Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| British social media influencer and podcaster Emma Gannon, left, says the digital era won't necessarily hurt book sales and social media influencers can play a role to increase book sales. Sitting next to her is Tony Mulliken, right, CEO of Midas Public Relations. / Korea Times photos by Kang Hyun-kyung |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Growing up online, millennials are more comfortable with accessing information online, rather than reading printed books or newspapers.
The digital era is a source of concern for people in the publishing industry because they believe it will negatively affect book sales and newspaper subscriptions.
British social media influencer and podcaster Emma Gannon said such digital woes were exaggerated, as far as books are concerned.
"In U.K., book sales are on the rise," she said during the digital revolution session at the Sharjah book fair on Nov. 5. "I think people are craving having physical objects that can represent their identity. If you look around someone else's house, you look at their bookshelf. Their bookshelf sums up who they are as a person. Sometimes people put books on their bookshelf to say this is who I am as a person."
According to Gannon, the social media influencers-publishers partnership is one example that can bring mutually beneficial results to the two sides. In the U.K, she said such collaboration boosted an increase of the sales of children's books.
"There is a British YouTube star who has 12 million subscribers and she has partnered with WHSmith, a British retailer operating shops selling books, stationery, newspapers and magazines, and their partnership increased young people's reading by 70 percent or something," she said. "The YouTube star picks the books and children want to read them. I think influencers can trigger book sales and help kids back to reading."
 |
| Twenty million books were showcased during the 11-day Sharjah International Book Fair in the United Ara Emirates. / Korea Times |
The digital revolution has seen the rises and falls of industries. In South Korea, books and print media, among others, have been hit hard as readers adopt to digital platforms.
Book sales in recent years have dropped year after year. According to the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, the local publishing industry saw a 1.6 percent decrease in book sales in 2017 with the total sales revenue of 3.9 trillion won. This is a decrease in book sales revenue for the second year in a row. In 2016, the total sales revenue of the local publishing industry had dropped 4.3 percent from the previous year.
Amid decreasing book sales, ebooks are on the rise and their portion of the total sales record continues to increase, although their ratio of the total book sales is still small.
The shift in the way people gather information from reading books to watching digital content appears to play a part behind the decrease of book sales in South Korea.
James Parkinson, an American lawyer and author of two books, "Soldier Slaves: Abandoned by White House, Courts and Congress" and "Autodidactic: Self-taught," said books can survive the digital revolution as they have a comparative advantage over digital content provided by YouTube channels.
"Of course, competition is going on between them. But I think they can go hand in hand," he said. "You've got to do both."
Parkinson said the nature of the relationship between printed books and digital content is complimentary, indicating there are certain topics, such as historic speeches, better covered by digital content.
But he said books are still the prime source of wisdom through which readers can learn a lot.
Tony Mulliken, CEO of Midas Public Relations, observed readers are benefiting from the competition between printed books and digital content as they have a wider selection of formats as a source of information.
"When ebooks first came out, everybody said printed books were dead because ebooks are here," he said. "But what happened in the last years after the presence of ebook, book sales were on the rise. So the choice now is brilliant. Some of you might like to read printed books and some audio books or ebooks. There are so many formats of books. This is the first time readers choose."
Unlike books, the future of newspapers in the digital era appears not to be so rosy.
Experts say the rise of social media-based media is more than a story of digital technology and claim it could be a reflection of traditional media's losing credibility among readers.
Gannon said over 80 percent of her audience is women aged between 13 and 35, indicating the digital generation is her main audience.
She said she covers travel, politics, feminism and equality and addresses issues not reported by traditional media.
Gannon described herself as a rebel against traditional media.
The rise of digital-based media, particularly among millennials, appears to be associated with the generation's overall distrust of traditional media.
A Harvard University poll of Americans aged 18 to 29 reveals millennials' deep distrust of the media.
According to the survey released in April 2018, only 21 percent of them trust the press all the time and 14 percent trust it most of the time. The survey also shows eight out of every 10 millennials either never trust the media or only trust it some of the time.
The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer survey showed a similar trend. It said the public's trust in four key institutions ― business, government, NGOs and media ― has declined. Edelman said this is a new phenomenon.
 |
| People read books at the Sharjah Expo Center. / Korea Times |
During the 11-day event, 1,874 publishers from 77 countries participated and 20 million books were showcased at the Sharjah Expo Center. Japan was the Guest of Honor country and various cultural and literary events took place on the sidelines of the book fair.
The Sharjah book fair attracted 472 overseas presenters and guests.
"With each successive edition of the fair, we see a substantial increase in volume and quality of titles. This speaks volumes about the success of Sharjah's cultural movement, led by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah," SBA Chairman Ahmed Al Ameri said.
"Books will always be the best tool for cross-cultural exchange. Books focus on our relationship with others and help us look into the variety of values, beliefs, ambitions and dreams that people can possibly hold. In view of the rapid penetration of technology and communications tools, we need to preserve and promote the values of tolerance, love and humanity, which books and cultural exchange can do beautifully."
