With book fair postponed, publishers seek govt. support

‘Govt. is yet to release the amount for books purchased in the last two years’

The Tamil Nadu Government’s decision to postpone the Chennai book fair in the wake of the increase in COVID-19 cases has dashed the hopes of book publishers and sellers, who are eager to make up for the losses they incurred in the last two years.

“But we cannot blame the government. Publishers are in dire straits as we could not organise book fair in the last two years. Now they have invested more money and are ready with more titles. But the pandemic has come in the way of capitalising their efforts,” said Olivannan, CEO of the Emerald Publishers. He said 70% of those who would set up stalls in the book fair were small publishers and it was the annual book fair, besides the library orders, that sustained their trade.

Nagarajan of Bharathi Puthakalayam said publishers were in a financial crisis as the government was yet to release the amount for books purchased from them in the last two years.