The Turkish publishing sector: Not an industry yet, but getting there

Books are one of the many things in life that we tend to take for granted. They are always simply there, at the library or bookstore, when we need them. Of course, with the advent of Internet shopping, the effect has become even more exaggerated. And yet behind all this lies the world of publishing, and in Turkey this is a world that is just coming into its own.

Though it is not yet large enough to be called an industry in itself, the Turkish publishing sector has witnessed a number of major transformations over the last two decades, according to author and publisher Cem Akaş, from G Yayın Grubu (G Publishing Group). "Its structure and branches still do not function in an efficient and effective way, but things are nonetheless very different from, say, 1995. For one thing, Turkish publishers have gotten much better at keeping up with recent titles that get published in the United States, the UK, France and, to some degree, Germany and Italy. They have also become better at selling their writers abroad. This is thanks to the increased 'visibility' of Turkey, the increased activity of literary agents and, of course, Orhan Pamuk's Nobel Prize," he explains.

The number of writers going down the road of self-publishing has also increased considerably, Akaş notes. One form of publishing, what Akaş calls "institutional publishing," publishing by corporate conglomerates, particularly private banks, is now "past its heyday." He says, "It is still there, but it is not flourishing anymore."

"The Internet has been warmly embraced by a huge number of budding writers -- a lot is going on there," he continues, concluding, "The general trend is continuing with respect to the constant increase in new publishers, the constant increase in small publishing companies that go under and the constant decrease (as percent of population) in readership."

Emine Eroğlu, the head of the Timaş Publishing House, one of the major publishers in the country, agrees that publishing has reached the level of institutionalization, even if it cannot yet be called an industry. "The fact that it has not completed the process is a disadvantage. Pirate prints are a serious threat for the market. The biggest advantage of European or American publishers, for example, is that they are publishing to the world and selling their books everywhere," Eroğlu says, adding that they are trying to survive off the domestic market alone and that this blocks their growth.

The world publishing industry is like an enormous football game, with the main players being such countries as the US, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain, Nermin Mollaoğlu, from the Kalem Literary Agency, explains. "Sometimes a backup member from India or China plays, but that fashion fades away very quickly," she adds. However, she says Turkey's advantage is that it generally follows a very wide range of high-quality writers from both East and West without being much affected by fluctuations in "fashion."

Bestsellers in Turkey

When it comes to sales figures and bestsellers in Turkey, Mollaoğlu says there is a vacuum in the sector. "I don't trust any of the bestseller lists in Turkey. Internationally, bookstores prepare them according to the books they have sold most in a given week. If you ask most of the bookstores in Turkey how many books they sold today, they could not answer," she complains.

According to Akaş, one of the signs that publishing hasn't reached industry status in Turkey is the lack of dependable numbers. "The numbers we do have are usually of limited use and outline only the broadest trends. Big bookstores such as D&R, Remzi and İnkılap have their own bestseller lists, and online bookstores keep their own, but there are huge variations among them," he says, noting that they usually have to make do with a general sense of what is selling best at any given time and that pirate editions are usually a good indicator, even though they have been known to misjudge demand at times.

Eroğlu, on the other hand, argues that there are no real "trust issues" with the existing figures. The problem is that only a few bookstores participate in them. "In order to get more accurate numbers, a lot more bookstores should be included, together with Internet sales," she suggests.

Turkish literature goes international

Turkish literature has gained some international notoriety in recent years, particularly as a result of the selection of novelist Orhan Pamuk for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006 and of Turkey as the guest of honor at last year's Frankfurt Book Fair. However, it is still very difficult for Turkish writers to get their work published in foreign languages.

"We have to have perfect translations, but the translation business is very expensive and requires a lot of effort," Eroğlu explains. But she adds that with hard work and sufficient investments of time and money, success can be achieved, as the Timaş Publishing House has seen in recent years.

In 2008 the Kalem Agency alone sold the copyrights to 153 Turkish books for publication in other languages, Mollaoğlu says. "Even this number is an indicator that the situation is going well. The Frankfurt Book Fair and the Nobel Prize are, of course, very important, but the most important part is to be prepared and to put in the effort," she stresses.

Another problem limiting the publication of Turkish books abroad is the preconceived notions of Western readers, Akaş says. "Compared to 10 or 20 years ago, many more Turkish writers are able to find an audience outside of Turkey's borders. Yet I do believe that the European audiences -- an American audience does not really exist for books in translation -- still behave like tourists shopping at the Grand Bazaar; they want souvenirs that are explicitly 'Turkish,'" he observes. "They are mainly interested in women novelists who write about sex, religion or ethnicity, because those are the issues that spring to their minds when they think of Turkey."

Advice for unpublished writers

Despite Turkey's recent spot on the international stage, the publishing sector in the country has been in a state of economic decline since 2004 at least, Akaş points out. "The recent global economic crisis is, for many, just another nail in the coffin. Publishing companies go under, printers fold, bookstores are closed down, no one can afford to take any risks with young writers or off-mainstream writing," he explains.

Akaş warns that the current situation in the sector does not offer much for writers hoping to publish their books for the first time. "I hate to say this, but this is the worst time for being a young, unpublished writer, and yet I have to say it because I have personally seen incredible talent forced to go to waste. One of the best manuscripts I have seen in 10 years, for example, has been rejected by nine publishing companies, and the 10th is probably on its way," he laments.

But for insistent writers, there are new options available. "We now have print-on-demand, a technology that allows writers to publish their own books in very small numbers for reasonable prices. For TL 350, for example, you can publish around 50 copies of your novel and send it to influential critics and hope that some of them will read it and perhaps one of them will put in a good word or two in one of the book reviews, so that you will have a basis to build on for your next book. Another way to go is self-publishing, of course, and this is what we at G Yayın Grubu do. That way, once you invest in your own work and meet all expenses, your book appears on bookshelves across the country, and you also receive all the revenue from sales," he explains.

Another way to increase the chances of getting published is to decide which publishing house is best for oneself. "This, of course, requires reading at least half of the published books of that particular publishing house," Mollaoğlu notes. Eroğlu, on the other hand, recommends that young writers first work to prove themselves in literary magazines.