World Book and Copyright Day was marked yesterday as a symbolic date in world literature with the aim of promoting reading and protecting copyright. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the book still survives, despite the fact that there are fewer and fewer people who read it, but publishing as a branch of the economy is barely surviving.
The situation with publishing, but also with the book itself in our country is not satisfactory, says BHRT interlocutor, and the book survives on the love of those who write it and on the love of enthusiasts who know how to promote it and bring it to those whose souls it opens. Many agree that a book is a best friend, and that is why it is still relevant because our best friends are always those who are available to us and who give us the best part of themselves, and that is what a book does. That is why many devote themselves to publishing for the love of books.
“Publishing is at a low ebb, few people want to help, that publishing, the book does not fall from the sky, it needs to be made, you know, the book is financed, I am surviving, I have made over 400 titles and I am very, very satisfied with all the books”, the owner of IK Art Rabic Goran Mikulić tells BHRT.
“We are aware that today’s market is quite fragmented, book circulations are much smaller today than they were before, which of course dictates the prices of book printing,” says PR at Buybook publishing house Ena Hasečić.
Copyright is key to protecting writers’ creativity, and freedom of expression allows writers to express their ideas and opinions. This day is an opportunity to remind ourselves of the importance of literature as a means of spreading knowledge, promoting culture and understanding between peoples, because literature has the power to influence society and cause positive changes in society.
“Literature must be, that it starts from a man who feels the world, writes about it, diagnoses it in some way, so that it can change, and he can change. Literature is the strongest tool for that, the writer must be the one who goes against everything, because literature is subversion, he must be the one who does not talk about difficulties, but about solutions, and he must look for that solution for himself”, states the writer Damir Ovčina.
Despite all the negative trends when it comes to books, there are still enough lovers of the written word, and judging by the attendance at book fairs and other events, there are still enough people who love the written word, because besides being a best friend, a book is also one of the best gifts, too, broadens horizons, refines and educates.
“These are some two contexts, the personal author’s one, in which when I sit down to write a story, for me nothing but the story exists, and that one publishing context, so to speak, which puts the burden much more on those who publish books, who distribute, who need that money for printing, which is most often not returned through sales, etc.,” states writer Amila Kahrović-Posavljak.
At the general conference held in Paris in 1995, UNESCO proclaimed April 23 as World Book and Copyright Day, with the aim of not only honoring books and authors from all over the world, but also encouraging all people, especially young people, to love reading and understanding the importance of those who have made an immeasurable contribution to the cultural progress of mankind, BHRT writes.
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