The Publishers Club monitors opportunities for Arab book makers in light of the Corona crisis

Emma House and Sherif Bakr during the remote session.

From the source

The Sharjah Book Authority, within its “Publishers Club” initiative, organized the second dialogue session remotely, titled “The Impact of Covid-19 on the Book Market in the Arab World”, which dealt with the challenges facing the publishing sector in the Arab region as a result of the spread of the Corona pandemic, and the importance of employing Digital technology to boost book sales.

The session, moderated by the founder of "Oriham Group", Emma House, was hosted by the General Manager of Dar Al Arabi for Publishing and Distribution in Egypt, Sherif Bakr, where he discussed the role of publishing makers in bringing about a change in traditional business models, by adopting digital solutions in order to reach new segments. From the audience, providing innovative ideas and plans to support the book industry.

During the session, Bakr expressed his hope that the Corona crisis will bring about real positive changes in the distribution networks in the region, and said: “Book fairs are the most important starting point and stop in the process of issuing and marketing books, despite the innovative initiatives presented by many publishers, such as providing Electronic portals, none of which succeeded in filling the gap resulting from the absence of book fairs.

He added, "Besides providing opportunities to sell books, book fairs open new horizons for exchanging knowledge and introducing the world to Arab culture and literature."

He pointed out that in light of the digital transformation imposed by the spread of "Covid-19" around the world, the electronic book industry could contribute to a radical change in the nature of the work of academic publishers in the Arab world, explaining that the lack of data about the preferences of educational book users Academic references in various regions represent a challenge that must be addressed.

On the importance of content marketing in innovative ways, Sherif Bakr cited his own experience in this field, as he heads a special committee in charge of launching the "Arab Voices" initiative, which is a guide that includes selected titles for the most prominent 32 Arab novels, which will be launched at the Frankfurt Virtual Book Fair, next month. .

He concluded his speech by standing on television series and films inspired by novels on broadcast platforms around the world, where Bakr expressed his hope that future plans for these platforms would include displaying content in Arabic, which would represent a strong impetus for both publishers and authors in the Arab world. Despite the continuous change in the way books are written and used, the Arab publishing market holds many opportunities, as more than 400 million people around the world speak Arabic, and investing the opportunities provided by only 1% of them, can make a remarkable difference in the Arab publishing sector.

Employing technology to boost book sales is a necessity.

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