well despite the impact of globalization and the invasion of mega publishers and chainstores, said Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens of POL-Gallimard, a French independent publisher, in a European Forum titled "The Development and Transition of the Publishing Industry in France and Germany" at the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE).
TIBE is taking place from Feb. 7-12 at the Taipei World Trade Center with publishers from 41 countries participating.
A big part of the success is attributed to legal protection by the French government that sets fixed book prices and prohibits publishers from advertising, Otchakovsky-Laurens said.
Publishers who publish poems, drama, literature and translated work are also subsidized by the government.
Rene Strien of German independent publisher Aufbau-Verlag voiced a similar opinion. "We have the special situation of a legally protected, fixed book price. Theoretically, that device should allow any bookstore, small and economically weak as it may be, to compete on equal terms with a megastore, " Strien said.
Government subsidies play a big role in helping independent publishers, Otchakovsky-Laurens said. With the subsidies, smaller publishers can focus more on literature, poetry and translated works, subjects that are not so popular with megapublishers, without sacrificing too much financially, he said.
With 25 member countries, the European Union faces language barriers, said Jean-Guy Boin, Director of Bureau International de l'Edition Francaise (BIEF) . "And that makes translation publishing even more important in cultural exchanges."
Independent publishers make great contributions in the translation category, he said. "Publishers who translate French into foreign languages receive government subsidies, and vice versa."
Publishing practices in France and Germany can be a great example for Taiwan, whose independent publishers have also been weathering the impact of megapublishers, said Linden Lin, publisher of Linking Publishing Company and the moderator of the forum.