Sunday November 8, 2009
A thing of value
Tots to Teens
By DAPHNE LEE
A COMMON complaint about children’s books is how expensive they are. In Malaysia, the cost of all books is prohibitive anyway, but parents cannot understand why a children’s picture book comprising 32 pages should cost the same as a 200-page novel. Why pay RM29 (RM60 in hardback) for a book you take less than 10 minutes to read?
Well, first, there’s the time and effort spent creating a (quality) picture book. The story may be told in just 200 words, but those words were chosen carefully so as to tell the story as effectively as possible.
If you’ve written creatively you know that it takes a lot of skill to tell a story well if you’re limited in the number of words you can use. How do you develop an idea, a plot, and characters in just 20 lines? What you must do is to choose the best words, ensuring that each one speaks volumes.
If the book is meant to be read aloud, you have to also make sure that the words flow well. Poor syntax trips tongues and makes reading aloud a chore.
So, it’s not easy writing a good picture book. Some people think it’s easy to write for children, but aside from the fact that the age of the reader shouldn’t matter, and good storytellers put the same effort into writing a story regardless of who the book is directed at, the impressionable age of the audience should mean that even more care is taken to ensure the quality of the product offered.
And then there are the illustrations. They not only help to tell the story, they should add to the plot. Illustrators of note often create a parallel story to the one told by the text. Good illustrations, of course, take a great deal of time and effort to produce. And there is also the cost of materials to consider.
When it comes to the production of the physical book, there is layout and design to think of, much more than when producing a novel. Some publishers employ an expert to decide on the look of the book, including the best placement of text and pictures in relation to one another.
Printing a picture book would also cost a lot more than printing a novel as although less ink (text) is involved, more colour is used.
I found a blog (tinyurl.com/cd95wg) that breaks down the retail cost of a book.
Retail price: RM29. The bookstore gets 40% (RM11.60), taking into account discount, staffing, rent, etc; author/illustrator royalties account for about 10% (RM2.90); the distributor gets 10% (RM2.90); the publisher gets 40% (RM11.60) to cover the cost of editing, designing, printing and marketing.
The breakdown is the same for a picture book as it is for a novel. When you hear of authors getting huge sums of money for a book, it just means they get an advance against royalties. The bigger the advance, the more the publishers expect a book to sell. The better known authors and illustrators also command larger advances and, in some cases, a larger cut when it comes to royalties, sometimes up to 15%.
Not that any of this knowledge will make it easier for most to part with their cash when buying books for their children. Perhaps what parents should do is look at alternatives, like libraries or collectives. The latter can be formed by parents who club together to buy books for their children to share. Once their kids have outgrown the books, they can sell the collection, at a discount, to a new group of parents, or a neighbourhood kindergarten, nursery or playschool, or donate them to a home.
For those of you who have invested in books, considering their high cost, it really makes sense not to toss copies the moment you think your children have outgrown them. Think of your grandchildren! Unfortunately, space is a problem – but not if you come view books as things of value. They’re not just worth money, but also memories and dreams. When you think of the joy and comfort, knowledge and enlightenment they bring, they’re not so very expensive at all.
Daphne Lee reads to wonder and wander, be amazed and amused, horrified and heartened and inspired and comforted. She wishes more people will try it too. Send e-mails to starmag-feedback@thestar.com.my and check out her blog at daphne.blogs.com/books.
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