Publishers upbeat with sales, visitor flow

Visitor flow and sales have begun to pick up at the Ekushey book fair which kicked off Tuesday amid Covid-19 concerns, book traders said.

Publisher of Kathaprakash Jasim Uddin told The Business Standard that there was a strong response from buyers. He said he had sold 50 books within a couple of hours on the first day. 

"Today we hope to sell double the previous day," he said.

He expressed hope that the sale of books would be more compared to other fairs if the fair was extended until 17 March.

Samarpan Publishing salesman Atiqur Rahman said he had been participating in the fair for the last four years. He sold 30 books on the first day even though visitor flow remained low during the first few days. But the sales got momentum after the holidays. 

Arafat Hossain, a student from Narayanganj, said he had come to buy some books if he found any of his choice. But he would come after a few days to buy the books he is selecting now.

Tapan Sarker, who works in the High Court, told TBS that he usually buys books worth Tk3,000-4,000 at every book fair. He bought five books on Wednesday. He would come again with his family after a few days when the book fair would gain momentum.

The Bangla Academy information officer Rajib Kumar Saha told TBS that 18 new books were published on Wednesday. Usually, the number of new books increases after five to seven days of the fair and the writers publish the highest number of books on holidays.

During a visit to the fair, it was found that law enforcers are warning visitors regarding health rules. Visitors are being provided with hand sanitisers at the main gates and no one is allowed to enter the fair without a mask.

According to the schedule, the fair will be held from 15 February till 28 February and remain open from 2pm to 9pm for visitors. 

On weekends and public holidays, the fair will open at 11am and the only exception will be on 21 February, when it will open at 8am. 

The Bangla Academy sources said the total space for the Boi Mela on the Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawardy Udyan this year is around 7 lakh square feet. As many as 102 publishing houses were allocated stalls on the Bangla Academy premises, and 432 in Suhrawardy Udyan.

Bangla Academy published and reprinted 107 books this year. The Bangla Academy and other publishing houses will sell books at a 25% discount.Publishers demanded to extend the fair till 17 March.