By: Zainab Salam, Editor-in-Chief
If you enjoy reading books, there’s a chance you wait impatiently for new book series installments or even long-awaited releases from your favourite authors. I know I do this a few times a year. Each time, I’m overwhelmed by the desire to read a certain new-release. This is only made worse by people sharing their reviews of it online, and spoiling the plot or the ending. This is all to say, it is unwise to wait too long to purchase it. Consequently, this leads me to head to the nearest bookstore immediately to purchase the book only to be stunned by the price of it. Over the years, I have grown progressively taken aback by the price sticker on the back of a book. As an avid reader, I think the current book market makes books too expensive and should be made more affordable for consumers.
As a lover of all things books, I have found myself in an uncomfortable position to the point where I dread book launches. For one, publishing houses tend to publish books in hardcover first, to turn in more profit. These can range anywhere between $25 to $40. I could launch into a full-page tirade to explain my hatred of hardcover, and I have in the past, but for the sake of all of you reading I won’t. For the other, the price sticker on those new books has gotten progressively more expensive over the years. In a survey conducted by BookNet Canada, it was found that there was an 11% increase in the average price paid by book buyers in Canada for both hardcovers and paperbacks. What is perhaps worse, is they found a 3% increase in the price of e-books just so they can make more profit! It shouldn’t be a luxury to own books or support your favourite authors, and driving prices up turns readers away. It is simply getting out of hand.
Another issue that persists is when those books are published, it takes at least a few months before it enters the second-hand market, considering that people would have to either sell, trade, or donate their copies for them to enter the market. Thrifting is unpredictable — I can’t head to the nearest thrift store and expect to find my book of choice. If the book is popular enough, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to get your hands on a borrowed copy from the nearest library. Yes, borrowing from a digital library is an option, but currently, I am on a 37 week waitlist for a book on Libby — it’s safe to say that my patience is running thin. This, again, leaves a reader with only one option to secure their next read: buying a new copy.
While I personally dislike the feel and size of mass market paperback books, the shift in the publishing industry is incredibly worrying. There are reports of a decrease in mass market paperback books production over the past few years. This is quite industry-altering due to the way those books were made more accessible and affordable to the public. One could stroll by a giftshop, or browse the supermarket aisle and purchase one. The decrease of their production has ramifications that yield an even more unaffordable book market, which is already being witnessed.
Simply put, the current publishing market has made book purchasing too expensive for the average reader, and that needs to change. Reading is a joy that unfortunately has been a privilege afforded to those with resources.
Also, not everyone lives near a well-stocked or well-funded public library. There’s also the chance that requesting a book will be rejected for being “too niche” (ask me how I know). However, the rising cost of books, especially in Canada, is making their affordability a thing of the past. It is incredibly frustrating to navigate the current economic climate as is.
The unaffordability of books is an access issue that should not exist. I know I have to think about how much I am spending and how much I can spend on books, so I can safely assume that many others face a similar issue. This problem is only exacerbated with younger individuals, such as children and teens, and with people with disabilities due to the precarity of the job market where employment opportunities are decreasing so there’s less disposable income. Books are integral to a dialogue that helps better people and societies. And honestly, they are absolutely way too fun and enriching for us to allow the market to make them harder to obtain.
