Celebrities are capital burners in the book market

Lima Salehramsari, in an interview with the correspondent of Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), stated about the status of book promotion and distribution in the country: The production of cultural and artistic goods, including books, music, and cinema films, needs a showcase to be seen; in other words, an artistic work is created to be seen, not to remain in the backroom or be put in a drawer.

Emphasizing the importance of cultural and artistic works being seen, he continued: The English have a proverb that says, if you spend 100 Tomans on a product, spend 90 Tomans on advertising. But if this advertising is accompanied by deception and lies, it may yield short-term results, but in the long run, it will have the opposite effect. The first damage will be seen by the supplier itself, and its product will be harmed and, as they say, left on its hands.

Salehramsari, pointing out that the necessary and proper culture-building has not been done in the field of books and reading, added: Although due to economic problems, books are a low priority in the family basket, it is still an injustice to use hype and displays by a few celebrities, creating fake queues and reflecting them in virtual space as book signings or unveilings, to offer a product to people that lacks real quality. A few years ago, we witnessed a book being repeatedly advertised on television, even offering prizes for purchasing it.

He continued: Such an action was unexpected from a national media outlet. A bubble that burst very quickly and vanished. Sometimes we see a similar situation in virtual networks, which will lead to audience distrust. Advertising in itself is very good and necessary, but not with sensationalism and deceiving the audience. Information dissemination in virtual networks must be measured and the capacities of this space used correctly.

The director of Moein Publications, referring to the proximity of the fields of books and cinema, said: When a film is screened, one should not just settle for the first week’s sales; one must see how the public reception is in the second and third weeks. Does it still have an audience or not? The same rule exists in the field of books. In the first stage of distribution, the audience buys a book based on the reputation of the publisher or author, but the main word is spoken in the second stage of distribution and the public demand; because if a film or book is good, people will introduce it to each other.

Salehramsari, referring to some pitfalls of advertising in the book market, continued: Although Iranians are emotional, they are at the same time very clever and smart. We live in an age where people sell more “talk” than content. Unfortunately, “talk selling” has become a type of business in itself and is also very prosperous.